Appendix D: Contract Clause Library

⚠️ Read this before anything else on this page.

Nothing in this appendix is legal advice and none of it is a contract.

Contract law differs by country and frequently by state or province. What is enforceable, what must be disclosed, what may be excluded, and what a consumer-protection regime overrides all vary, and several of the clauses below are unenforceable somewhere.

Every one of these is a description of what a clause needs to do, written so that you can recognise whether yours does it. They are a checklist for a conversation with a lawyer in your own jurisdiction — which Chapter 36 §36.3 lists as one of six things to do before client one, and which costs a few hundred against a dispute that does not.

The annotations are the useful part. The language is a sketch.

D.1 Planner–Client Agreement

Scope and exclusions

What it must do: state what is included in a form a client could not reasonably disagree with, and state what is not.

The Planner will provide [service level] as described in the attached
Schedule of Services. Services not listed in that Schedule are outside
this agreement and are available at $[  ] per hour by prior written
agreement.

This agreement assumes:
  (a) a guest count of up to [N];
  (b) a venue with mains power, running water, and covered vehicle
      access;
  (c) [N] planning meetings and [N] site visits.
Changes to (a) or (b) may require a revised fee, agreed in writing
before further work.

📝 Why. Chapter 2 established that "partial planning" means nothing until it is defined; Chapter 36 §36.10 made it a business matter: a boundary you cannot state in one sentence will be scoped by the client, always upward.

Assumption (b) is the sentence Chapter 37 costed at roughly $3,200 on a bare-field wedding quoted as an ordinary one. Assumption (a) is Chapter 5's master variable, in a pricing document.

And the hourly rate exists so that a refusal becomes a price — "that's outside the package, but I can absolutely do it, it'd be about three hours at eighty-five."

Fee, retainer, and payment schedule

The fee is $[  ]. A non-refundable retainer of $[  ] is payable on
signature and secures the Date, which the Planner will not offer to
any other client.

The balance is payable: [amount] on [date]; [amount] on [date].
Final payment is due no later than [14 days before the Event].

Payments more than [7] days overdue accrue [interest / a fee], and the
Planner may suspend work on notice until the account is current.

📝 Why. The retainer is named as securing a date you can no longer sell — which is what makes non-refundability defensible rather than punitive.

Dates, not milestones. "When planning begins" is an argument; the 14th is not.

Final payment before the event, always (Ch.30 §30.5). And the suspension right is the clause Chapter 36 §36.5a says is uncomfortable and correct — without it, a planner with a client six weeks in arrears is an unsecured lender still committing that client's money to third parties.

Cancellation and postponement

If the Client cancels: the retainer is retained; sums already paid are
non-refundable to the extent of work performed and third-party
commitments made; and [ ]% of the remaining balance is payable if
cancellation occurs within [N] days of the Event.

If the Client postpones: the retainer transfers to a new date within
[12] months subject to availability. If the Planner is unavailable,
[state what happens — this is the clause everybody omits].

If the Planner cannot perform: the Planner will provide a suitably
qualified substitute at the Planner's cost, or refund all sums other
than work performed.

📝 Why. The postponement clause is the one most first contracts handle badly, and the sentence in brackets is the gap: transfers subject to availability leaves the client with nothing if you are booked.

And the third paragraph is Chapter 40 §40.5, in contract form. A planner who has an absence-tested production book and a reciprocal cover arrangement can promise a substitute; one who has neither should not write this clause — Chapter 27's honest note that a solo planner whose absence means no planner has sold something they cannot always deliver.

Decision authority

The Client nominates [name] as the point of contact for decisions
during the Event. The Planner may incur costs up to $[  ] without
prior approval where necessary to deliver the Event as planned.

📝 Why. Chapter 27's decision protocol, and the number matters more than the principle. A principle requires a judgment, which requires a conversation; a number does not.

And Chapter 40's absence test found the gap: this clause covers spending and not authority. Add: "and may make operational changes that do not alter the agreed programme."

Liability, insurance, and images

The Planner holds public liability insurance of $[  ] and professional
indemnity of $[  ]; certificates available on request.

The Planner is not liable for the acts or omissions of third-party
suppliers contracted directly by the Client.

The Planner's total liability is limited to the fees paid, save where
liability may not lawfully be limited.

The Client grants the Planner the right to use photographs of the
Event in the Planner's portfolio, website, and social media, subject
to [any restrictions the Client specifies here].

📝 Why. Limitation of liability is jurisdiction-dependent and frequently limited by consumer law — this is squarely a lawyer question.

And the image clause cannot be obtained retrospectively (Ch.36 §36.10, Ch.38 §38.3). Note that images of guests are a separate question again, particularly children.

D.2 Venue Agreements — What to Look For

You are usually signing somebody else's contract here rather than writing your own, and the job is reading it.

D.3 Catering

Guaranteed numbers are due [72] hours before the Event. The Client
pays for the guaranteed number or the actual number, whichever is
greater.

Service times are as stated in the attached Schedule and will be
re-confirmed following the rehearsal.

Dietary requirements notified by [date] will be prepared as separate
marked plates and hand-delivered to the named guest at the stated
table. This applies to every service point, including canapés,
cake, and late-night food.

The Caterer will provide [W] watts of power draw and requires
[specify access, water, waste].

📝 Why. The guarantee is the single most consequential number in a catering contract (Ch.14), and Chapter 30's reconciliation found $151.77 back because somebody checked 98 against 100.

The re-confirmation after the rehearsal is Chapter 30's own error, made into a clause: a service time populated from a planned duration rather than a rehearsed one produced a dinner 35 minutes late.

And the dietary paragraph's last sentence is Chapter 29's fourth handoff. The failure is never the kitchen; it is the last two metres, and it is the second course, the cake, and the late food.

D.4 Entertainment

Performance times: [ ] to [ ], including [N] breaks of [N] minutes.
Amplified music ends at [ ] in accordance with the venue's curfew.

The Client's do-not-play list is attached and is binding.

Equipment: the Supplier provides [ ]. Power required: [W] watts.
Access required from [time]. Setup requires [N] minutes.

If the named performer(s) cannot attend, the Supplier will provide a
substitute of equivalent standard or refund in full. [Name the
performers if their identity is the point.]

📝 Why. The last paragraph matters when a couple booked a specific person and not an agency. "A band" and "this band" are different contracts.

The curfew line ties the contract to the venue's constraint rather than to a preference — and Chapter 40's absence test found that a curfew on a run sheet as a cue, with no source, is not usable by a substitute.

D.5 Photography and Videography

Coverage: [ ] to [ ]. Additional hours at $[  ] per hour, agreed on
the day with [named person].

Deliverables: [N] edited images, delivered within [N] weeks. Raw
files [are / are not] provided.

The attached shot list is agreed. Family combinations are as listed;
the Client has nominated [name] to assemble each group.

Second shooter: [included / not included].

Backup and archive: images are backed up to [ ] and retained for
[N] months.

📝 Why. The named hourly rate and the named authorising person are Chapter 27's decision protocol — and Chapter 30's reconciliation shows why: $340 of overtime authorised at 21:05 by somebody who had the authority to do it.

The nominated group-assembler is Chapter 23's finding. A photographer takes what is in front of them, and somebody has to put it there.

And the retention line is Chapter 39 §39.7 — it is a data question as much as a service one.

D.6 Rentals and Production

Delivery: [date], between [ ] and [ ]. Collection: [date], between
[ ] and [ ].

Access: [dock / tail-lift / ground level]. Vehicle: [size]. The Client
confirms the site can accommodate this vehicle and that it can exit.

Setup: the Supplier will [deliver only / deliver and set]. Stacking
and return condition: [specify].

Damage and shortages are charged at [ ] and notified within [N] days,
supported by photographs.

Weather limits: the Supplier's stated wind limit is [ ]. The
Supplier's decision to strike or not erect is final.

📝 Why. "And that it can exit" is Chapter 34's yard problem in seven words, and it is the question a production manager asks and a planner does not.

The damage clause with photographs is Chapter 30 §30.4 from both sides — and your own twenty load-in photographs are the defence (Case Study 30.1: a $1,200 deposit decided by twenty minutes at 7 a.m. that did not happen).

And the weather paragraph is Chapter 28 §28.5a: the contractor's call overrides the couple, the planner, and the venue simultaneously, and it should be in writing before it is needed.

D.7 Local Partner Agreement (Destination)

Scope: [detail]. Specifically, the Local Partner acts as coordinator
and the Client contracts directly with all third-party suppliers,
except where local practice requires otherwise.

The Local Partner will provide and maintain a list of all suppliers
with current contact details, accessible to the Client and the Planner.

Cover: if the Local Partner is unable to work, [named person] will
act. [Name them. "The Coordinator shall arrange suitable cover" is
not a cover arrangement.]

Communication: response within one business day.

Payment: [schedule], with [20–30]% payable after the Event.

Currency: all sums are stated and payable in [ ].

This agreement is written in [language]; the [language] version
governs.

📝 Why. Every line of this is Chapter 33, and Case Study 33.1 is what happens without it: nine days of silence, and eleven signed vendor agreements were the difference between a coordination problem and a wedding that did not happen.

And the bracketed sentence is the chapter's sharpest finding. "That is not a cover arrangement. That is a sentence." The test: could you execute this clause today, without the other party's participation?

D.8 The Five Things That Actually Protect You

Chapter 33 §33.5, and they apply well beyond destination work.

Assume you will not litigate. Cross-border or small-value enforcement is not economically rational and both sides know it. So the contract's job is a specification and a schedule, not a threat.

1. Money held back. A meaningful final payment after delivery is worth more than every remedy clause combined.
2. Specificity instead of remedy. "Twelve tables, 1.8 m round, white linen to the floor, delivered and set by 14:00" protects you; "tables as agreed" does not.
3. Photographs at every milestone. Cheap, and they convert disputes into facts.
4. The reputation asset. A good supplier's business depends on continued referrals — which is why Chapter 12's vetting question is the actual protection.
5. Governing language and jurisdiction, stated — so that at minimum everybody knows which version of the document is the document.

D.9 The Clause Checklist

Run any agreement — yours or somebody else's — against these fourteen.

□  Scope, with explicit exclusions
□  An out-of-scope hourly rate
□  Stated assumptions (guest count, site infrastructure, meetings)
□  Fee, retainer, and a payment schedule with DATES
□  Late payment: consequence, and a right to suspend
□  Cancellation, as a schedule by date
□  Postponement — including what happens if you are unavailable
□  What happens if the supplier cannot perform
□  Decision authority: a spending number AND an operational boundary
□  Insurance: limits, and certificates on request
□  Limitation of liability (jurisdiction-dependent)
□  Image rights — yours, and the guests' as a separate question
□  Data: what is collected, who it is shared with, retention
□  Governing law, jurisdiction, and language

And the two questions to ask of every clause you did not write:

"What does this oblige somebody to do, and could I execute it today without their cooperation?"

"What is not in here that ought to be?" — which is Chapter 40's twelfth audit question, and it has to be asked by somebody else.