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This IOV Wedding Contract template is available freely under licence to all members.
Please read the notes below on how it can be used…
IOV Wedding Contract
Important Information
(last revised: April 2021)
Terms of Use
The Wedding Contract files supplied and the Terms & Conditions contained therein are copyright to the Institute of Videography Ltd, and are licensed for the use by members-only for so long as they remain a member of the Institute of Videography.
Those operating their business outside of English law should see the separate notes in the section below.
Ordinary Members are only licenced to use the version entitled “Contract-NQ.doc” (or “Contract-NQ.pages” for Mac). Qualified members are licenced to use the version entitled “Contract-Qual.doc” (or “Contract-Qual.pages” for Mac). Click here for more details.
Amendments to previous versions
This is the latest version of the IOV wedding video contract. Members who have previously used the old contract will notice that the layout has now changed. On the advice of our solicitor, the terms and conditions appear BEFORE the signatures. We would advise that you print the first two pages as front and back of the same sheet of paper. The signatures now go at the bottom of the 2nd page.
Some of the things mentioned in the schedule on the old contract have now been moved into the terms and conditions. As a result the dummy schedule is now quite short. You must change this schedule to reflect your own style. This is also an ideal place for you to list any extra options, such as extra copies, DVDs, extra filming, etc.
It is worth remembering that this document will be updated from time to time, so please periodically check back and download the latest version.
General Notes
Before you use the contract please read through all the terms and conditions and check them to make sure you understand the contract. The schedule, the letter and all other pages supplied are only intended as a guide. You should change these to suit your own way of working, and don’t forget to backup your altered version! Although you can personalise the contract and other sections as much as you want, you are advised not to change anything in the wording of the terms and conditions except for the paragraphs listed below.
2.2 and 2.3
You may change the periods to whatever suits you. For example, if you want full payment four weeks before the event, or if you want longer or shorter periods for cancellation. Whatever period you set, it must be a reasonable period of time. If you insist on a period that is unreasonably long, the contract may not be upheld should the matter ever get to Court.
2.5
Some members may select a different length, or even choose to omit this paragraph entirely.
2.6
Choose your own interest rate, but once again, it should not be an unreasonable rate.
4.2
You can change “a year” to whatever period that you normally keep master tapes, discs or other media.
7.2
You can change the 2 week period to a period that suits you, but please bear in mind that it must not be an unreasonable period of time.
References to formats
We have recently gone through the terms and conditions and replaced “video tape” with either DVD or disc, however, on the understanding that most members are still making the original recording on video tape; the section referring to master tapes had not been changed. The last line of paragraph 8 should clarify this, so that when any reference is made to disc that could mean tape, or any other recording media.
A note about 7.4 and 7.5
The Arbitration Service is only free to current members. If a complaint arises and your membership subscription is in arrears, you will have to pay for the service. Full details of Arbitration are available from the IOV office. Furthermore, in order to qualify for arbitration, you must have been a current member in a category that is entitled to use the free Arbitration Service (free arbitration is not available to Student members and Retired Members), both on the date that the incident leading to the complaint took place, and to have continuously remained a member until the date that the complaint is made.
A note about section 3
It is imperative that all members using this contract have Public Liability insurance cover. The IOV also advises cover for Professional Indemnity.
Notes for those outside English-law
The wedding contract was drawn up under English Law by the IOV’s solicitor. It is mostly a common sense document, in that it lays out your obligations to your client and their obligations to you, in as near to plain English as possible.
There are references to English acts of Parliament in paragraphs 3.6 and 4.4. These can be changed to refer to the equivalent acts in your own country, and any feedback from members regarding this will be welcomed. Alternatively, you may prefer to amend the contract to remove the legal references as follows:
3.6 We will carry out services with all reasonable care and skill. You accept that any other warranty or legal obligation on our part or placed on us by any legislation or arising under common law is excluded in so far as it possible to do so.
4.4 We confirm that we will comply with the provisions of the law as it relates to your personal data. Please note that we shall be entitled to assume unless you inform us otherwise prior to the Event that all persons attending the Event have consented to being recorded.
Download Contract Files
Please find below links to the two files that you will need in order to use this contract (both PC and Mac versions). These are the contract itself, and a data file which is used to enter client information and details about your business (see the Instructions section below). You will need BOTH these files. This version can be used by any member (subject to terms above). Please see below for directions on downloading the Qualified Member version.
| PC Versions | ||
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Wedding Contract File | |
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Wedding Contract Data File | |
| Mac Versions | ||
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Wedding Contract File | |
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Wedding Contract Data File | |
Qualified Member Version
Members who have attained the qualifications of Associate, Master Me
member, Fellow or Corporate Member may use the file “Contract-Qual.doc” or “Contract-Qual.pages”.
The only difference between these two versions is that the Qualified Member Version contains the IOV logo. Ordinary members are not permitted to display the IOV logo on any of their advertising or stationery.
PDF Versions
This document is available in both PC and Mac format only.
However, a PDF copy of the main contract is available for reference. Please click here.
Instructions
Getting started
We suggest that you start by creating a folder on your hard drive in which to store the contract files. The files can then be opened in the normal way when using Word for Windows.
If you have never used “Mail Merge” before, left click the mouse on “View”, “Toolbars”, and tick the option for Mail Merge to bring up the Mail Merge toolbar. Open either file “contract-nq” or “contract-qual”.
Click on the icon for “mail merge recipients” and a dialogue box will open. Click on the “edit” button and you will get the “Data form” edit box:
You are now able to change the information in every box except the “Balance” (This box is no longer used). The boxes below the balance are your company details, which once entered, don’t need to be changed again unless you change your address or phone number
Once you have entered your company details, click “CLOSE” on the data form and “OK” on the recipients box. If you now close the contract document you will the following message:
“CONTRACT is a mail merge main document that is attached to a data source
WEDDATA that has not been saved. Do you want to save WEDDATA?”
If you say “yes” and close the document, your company details will be saved.
Using the files to make a wedding contract
Each contract needs 2 files. One file for the contract and one for the data.
1. Open the contract file (either contract-nq or contract-qual)
2. Open the weddata.doc file
3. Save the weddata.doc file as the name of the client (or whatever system of naming you choose) and close it again. We suggest you should use the client’s name and the date, for example a client Mr. Smith, getting married on 26th April 2003 would be “Smith260403”. Because you will need to use a different name for each of the two files. Add “dat” to the data file, making it “Smith260403dat”. (A shortcut to the “save as” command is to just press F12).
4. On the Mail Merge toolbar, click on the icon for “Open Data Source” and you will get a dialogue box
5. Click on the button “My Documents” (in the left hand column) and find the directory you have saved the contract files in, then double click on the file you have just saved.
6. Click on the icon for “mail merge recipients” and a dialogue box will open. Click on the “edit” button and you will get the “Data form” edit box:
7. Fill in all the client’s details. Any box not being used must not be left blank, but should contain a space.
8. Once you have entered all the details, click “CLOSE” on the data form and “OK” on the recipients box.
9. To see all the contract details just click on the icon <<abc>>. Check all the details are correct.
10. Press F12 to save the document as… If you are using the format I have suggested, then save the file as Smith260403 (or whatever you have decided to call it)
11. You can now print out the document in the normal way.
12. When you close the document you will get the following message:
“SMITH260403 is a mail merge main document that is attached to a data source
SMITH260403DAT that has not been saved. Do you want to save SMITH260403DAT?”
13. Click Yes to save both documents.
There is a new data field called “extras”, which will normally remain blank. Anything entered in this field appears just below “Balance due” on the contract price. Its purpose is to add an extra line to the price such as “plus one overnight hotel cost” or “plus hire costs for a jib”, or any such extra that you need to mention in the contract.