7/21/07

Don’t take for granted the fact that your decisions to ask and accept a proposal are a choice. I received a correspondence today that I get about once every two years. A wedding cancellation. My stomach just sinks when I get news like that.

I am not writing today to give you the reason for the cancellation. I am writing all of you today to help me help the parents of the bride that reserved my services.

When a couple reserves my services, an agreement is signed. One of the terms of this agreement is that the retainer is non-refundable. The restriction is there to protect my business. What if Solaris is unable to rebook the cancelled date? When a date is booked, as a policy, I turn away any and all requests for the same date. Yes, I could try and book two weddings on the same day, but I don’t. With each booked date I pass up multiple opportunities to book the same date. I record the statistics of all my inquiries, and to date I have referred out 11 weddings for the same date to some of my favorite photographers in Houston. We will be contacting those inquiries starting tomorrow to see if they are still in need of a photographer.

As you can imagine, this is a hard situation for both families involved. I am writing this information, asking for your help. Do you know of anyone getting married on 7/21/07? Do they still need a photographer? If so, please send them my way. I need to rebook that date so I can return my clients retainer. I really want to help them out.

There is a small bit of good news here though. For the past three years I have been booked on every weekend in July. It’s a popular month, so I really don’t see any problems here with rebooking the date. It is just a matter of when. I just want to give the family some relief a bit faster than if I had not taken the time to write this entry.

I hope that this entry is received well, as it is rather unorthodox. I don't want this to be viewed as a marketing ploy to get more business. It's not. I just can’t kick someone while they are down.

O.K. Back to work I go. Thank you for your time.

Aric C. Hoek
The Master of Shadoows
Houston Wedding / Family Photographer

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