Summary: Weddings are often the largest events people plan in their lives; some people spend thousands of dollars on food, venue, clothes, flowers, and photographs. Unfortunately, not everyone's wedding day goes as planned, and the industry has developed insurance tailored to weddings and to providing coverage for what can go wrong. This article discusses issues and available coverages from a variety of carriers.

Topics Covered:
Introduction
Cancellation
Extra Expense
Photographs and Videos
Gifts
Rented Property
Special Attire
Special Jewelry
Vendors
Professional Counseling
Deductible
Liability Coverage
Personal Liability and Medical Payments to Others
Private Event Site Insurance
Conditions
Conclusion

Introduction

Billions of dollars are spent annually on weddings. While estimates vary, the average American wedding costs somewhere between $19,000 and $32,000 for the event, not including the honeymoon. Some weddings cost much, much more. Included in this cost are clothes, flowers, hair and makeup services, photographers and videographers, musicians, caterers, venue, limousines, decorations, officiants, planners, invitations, thank you cards, programs, guest book, and any other special touches a couple may want. With so much invested into such an important event and the potential for things to go wrong, it is only natural for people to want to protect that investment.

Cancellation

One of the biggest concerns is cancellation or postponement of the event itself. Cancellation can be due to a number of causes including catastrophic weather such as hurricanes and floods, sudden illness or hospitalization of a member of the bridal party or immediate family, or an unexpected call to return to military duty. With weather conditions, the situation must be severe enough that the honoree, immediate family, or an active participant cannot attend, or that a certain percentage of guests are unable to reach the ceremony. Floods, ice storms, and hurricanes all come to mind.

Some carriers have a provision for change of heart coverage, with conditions. The person paying for the event must not be the bride or groom or have had any idea that either honoree might have a change of heart. The change must have occurred a certain number of days in advance of the event; one carrier pays only if the change of heart occurs 365 days before the scheduled wedding. As many couples start planning a wedding a year or more in advance, this is not as unreasonable as it may seem.

Since a cancellation involves all aspects of the event, often included in the cancellation coverage are costs that cannot be refunded such as the venue, caterer, florist, transportation—including airfares and limousines—photographers, musicians, and dressmakers' and tailors' fees unless the clothing is retained by the people involved. The cost for rented clothing is covered.

Extra Expense

In many instances, however, the day can be saved. An alternate venue may be quickly found or other providers may be able to be hired on short notice. Policies will pay for additional expenses over the original expenses for alternate venues or services in order to prevent a covered cause of loss from causing the event to be cancelled. Some carriers require the replacement services to be comparable to the original services and must cost the least amount necessary to proceed with the event. These policies pay only to the extent that the coverage reduces the amount of loss that otherwise would have been payable under coverage A, cancellation/postponement coverage.

Photographs and Videos

Some policies simply pay for the amount of funds lost, while others pay for having photographs or videos retaken. Nonappearance, loss or damage to the film or negatives, and nondevelopment of the film, including failure to load camera or failure to remove lens cap, will invoke coverage for reimbursement to the insured for what was contracted to be paid to the photographer. For videographers, the nonappearance or loss or damage to the tape is reimbursed. Note that there is no coverage for simply a bad photographer; the photographer must either fail to show for the event or the pictures themselves must be ruined or lost and not simply out of focus or too light or dark.

Other policies cover the cost to retake photos or videos if the hired professional fails to show or the film, photographs, or recording is damaged before copies are made or the exposed film does not develop. Costs to reassemble the wedding party to travel to and from any place within the United States more than 200 miles from the place where the photos or video will be retaken are covered. Mileage at thirty cents per mile, tolls and parking fees for those who drive to the retake site are covered, as are hotel and meals up to $750, costs to rehire a photographer or videographer, cost to rent a location, and costs for cake, flowers, and attire are covered.

Gifts

Gifts are a favorite part of weddings, and many couples receive expensive gifts. Coverage varies again from very restrictive to very broad coverage. Some policies provide coverage for gifts only for the seven days preceding and after the ceremony, and only while the gifts are at the insured's or honoree's homes, at the event, or in transit between the two locations. Theft is excluded unless it is reported as soon as possible to the police after discovery of the loss, and theft from an unattended vehicle is excluded unless the vehicle is locked, secured, and forcible entry into the vehicle was made by the thief. Vehicles are easy targets for thieves, and many couples have lost gifts while loading them into vehicles or getting ready to depart from the reception. Coverage applies only if the vehicle is broken into. Damage from wear and tear, deterioration, confiscation, vermin, and atmospheric or climactic conditions (except during the event) is excluded as well. Excessive humidity that damages stored albums is excluded, but damage to gifts from a torrential rain or a tornado during the event is covered.

A broader policy provides coverage during the policy period and pays the full cost to repair or replace gifts without deduction for depreciation. The policy pays the lesser of the cost of a new item identical to the damaged item, the cost of a new item comparable in quality and usefulness to the damaged item. or ten percent of the total limit for gifts. Excluded causes of loss are breakage or scratching unless caused by certain named perils; electrical current unless caused by lightning, mechanical breakdown, nuclear action or war; ordinary causes such as wear or tear, vermin, wetness, dryness, extremes of temperature, damages caused by repair or repair processes, and theft from unattended vehicles unless vehicle was locked, had an audible alarm, and entry was visibly forced.

Rented Property

Some policies provide separate coverage for rented property. The coverage provides for the repair or replacement of lost or damaged property in the care, custody, or control of the insured or the honoree. Exclusions are extensive and include delay or loss of market, dishonesty by the insured, honoree, or person to whom the property was entrusted; items valued over $1,000 unless specifically scheduled; mechanical or electrical breakdown; mysterious disappearance; neglect by the insured or honoree; nuclear action or war; wear and tear or other ordinary causes; and theft from unattended vehicles. Rented property may be tents and chairs for an outside wedding, photo booths for the reception, and decorations, among other things.

Special Attire

The wedding dress is one of the most special parts of a wedding; many brides spend hours and hours searching for just the right dress, and some spend thousands of dollars for the dress alone. While the average cost of a wedding dress is around one thousand dollars, if you have ever seen an episode of “Say Yes to the Dress” you know many brides spend much much more. Kleinfeld's, a well-known store for wedding dresses has some dresses costing $30,000 or more. The policies do not specify that coverage is for the wedding dress only; one policy indemnifies the named insured, the other indemnifies the named insured and honoree, but there are no exclusions for tuxedos, bridesmaids or groomsmens attire, or other special attire. Before the event one policy pays for the cost to replace lost or stolen attire, cost to repair damaged attire not to exceed the original cost, or rental charges if replacement or repair is not possible in time for the event. During the event the cost of repairs, or market value of lost or damaged special attire is paid up to a maximum of fifty percent of the original cost of the item.

Another policy pays the lesser of cost to replace or repair the original item, or the cost to provide a comparable item in quality and usefulness. As has been seen previously, exclusions in both policies are for theft from an unattended vehicle, ordinary wear and tear, cleaning, restoration, alterations, atmospheric or climactic conditions.

Special Jewelry

Honorees want to be as lovely as possible for the event, and some purchase or rent special jewelry for the occasion. The policy provides coverage for loss or damage to special jewelry; one policy provides coverage for the seven days preceding or on the day of the event, other policies provide coverage during the policy period. The jewelry is scheduled onto the policy, and the cost to repair or replace the item is provided barring any exclusions. The exclusions are standard: no thefts from unattended vehicles, no acts of war, no ordinary wear, tear, deterioration, or damage from atmospheric conditions.

Vendors

The vendors are a huge part of any wedding expense, many of whom require advance deposits. Unfortunately it sometimes occurs that the vendor does not deliver the goods or goes out of business and the often sizeable deposit disappears with the vendor. Many policies pay for deposits if the vendor goes out of business before the event or fails to provide services-including venue, transportation, catering, hotel accommodations, photographers, videographers, musicians, entertainment, florists, rented property, and jewelry and clothing rental. Exclusions are for coverage received elsewhere in the policy, and some policies specifically exclude nuclear event or war.

Professional Counseling

Because there are so many emotions tied up in getting married, the cancellation or postponement can cause varying amounts of stress on the honorees or named insureds. The cost for professional counseling if it has been recommended by a medical physician is covered. Some policies cover counseling up to one year after the date the event was to take place, others provide coverage only for 180 days past the originally scheduled date of the event.

Deductible

The deductible applies separately to each coverage in the policy. So, if multiple coverages apply to a loss, the deductible may be applied numerous times. Still, it is a lot less expensive than absorbing the entire loss itself.

Liability Coverage

Not all policies provide liability coverage—some provide only for the cancellation, postponement, vendor issues, or other physical damage losses. Some policies provide only liability insurance, and some vendors, specifically venues, are now requiring couples to have liability coverage in order to be able to use that particular location. Some carriers provide both coverages.

Personal Liability and Medical Payments to Others

This coverage provides basic liability coverage for the named insured and the honoree for occurrences that take place during the event and result in bodily injury, property damage or physical injury. Physical injury is defined as injury other than bodily injury that arises from occurrences such as defamation, libel, slander, false arrest, malicious prosecution, and other such actions. The duty to defend is provided as well. While many of the standard liability exclusions apply, there are some unusual exclusions such as amusement devices, aquatic activities, athletic activities, defect in premises, fireworks or pyrotechnics, vendor acts or omissions, weapons, and willful violation of statute.

Medical expenses do not apply to the named insured, honoree, or relatives of named insured or honoree. The coverage applies to others and must be reported to the carrier within one year of the event.

Additional payments are available for costs incurred for the settlement of any claim brought against the named insured or honoree, interest on damages awarded in any suit, premiums on attachment and appeal bonds, expenses for first aid to others, and loss of earnings up to $100 per day for attendance at trial or hearings by the named insured or honoree.

Private Event Site Insurance

Many vendors are now requiring honorees to provide liability coverage for the use of the venue; this policy provides such coverage for sums the insured is legally responsible for paying due to an occurrence that takes place during the event and that results in bodily injury, property damage, or personal injury. This does not cover damage caused by guests at the event; coverage is for liability arising out of the sole negligence of the honoree or named insured. The exclusions are the same as for the liability coverage and also excludes negligent acts, errors or omissions of the site itself, or injury to employees of the venue arising out of the course of their employment or performance of their work duties.

Conditions

The conditions provisions are pretty standard and include but are not limited to provisions for assignment of policy, cancellation, change of location, fraud, conformity to state statutes, currency, and legal action against the carrier. Duties after a loss are presented in this section and are similar to those in most standard policies.

Conclusion

As mentioned previously, weddings are a huge, billion dollar business. Many couples spend tens of thousands of dollars for a single day's event, and a lot of emotion and stress are tied into planning and coordinating everything for the big day. Things do not always go as planned, however, and with the level of expense tied up in such events, insurance became a necessity. With insurance to provide coverage for cancellation, closing of a venue, and failure of various vendors, the couple can at least recoup some of the expenses involved in planning the big day.