Get it in writing!!

Didn't get it in writing? It didn't happen!That's the scenario that we all want to avoid. Contracts are more than just a letter of commitment between two parties. Contracts protect the both of you. I've had clients that come to me 2-3 weeks before their event and say: "Gosh, if I'd known that xyz was going to happen I would have gotten it in writing." Then they look to me with puppy eyes and say; can you help? Depending on what the picture is is what will be the telltale of whether or not Perfect Settings can save the day. We have long, tried and true relationships with most event specialist in our area. But that is all besides the point! If the vendor is "throwing in" ANYTHING it's not uncouth to say; "could I bother you to add that as an addendum to my contract?" If they are committed and honest to what they just offered, they will not have a problem with jotting that down. Here's the worst (which actually happened): I'm hired for "day of" coordination. I show up at the reception facility right after the ceremony to find that the stage that was to be "lush like Shakespeare's A Mid Summer's Night Dream" was all but. There was a ficus tree, a bench, a lamppost, a trellis and a few ferns. I quickly find the decorator. I say something like: When is the stage being completed? She says, pan faced: What are you talking about? Me? (irritated since guests are about to walk through the door): "What happened to the Mid Summer's Night Dream?!" She looks at me in the most pained expression: "I decided that she didn't pay me enough for that so I decided last night that I wasn't going to do it." Are. You. Kidding. Me???!! My face must have shown that while my mouth was hanging open. Before I went any further I go to my trusty binder to find her contract. Sure enough... no mention of such Garden is there. Since I was "day of" (which is another topic) I wasn't there for the signing of this contract, nor was this decorator on my preferred list of vendors. After a VERY heated conversation she agrees to run to her shop and bring some more foliage out. End result: maybe something akin to a backyard garden. No Mid Summer's Night Dream here. It was more like a Mid Summer's Nightmare. As the bride came in to the reception facility it was the first thing she noticed. I say to her "this is your day... don't let the action of one person determine how your reception is going to go" She was almost in tears then I reassure her; "trust me, it was worse!" ... of course, the garden was what she was looking forward to the most. Some years later, I bump into this bride and ask what ever happened with the garden decor. "I didn't have a leg to stand on... it wasn't in writing and my wedding was long over" is what she said. How very true. So, get it in writing!