Wedding Bells and Safety Nets: Navigating Wedding Insurance
Written by Gloria Schulz, Gloria Schulz Events | Cover Photo by Glorianna Chan
When you are planning a wedding you have many items on your checklist to do, to buy or to book. Like finding your wedding venue and wedding dress or choosing the cake and flowers. These are all new, exciting and fun things to do during the wedding planning process. But then there are the nut and bolts of wedding planning to check off your list as well. Important items like the budget, logistics and timeline are not as much fun to think about. So we are here to help you with one area that you may not have even thought about yet: Purchasing wedding insurance.
Why Wedding Insurance?
Wedding insurance is one of the items that most couples do not think about, but it is highly recommended by wedding planners and venues. Weddings are events with a lot of logistics and moving parts and it is very possible that something might go awry. So be sure to plan for the unexpected and for any issues that may arise on your wedding day! It could be the weather, a no-show vendor, an injured guest or even a postponement. Take for instance a worldwide pandemic. None of us saw that coming!
When the COVID-19 virus shut down the world, many weddings were canceled or postponed. And cancellation insurance was no longer available to purchase. So many couples had to pay extra fees for rescheduling their weddings. And many had to reschedule their weddings more than once. That was a lot of extra money for couples to shell out to their venues and vendors. Money they did not have set aside or budgeted for!
To eliminate the worry of the unforeseen that might occur, purchasing wedding insurance should be a definite item on your list. To help you understand wedding insurance, we checked in with one the largest insurance companies, Markel Insurance, to get more information about wedding insurance. What it is exactly and why do you need it? There are two different types of wedding insurance, Liability Insurance and Cancellation Insurance. Let’s dive into them!
Wedding Liability Insurance
Wedding Liability Insurance is important to have because it covers your liability if something happens out of your control and you are held responsible for it. For example, it can help you to avoid a financial loss if the venue you have booked sustains damage or someone is injured at your wedding. While we hope these don’t happen at your wedding, you can be covered if they do. Here are three pros to obtaining liability insurance:
- Coverage up to $2 million dollars.
- Coverage for your rehearsal dinner, ceremony and reception.
- Add your venue as an “additional insured” for no additional cost.
Wedding Cancellation Insurance
Wedding Cancellation Insurance is very important to have in case you have to postpone or cancel your wedding due to illness, weather or other vendor/venue issues. Here are the pros to obtaining Cancellation Insurance:
- Reimbursement for the non-refundable vendor deposits
- Coverage for damage to your wedding attire and jewelry.
- Coverage for lost/stolen gifts.
“California Wildfires destroyed a winery where an insured was hosting their wedding. Our wedding cancellation policy paid out almost $37,000 which allowed the couple to proceed with their wedding at a new location.”
As you can see, you are not in control of mother nature or a vendor’s mishap. But you can be in control to buy a wedding insurance policy before your wedding to protect yourself. It is a peace of mind in case something should happen that cancels or postpones your wedding. You would purchase home or car insurance to protect those valuable assets that you own. So we recommend protecting one of the most important and memorable days of your life: your wedding day!
When to Book
We have given you the information about what wedding insurance covers and now we will let you know when you should purchase it! As with all of your wedding planning, the sooner the better. Once you start to book your vendors is when I suggest purchasing your wedding insurance. However, some companies (like Markel!) will even let you purchase the policy up to one day before your wedding.
The cost of your wedding insurance policy will vary from state to state, so it is best to get a quote. Liability insurance prices can range from $75 to $235. Cancellation insurance policies can start at $130. Cancellation insurance is not available in all areas, so it is a very important question to ask.
Providers
You should do your due diligence researching wedding insurance companies, just as you would for your wedding vendors. Each company will have different deductibles and policies and some might include a “change of heart” cancellation clause due to cold feet. So reach out to a few of them for quotes to compare the coverages available and choose the one that is the best fit for you!While we spoke with Markel Insurance to gather insights for this article, to help you make the best decision here are a few other wedding insurance companies that offer comprehensive coverage:
You can also check with your own homeowner’s policy to see if they also provide wedding insurance.With so many choices to make, wedding planning can be overwhelming. One of the most important choices should be protecting your wedding investment with wedding insurance. A wedding insurance policy ensures that you will be covered for any unexpected wrinkles in your plans. With this protection, you’ll be able to file an insurance claim if necessary and the rest is happy ever after.
About the Author
Gloria Schulz is the founder of Gloria Schulz Events, an Atlanta- based custom wedding planning and day-of coordination company.
After assisting with weddings for a few years, Gloria left her 19-year career in customer service and launched Gloria Schulz Events in 2019. Now with seven years of weddings under her belt, she and her team are ready to help you create an enjoyable experience both before and on your wedding day.
Gloria Schulz Events | gloriaschulzevents.com