The eleven questions to ask before you sign anything

Most of what goes wrong in event planning was answerable before anything was signed. These eleven questions apply to almost every supplier, and asking them consistently is the cheapest protection available.

1. Who, specifically, is working on my date?

Not the company — the person. Agencies and larger suppliers frequently allocate later. If you chose them for a particular photographer, DJ or stylist, that name belongs in the contract.

2. What exactly is included, and what is excluded?

Ask for the exclusions in writing. The gaps between supplier scopes are where unbudgeted costs live, and every supplier knows their own edges precisely.

3. How many hours, and what does overtime cost?

Nearly everything is priced by time. Know the hourly rate before the night, because the decision to extend is made at 11pm when saying no is hardest.

4. What do you need from the venue?

Power, space, access, time, parking, a meal. Collect these from every supplier and compare the total against what the venue actually has.

5. What is your cancellation policy, and your postponement policy?

Two different things. Postponement is far more likely to matter and is often the more generous of the two.

6. What happens if you personally cannot attend?

Illness happens. A professional supplier has an answer — a named second, or a network they will call. "That has never happened" is not an answer.

7. Do you have public liability insurance?

Ask for the certificate. Most venues require it, and a supplier without it is telling you something about how they operate.

8. When is the balance due, and how do I pay it?

Put it straight into your payment calendar. Confirm any later change of bank details by phone, on a number you already had.

9. How many events do you take on that day?

Relevant for caterers, florists, photographers and DJs. Two events in a day means a compressed bump-out and a supplier who is watching a clock.

10. What do you need from me, and by when?

Final numbers, song lists, shot lists, floor plans. Get every deadline into one calendar at the point of booking rather than discovering them individually.

11. Who do I call on the day, and who do you call?

A mobile number that will be answered, and clarity about who is coordinating. If the answer is that they expect the venue to coordinate, and the venue expects them to, you have found a gap before it found you.

Eleven questions, asked consistently, prevent most of what this journal describes. None of them require expertise — only the discipline to ask before signing rather than after.