Postponement clause: moving an event date

Sample clause

Written for videography contract between Larkspur Films, a fictional wedding videographer, and a couple marrying in the Hunter Valley.

Postponement. (a) The Clients may postpone the Event once, by written notice, to a new date within 12 months of the original date. (b) If notice is given more than 60 days before the original date, all payments carry across to the new date at no extra cost. (c) If notice is given within 60 days, payments carry across and a rebooking fee of $300 is payable. (d) If the Videographer is not available on the new date, it will offer up to three alternative dates. If none suits, the postponement is treated as a cancellation by the Clients on the date notice was given. (e) The fee for the new date is the fee in this contract, unless the new date is more than 12 months away, when the Videographer's current rates apply to any balance. (f) If an event beyond either party's control prevents the Event, either party may postpone it under this clause without any fee.

Sample wording, not legal advice.

Variants

What to negotiate

• How many moves and how far

  Suppliers usually allow one postponement within a set window, often 12 months, because each move blocks another date. Clients should ask for a reasonable window and for payments to carry across in full. A cap on the number of moves stops a booking drifting indefinitely.

• Price on the new date

  Prices often rise over a year. The clause should say whether the original price holds for the new date, as the sample does within 12 months, or whether current rates apply. Clients should seek a price freeze for postponements within the window.

• When no date works

  If the supplier is not free on any date that suits the client, the postponement fails. The clause should say what happens then: usually it is treated as a cancellation on the date notice was given, with the cancellation bands applied, which can matter a great deal for how much is refunded.

The risk of leaving it out

Without a postponement clause, a client who needs to change the date may have to cancel and lose money under the cancellation terms, even though both sides would prefer to keep the booking. A supplier asked to move a date has no clear basis for a rebooking fee or a price change, and disputes over carried payments follow.

Postponement against cancellation

A postponement keeps the contract alive with a new date; a cancellation ends it. Because a postponement still gives the supplier the work, it is usually cheaper for the client, which is why contracts allow it on easier terms. The photography example puts both in one table: more than 90 days' notice moves the booking fee once to a new date within 12 months, with stricter outcomes closer to the date.

Postponement and consumer law

When a supplier, rather than the client, postpones a service, the client's rights under the Australian Consumer Law still apply: services must be supplied within a reasonable time, and a client may be entitled to a refund if they cannot use the service at the new date. Terms in standard form consumer contracts that let only the supplier change dates without remedy can be unfair. Law checked on 21 October 2026. This page explains how the law works and is not legal advice.

Events beyond control

Many contracts now separate postponements caused by events beyond either party's control, such as severe weather or a government order, from postponements the client chooses. The sample waives the fee in that case. The videography example carries everything paid across to a date the videographer is free, and treats equipment failure and force majeure in its own clause.

Where the clause sits in a generated document

Photography, videography, event planning, speaker and sponsorship contracts carry this clause beside cancellation. When asking the AI document generator for one, give the number of moves, the window, the notice bands and fees, the price for the new date and what happens if no new date works.

Documents that carry this clause

Videography contract template with shoot days and a delivery tableVideo work is quoted in days and judged in files, and the two rarely match up in writing. This contract sets out the crew hours for each shoot day, lists nine deliverables with a length, a format and a date, and answers the two questions clients ask last: who gets the raw footage, and can the music be used in an ad.Photography contract template with deliverables you can countA photography contract is mostly a list of numbers: hours, images, weeks, dollars and the date after which the deposit is gone. This one writes every number down, then handles the three things that go wrong with weddings, a postponement, a sick photographer and an argument over who owns the photos.Speaker agreement template covering the fee, travel and the recordingMost speaker agreements fall over on two things nobody wrote down: who books the flight, and what happens to the video afterwards. This three page example answers both, with a table that names the payer for every travel line and a clause that lets the organiser keep clips of up to 90 seconds while copyright in the talk stays with the speaker.Sponsorship agreement template that lists every benefit with a numberSponsorship falls apart in the delivery, when nobody can find the email that said how many banners and which stage. This agreement is the benefits list as a table with quantities and dates, the $18,000 fee in instalments tied to those dates, and the two clauses sponsors care about most: exclusivity, and what happens if the event does not go ahead.

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