A couple session is short, often outdoors, and depends on light and weather. The question that keeps coming back is the date: what happens when it has to move? In Graindevue, the answer depends on one precise moment, the client's signature on the contract.
This page follows a couple session from request to gallery, and shows how to change the date before that signature and what is settled after it. Graindevue works in euros, for photographers working in France.
A couple session, step by step
| Step | Who / where | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Request | The couple, on your profile | The person booking picks the "Couple" type, your package, the date, start time and location ("Photographer's studio" or "Custom location"), then clicks "Book Session". |
| 2. Receipt | You, in Studio | The Booking appears with the "Booking Requested" status. |
| 3. Adjustments | You, the Booking's "Session" card | "Edit" opens "Edit Booking Details": date, time, duration, location. |
| 4. Contract | You, "Contract" tab | At your studio, "Add the shooting address" with the studio's address. "Generate Contract", review, then "Send for Review". |
| 5. Signatures | The client, then you | The client signs first, then you sign. When the client signs, the date and terms are settled. |
| 6. Payment | The client | The deposit, then the balance, as set on the package. |
| 7. Gallery | You, "Files" tab | Once the Booking is fully paid, "Upload" then "Share Gallery". |
Fictional example: Léa and Sami, a sunset session
This example is made up to illustrate the flow.
Léa books your "Couple, 1 hour" package for a Saturday in May at 7:30 pm, at a "Custom location" on the Bordeaux riverside. You generate the contract and send it. The day before signing, Léa writes in the Booking's conversation: rain is forecast, can you move to the following Saturday?
Léa has not signed the contract. You open "Edit" on the "Session" card, change the "Event Date", then "Save Changes". Studio shows "Stale Contract"; you click "Regenerate Contract", review it and send it again with "Send for Review". Léa signs the new contract, at the new date.
Changing the date before the client signs
As long as the client has not signed, you can change the session yourself:
- on the Booking page, "Session" card, click "Edit";
- in "Edit Booking Details", change the "Event Date" and "Event Time" (the new date must stay in the future), then "Save Changes";
- if a contract was already generated, Studio warns that the "Contract Will Become Out of Date". The contract then shows "Stale Contract" and can no longer be sent or signed;
- click "Regenerate Contract": the contract is rebuilt from the updated Booking, with the new date. Review it, then send it with "Send for Review";
- let the couple know in the Booking's conversation.
The date change is made on the photographer's side: the couple ask you for the new date by message, and you save it.
After the client signs: what is settled
When the client signs, the information that feeds the contract is settled: date and time, duration, location, price lines, payment configuration and cancellation terms. That is what gives the signed contract its value.
For another date after that signature, the Booking is cancelled and the couple send a new request for the new date:
- before your own signature, with "Decline booking";
- once both parties have signed the contract, with "Cancel booking", which refunds the client everything they have paid.
The contract provides no rescheduling: to change the date after signing, the couple cancels under the package's "Refund Schedule", written into the contract, then makes a new request.
In practice, for an outdoor session, agree on the fallback date with the couple before they sign, and keep it in the conversation.
The couple contract
For a package of the "Couple" type, Graindevue uses a template written for couple sessions. It includes:
- joint consent of both partners to the session;
- use of the images in your portfolio, which requires both partners' agreement, and the option to withdraw that consent;
- weather conditions for outdoor sessions, and stopping the session if consent is withdrawn.
The contract has one signer on the client side: the person who made the Booking. They sign, pay and receive the gallery. When someone books a session as a gift, that person is therefore your client. You can adapt the template's editable articles on the package, or for one session with "Edit Template" while the contract is a draft. The contract text is in French. The full flow is on the contract management page.
Payment and gallery
Payment opens once both parties have signed the contract, according to the "Deposit Percentage", "Balance Due" and payment methods set on the package. For a request made 5 days or less before the session, full payment is required. The choice between acompte and arrhes, and what it means on cancellation, is explained in the deposit guide.
The gallery opens in the "Files" tab once the Booking is fully paid. You upload with "Upload" and deliver with "Share Gallery". The person who booked, signed in to their account, downloads the originals and shares them with their partner. See the gallery delivery page.
What Graindevue costs
€29 per month after a 30-day trial with no card, and no platform commission on your Bookings. Online payments go through Stripe, whose processing fees apply. See the zero commission page.
Going further
- If the couple then choose you for their wedding, that is a new Booking, with its own package and wedding contract: see wedding photographers.
- For a maternity session with the same couple: maternity photographers.
- To write your rescheduling and cancellation terms: the photography contract guide.
To try a date change on a test Booking, start the free 30-day trial, with no card.
Frequently asked questions
Can I change the date of a couple session?
Yes, as long as the client has not signed the contract: "Edit" on the "Session" card, new date, "Save Changes", then "Regenerate Contract" if a contract existed, and "Send for Review".
And once the client has signed the contract?
The date and the contract terms are settled. For another date, the Booking is cancelled and the couple send a new request. If you cancel after both parties have signed, the client is refunded everything they have paid.
How does the couple ask for a new date?
By message, in the Booking's conversation. Before the client signs, you save the new date in Studio, then regenerate the contract if one existed.
Do both partners sign the contract?
The contract has one signer on the client side: the person who booked. The couple template provides for both partners' joint consent, and for both to agree before the images are used in your portfolio.
Can a session be booked as a gift?
The person who books is your client: they sign the contract, pay for the session and receive the gallery. The details of the surprise are arranged with them, in the Booking's conversation.
Do couples get their photos quickly?
You deliver as soon as the series is ready, once the Booking is fully paid. The delivery timeframe set on the package is carried into the contract.