+1 with Zeph,
The UCC says that people must mitigate their losses. It don't matter what the contract says, the venue, photographer, etc. must make a good faith effort to mitigate their losses.
Quote:
The measure of compensation that a claimant is entitled to recover is the loss naturally flowing from the legal wrong. This measure of damage is offset by a duty to mitigate – or minimize – losses suffered by them by taking all reasonable steps to mitigate the loss consequent on the breach.
Thus, simply because a defendant breaches a contract or infringed copyright does not mean that a claimant is entitled to recover endless damages or compensation for their conduct. Unsuccessful litigants are not required to compensate a successful claimant where the claimant has sat back and allowed damages to accumulate or to pay sums that are too remote in law to recover.
For instances, a supplier of goods or services fails to deliver, the buyer is not entitled to sit back on a rising market or wait until a contract for onward supply has fallen though, and then claim the loss from the defendant. They must approach the market with reasonable speed and buy equivalent goods or services.
A claimant must take reasonable steps to mitigate loss. Claimants are not entitled to recover those damages represented by sums that are avoidable by taking reasonable steps. If the claimant has failed to take reasonable steps to avoid particular losses, the claimant is not entitled in law to recover them, as they are not entitled to profit from their own neglect. This neglect may take of the form of either failing to take action reasonable steps or allowing an act to continue that would have increases loss.
Where a claimant takes measures to mitigate loss, the defendant is entitled to the benefit of those steps, such that the defendant is required to pay the reduced measures of damages resulting from the steps made in mitigation. In this way, the claimant must hand over the benefit of the steps made in mitigation to the defendant. This applies even if the claimant would have been entitled to recover the losses if the particular steps made in mitigation had not been made.
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The last paragraph is of particular interest, since if they are able to book another person for the day you were supposed to have, then you should get all your money back.
*Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, so contact a professional attorney for help.