Cancelling our venue and they ask us to pay the full cost

If you indicate you no longer can pay the total amount, it should provide room for negotiation. The collection process can be difficult on the venue's part, especially when there is no money to collect. Another option is to negotiate a new date, like a Sunday event, if they want a smoother change of the contract. There also is where you post accurate information on yelp to say "our contract requires full payment even if canceling because our finances changed and we cannot afford the venue and why pay cost of food that they don't have to buy anymore?"

What if the venue cancelled the contract?

This happened the day before the wedding in California.

They cancelled and said they will not receive their $5,000 deposit back.

That seems generally unacceptable. you may be able to win in small claims court possibly incurring additional damages they caused. Sometimes they might have an unavoidable problem and don't give refunds. It sort of depends on the contract you have and whether the venue does this in good faith. The idea of small claims is that you don't go with a lawyer and you have to figure out the evidence you need to present.

Thank you Michael, I will pass along your message.

Unfortunately, she is from California and her husband is from England, which is where they will live. Whether anything can be done long distance is another problem. This all happened when the owner of the venue and her cousin got into a verbal argument. A few harsh words and he cancels, less than 24 hours before the wedding. I do not have any details, but there must be another reason.

That creates an unexpected issue where a possible personal situation or sudden surprise issue arises (possibly a conflict with the owner and booker). If this is sort of what happened to such a severity, it may be pretty rare.

Hey Teej, we are going through a similar situation. Any advise?

Hey Teej, we are going through a similar situation. Any advise?

For those making future reservations for a venue, you can request a modification to the contract that either your reservation and contract can be transferred to a party of your choice and, alternatively, you will not be responsible for further payment if you need to cancel and another group is contracted for the venue at the same general date and time as you scheduled. You could even "permit" that the initial payment be non-refundable. That last point would mean that the venue still would get some compensation from you while still getting full pay from the next party reserving the venue.