Changing wedding plans after save the dates sent

Not sure yet about the deposit.... if they don't give it back them I am sure I can get a lawyer involved.

I'm thinking it is a breach of contract for them to renovate the venue after I sign the contract without informing me first.... I don't think I am expected to just accept whatever they feel like doing to the venue unless they told me about it before I signed the contract (which they didn't)

So sorry to hear about this! Thankfully Brigalias and your vendors are all available on Dec. 3. I would be incredibly stressed if this were my venue, and would want to switch to Brigalias just to be safe/not worry. I don't think I could have a surprise wedding venue. (How are you supposed to plan decor, etc!?) It's easy for me to say to switch through the computer, though, since I'm not in your shoes.

Read the contract VERY carefully. I know ours has a ton of language in it that basically says they have to provide us a certain set of services, but it doesn't matter if they change things within the venue.

I totally understand why you're upset and I would be freaking out too, but honestly...Cescaphe is not going to risk the bad word of mouth of canceling people's weddings or making them ugly. I remember your original post where you said the owner said that in the worst case scenario they could make a great wedding happen anywhere, and while I don't think it will come to that, I'd trust them. They'd probably rather lose profit on crazy temporary architecture and draping than lose their reputation, because people aren't going to keep paying Cescaphe $180+ a plate if they have that kind of black mark on their record. Just my two cents.

I'd send new save the dates

If you can't get your deposit back from the first place is it still possible/ worth it to change? I completely understand where you're coming from about they should give you the deposit back, however if none of that language is in your contract, then technically they don't have to give the deposit back. Would they look like dicks? Absolutely. Would it legally matter? Absolutely not.

ETA: just something to think about. I totally understand why you want to change and would absolutely get the word out via phone, email, second STD, something.

I heard that save the dates are not a huge deal since it gives you buffer room to change anything before the official invitations go out.

We had to make a huge change to our venue location months after STDs had been sent out. We had already booked our venue for a DW in the Caribbean and then Zika became a big thing and some of our VIP guests refused to travel there. We contacted everyone we invited and explained the situation. Only one couple had booked flights and were able to cancel, so we got lucky with that. We did keep our date the same though since we knew a lot of people had already requested time off.

Just to add to the STD discussion, some people don't have the time to spread the word by mouth. My FH and the majority of his good friends all work extremely long hours and spend a lot of their time on client calls or in meetings. A lot of times, their personal calls/texts get pushed aside and completely forgotten. So even if my FH did have time to call his friends, there's a good chance they'd miss his voicemail. Based on past experiences, we have a much better chance of reaching them through the mail. They also need to request time off quite far in advance. We did not send them out until we had a date, venue, budget, and guest list set in stone. Deposit for venue, as well as deposits for most other vendors, was already paid. IMO, you should not send out STDs until you have your venue secured, at the very least.

OP, sorry to hear that this is happening to you. Hopefully the company refunds your deposit without hesitation. My sister sent her STDs out a year in advance for a Caribbean wedding and in that time, her venue burned down, she chose a second and they went out of business. Her third venue ended up being it, but shit, you just never know. I'm booked in Vegas and I called everyone on our guest list with time, date and location so if they needed to request time off they could do so. Don't plan to send STDs, but that's me.

I think if I were you, I would choose to make the change as soon as possible, so I could call everyone who received a STD to let them know about the date and location change before anyone makes travel arrangements. That sounds like a real mess with the Curtis Center. I'm so sorry that is happening!

Call everyone and let them know. Things happen good luck!