Credit Card Required When Booking A Venue?

We had to do that for the restaurant where we had our luncheon after the ceremony. We actually used a debit card, since have no credit cards. Nothing was ever charged to it, but presumably they would have charged something to it if we had just failed to show up for the luncheon, or if we had caused damage to the venue.

Why did they tell you they needed it? Is it to charge in case you fail to pay otherwise? To cover any potential damage (seems a little early for that)? Most places we looked at required a deposit to sign, but did not require a credit card to be kept on file.

We paid our deposit via credit card to the ceremony venue. I'm not sure if we had the option to pay another way

This is completely normal and standard practice. unfortunately, some people book venues / hotels etc and then cancel and or otherwise default on the contract. by that point the venue has turned away and / or lost other business and would have no recourse other than a card on file to cover themselves. they do not charge anything on it - it is for guarantee.

think of it along the lines of providing a CC when you reserve a hotel room. unfortunately they can't just 'take your word for it' -- they have to have some sort of promise of payment.

most venues require a sizable deposit to hold the date - so if they are only asking you for a cc to guarantee you are lucky.

congrats on finding your location!

It's to cover their ass incase you don't show up, or someone breaks something, then they can just charge it to you, and not worry about having to chase you for payment

OK but 11 months before? They didn't say why and said I could pay with a check except for the final payment.

Having a credit or debit card on file seems pretty standard. I think almsot every single one of the venues we talked to required that, even if we were paying with check or cash for the deposit and final payment. Its to make sure you don't disappear and they don't lose out.

How far in advance it is has no bearing on whether or not you should provide guarantee of payment. As soon as they hold the date for you, they are turning away all other interested parties and potentially losing business.

if you tried to rent a car several months in advance, they would require your credit card to guarantee it. a venue is dealing with thousands of dollars and liability on top of that...

unfortunately, in this day and age, no one would stay in business just taking people's word for it.

i booked my venue a year in advance and had to provide a sizable deposit immediately, so again - if all they are asking for is a cc to guarantee you are getting out easy.

Seems to me it's a safety net for them in case some people try not to pay. Did you get a copy of the contract? I'd recommend getting it and taking a look - the final 2 places we were considering allowed us to look at their contracts before signing. We had to put a $2000 deposit down when we signed and half down (for the minimum required guests) 6 months after signing (which was still about 1.5 years before the wedding). It was their way of making sure they weren't left with nothing if we canceled 1 month ahead of time after they'd put time and effort into us.

My hairdresser required a credit card down .. thats the wedding busn for you

We paid our deposit with our debit but it wasn't a requirement, actually our venue gives us until 3 days before the wedding to make final payments but if we do it up to a week before we can use card or check but if we wait to the exact 3 days they actually want cash only.

I think it's normal for a lot of businesses to do that especially when there's a chance of their customers not showing up or even bother to cancel and potential damages, etc... I would first them ask why and read their disclaimers and if the reasons are valid I personally don't see anything wrong with it.

I guess the real problem is that the contract that we were asked to sign didn't state what we were getting. Like signing a blank contract!

I'd be more worried about signing a blank contract. Of course, if you don't have details worked out yet (number of meals, meal selections, etc.), it is probably just reserving the banquet rooms.

Is it blank 'cause they fill it in? We had parts of our contract that were filled in once we signed it, but payment options, payment timelines, etc. were all written already. They added minimum number of guests, the package we chose, the time, etc. after we straightened that all out, because the min. # of guests, for example, changes based on day and time. We also added an addendum to our contract. If you're uncomfortable with the contract they gave you, I'd recommend writing up things you'd want to be in the contract that aren't. We felt, for example, that we should make sure that if there was a natural disaster or a fire or something, that they should give us the option of getting our money back or rescheduling to a date and time that worked for both of us. There were some things that they stated verbally that weren't in the contract that we also added - like changes to the payment options, you can use credit for the final payment now. How is the contract "blank" right now?

And remember, if it's just the details specific to your day that are blank, you don't have to sign the contract until they're all filled out and you feel comfortable about it! What does it say about the credit card, specifically, if you're not required to pay with it?

I used a personal check for our venue

The contract only has info about booking and payment.

There is no mention of the package that we selected.

If this were adding I would be ok about giving them the cc

Hey! Which venue did you book with? I'm getting married this May and I'm having a really hard time finding a venue that doesn't require a credit card.