Newly Engaged: Be Cautious selecting a Venue for 2021

Hi Frisch! Thanks for sharing the knowledge you've picked up as your booking for 2021 right now!

You're totally right - everything has changed in the world (including the wedding world), so there are definitely some different things you should be considering in your contracts and agreements! It's been really tough for some couples and vendors who have signed contracts in a pre-covid world, and is absolutely important to spend more time talking about payment schedules, non-refundable deposits, and postponement / cancellation processes!

I 1000% agree!!!! Im supposed to getting married this summer. Our venue is being ridiculous. Although no one has complained about them on Yelp/Google review, just wait- they are coming!

Be careful- especially since there are rumors about second wave of COVID- you do not want to be stuck in a similar situation as the couples from this year.

View Quoted Comment Sarah, same here. We’re 63 days away and they’re not letting us reschedule yet without ridiculous markup fees and an elective change fee. We’re supposed to get married Labor Day weekend. New Jersey just rolled back on indoor dining. No one‘s even been reaching out to us it’s been such a nightmare. We’re just looking for any answers or creative solutions. And I feel bad when I see on their Instagram that they’re booking new brides for next year. I just want to warn them about how terribly we’ve been being treated and how our venue is basically holding our $17,000 hostage. I’m hoping that something will turn around with them, but if nothing changes I don’t know what else to do. They’re making this being a Bridal experience a nightmare.

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Frish,

Wow, very similar situation we are in. Our venue is letting us reschedule 90 days of our wedding date if we need more time to prepare with no fee. However, they only have like Mondays and Tuesdays available. We have a Fri wedding paying weekend fees. They said we can pick a Mon/Tues but still responsible for paying weekend fee and same guest count. SUCH a joke. If we want to reschedule to next year, they are charging us like 25% of the total bill.....

They have our 20k and they stopped responding to us, after we said we are considering getting an attorney if this is not resolved. We have hired an attorney and we are taking action. Our attorney is already handling suits against wedding venues. We actually got lucky that our contract is pretty clear & has force majore clause we can use (act of god/travel restrictions). Our contract says we can cancel with 15% admin fees which is fine.

Honestly, I think these venues are trying to buy time in hopes that Murphy will open indoor dining to some capacity just so they can say "Look, we can have a wedding!"

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Can I ask what law firm? we may be looking too

View Quoted Comment Hi Samantha, one of our lawyer friends told us to look for someone that practices general law so I can’t recommend anyone just yet. if you do come across someone who is familiar with these types of cases I would love to know!

Our attorney is already handling some cases related to wedding venues.


Just be aware... venues are NOT responding and ignoring all emails and calls to our attorney. They are buying time and trying to be funny and playing games. Ridiculous.

Https://www.nj.com/coronavirus/2020/07/with-couples-wedding-on-hold-nj-banquet-hall-refuses-to-return-45k-deposit-suit-says.html

Another example of wedding venues not making any sense. The alternate dates they have provided for me and the couple in the article are not MUTUALLY agreeable. Therefore, please give back what is rightfully ours.

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And another one. What is going on with these venues? So wrong. Such bullies.

https://www.nj.com/coronavirus/2020/07/is-monday-is-the-new-saturday-for-weddings-venues-try-to-reschedule-but-brides-and-grooms-balk.html

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Hi Sarah,

Could you private message me the lawyer you are using? NJ Bride here as well and I am hoping to reach out to a lawyer that is already working with other couples.

Thank you and good luck with everything! we will get through this

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Thank you! I will and hopefully it won't come to that as much as possible. Fingers crossed people start being reasonable as the fall dates get closer and its clear these weddings cannot be hosted by these venues...

Thank you for the heads up even tho my venue kept everything the same as we agreed on for my 2020 wedding... The new date is 2021 now