November 2020 wedding worries

I'm going to be in a similar situation soon. December wedding, my tasting is scheduled for July and 2 weeks after the tasting half of my payment is due.

What I think I'm going to do, is try to get something in writing from my venue regarding whether they'll let me postpone or cancel and get my money back. I'm worried about paying half of it which will be like $10,000 and then they refuse to reimburse if later on we have to cancel. My contract is kinda unclear about whether I'd get money back in this situation so I just want some kind of confirmation before spending that much money.

View Quoted Comment Same! Ours will come out to about 12k and that’s so hard to justify when it’s all so unknown. Our venue agreed to split our payment up, half due end of May and the other half due end of June. Which isn’t even much of a difference but better then nothing. Our venue isn’t even opening until second week of June and our payment is due last week of May so I’m hoping it gets approved to be paid once they open, I also don’t feel comfortable paying when they’re closed. Our contract said if they’re unable to perform for us we get fully refunded, but it’s a very Grey area & I asked more specifics if we decide to cancel or postpone come September and they don’t really answer. Which I understand, but still makes it hard to decide. We’re basing our wedding off kids going back to school. If it’s middle of September and kids still aren’t back, there’s no way we will have a wedding in November. That’s how we see it, but if we pay and cancel without them being clear we’re expected to lose that money. It does help that my fiancé is a lawyer and can try and read between contract lines and hopefully be able to fight it, if needed. It’s just still so hard to decided what to do when so much can change is these 6 months. I don’t think things will be perfect in our state come November, but I also can’t say what the situations will be with gatherings and those restrictions. Also all other opinions just tear me up more. On one side people are trying to tell me it’ll be fine and not to worry and the other half is also questioning what it’ll be like during that time. I feel for all the brides, especially the brides with weddings this summer, but it’s hard to figure out how comfortable I am with putting more money into an event that is still unknown about. It’s rough! I feel you girl!!

November 3rd wedding here! I do not have any plans to postpone. So many states are opening back up soon, and I really think things will be fine by then! Do you have a ton of guests traveling? I think that’s a main factor for me. Lots of my guests are from around here (minus family).

Hi Ashley,

I'm sorry that you're feeling worried in the midst of wedding planning. As you said, I believe you have some time until you need to make a decision, but it's fair to be concerned about the payment. On the flip side, it must be refreshing to hear that your venue has been flexible in rescheduling other weddings so far. If you had to postpone your November wedding, would you plan to wait until the next November? Have you asked your venue to place a soft hold on a 2021 date? That could ease your mind.

You certainly are not alone in this uncertainty. Here's a related discussion: November 2020 wedding - anyone postponing yet?

Also, WeddingWire recently published an article on How to Pivot Your Wedding Planning Amid the Coronavirus Crisis that may be helpful to you. If you want to consider your options and next steps, WeddingWire has linked a ton of resources here: Our COVID-19 Weddings Advice Guide.

I hope everything works out for your November wedding!

November 14,2020 Texas bride here!! I definitely understand your thoughts about this 100% as I have been dealing with the same thing. I do not plan on making that final decision In July or August on postponing or canceling. I recently asked my venue a bunch of questions since my final payment would be due in July, and they agreed that to make me feel comfortable they will accept my final payment 90-60 days instead of at the 120day mark, and if I decide to cancel it would need to be within in 60 days of my wedding date, and they will give me 50% of my deposit. If I did decide to postpone I would not be doing anything on that original date and just hold out until my new date. I keep having the feeling that everything will be okay, but then thinking about the numbers like, if I proceed usually 20% of your guest do not attend, and then actually how much of a preventable will actually show during this time knowing the current covid situation, and flu season being right around this time. I do not plan on doing zoom or fb live, and plan on having the wedding I planned for with all cdc guidelines in place. Also, I do not want to have a 40 guest wedding and come out all the money spent on this wedding for the amount of people I could have fitted at my aunts house🤷🏾‍♀️ So if anything I would be postponing until May. I know you feel like your venue may not know how to proceed being so far out, but as a business they should. I told my venue based on the new rules for weddings and receptions in Texas recently given to businesses it does allow everyone to come up with an action plan instead of having to wait until a certain month to know more, and figure out how they will proceed with the current clients and remaining 2020 clients if the percentage does go up or down, any penalties, postponement, or even cancelations/refunds. In my opinion, when signing the contract if the venue is unable to hold up their end of the contract due to nuclear fallout, global pandemic, coronavirus whatever the case may be there should not be any penalties to the client as they are still planning on holding up their end of the contract. One could possibly go to another venue that could hold their preferred guest count with social distancing in place, but one cannot if they are bound to someone who isn't holding up their end.

After I sent a long email they came back with some answers that gave me some what of a clear conscience, but I’m still waiting on a follow up regarding some more questions I thought of.