Hi all, so my daughter got married on 11-1-24, my husband and I basically paid for the entire wedding. They wanted to have it at a vineyard, we found a place that was at someones house. They had a small vineyard and a large covered but outdoor area for the reception. Since we live in Oklahoma, the weather is unpredictable in Nov. so I purchased the cancelation insurance along with limited liability ins. So the grooms mother paid for hair and makeup to be done for the 3 bridesmaids, herself and me, then her sons hair ( it's very long and he wanted it in all types of braids). Then my daughter's father paid for the photographer. So here is what happened: the morning of the wedding the 2 hair and makeup ladies showed up at 11:40, non of us were there yet. The girls got int the property because my daughter gave them the gate code, then they parked their cars right by one of the houses they use as an air b&b, that was part of the contract for the women to use to get ready. The venue owners pulled up and told them that they couldn't be there, and they both started a back and forth argument, some of it was recorded by one of the girls. The venue owner was calling me and was telling me that she was going to call the police on them. The girls in the video, you can hear her saying that she will wait outside the gate until my daughter got there. But what it came down to is the venue owner forced them to leave and not return to the property. The venue is a good 45 min from our house and about 15 from my daughter. We were getting things ready to leave but we weren't quite ready but my husband jumped in the truck to go and try to resolve the situation. When my daughter arrived the venue owner started in on her about the hair and makeup girls, we also have a video of that. She was so upset, the groom was upset, things were just getting out of hand. When I got there the venue owner tried to get me involved, but I wasn't going to let her suck me in, we had to set up. We were allowed to bring the decorations the night before but couldn't set anything up until the day of, and per the contract we couldn't get there until 11am. The wedding was at 6:30, we had to decorate the the vineyard area for the wedding and also the reception area, tables, flowers, candles etc. So as you can imagine this is minimal time. Back to the hair and makeup girls, the venue owner told my daughter that they could come back if they got down on their knees and begged for her forgiveness. As you can imagine the girls were not about to do that, so the grooms mom rented a hotel room and it was about 25 min away from the venue. This just made everything so incredibly difficult, the bridesmaids and my daughter left to go do hair and makeup (it was already about 1 at this point). This whole situation made us all out of sorts, things were forgotten at home since we had to jump and run out the door. What makes me most sadden about all of this is the extra time that was wasted because of this issue, I did not get to get ready with my daughter, I didn't get to help her get dressed, there are no photos of her getting her hair and makeup done, no photos of me with my daughter in the bridal suite. These people robbed her and I of this experience. The groom and I were done about the same time with hair and makeup so we flew back to the venue, his mom was just getting in the chair to get done. We got to the venue and it was 6:35, wedding was supposed to start at 6:30, and we still had to get dressed. So this also means that my daughter and the groom didn't get to take the pictures they had planned on taking during the daylight by the pond that was there. The grooms mom didn't get back until almost 7, the wedding party was in line waiting for her, and she had to get dressed in her van.
Other things that happened since I had to leave, when the cake was delivered, the artist didn't know where the flowers where, so the cake was just white with nothing on it.
I filled the insurance claim that Monday, and after emailing back and forth with the examiner about all the details and sending all the videos, they denied the claim saying that we had received all services that we paid for and that they don't pay for claims just because we are unsatisfied with the service. I was claiming personal injury and breach of contract.
Any advice is appreciated, it's just not right that a venue owner can do things like this to a paying customer and nothing happen to them. Oh she even told my daughter that she didn't need hair and makeup done (it wasn't as a complement).
