Unexpected Venue Issues

What does your contract say?

Is any of this in your contract?

It should be spelled out in your contract what they are providing and what they allow you to bring. Your old contract should have had it in there that you are not obligated to go through them for alcohol so if it does they have to uphold that.

I think since you signed with the previous rules you should have the previous rules... I, personally, would argue this and if they don't honor it I would ask for a full refund.

^^ what they said... Should be in your contract. If you signed with the understanding you'd pay on a case basis, that should still apply. check your contract. get back to us once you have.

Check your contract. Unless they made it very clear that this was subject to change and you agreed then you should be able to follow the old rules under which you booked.

Echoing what everyone else has said. We've had some major staffing changes with our venue (both the executive chef & our main point of contact have left) and of course our contract doesn't say anything about the people we would be working with (why would it), even though they were a big reason we went with our venue. However, this is something that is likely detailed in your contract, so pull that sucker out!

Please come back and tell us what the contract says.

They should honor the original contract, especially since you have give them money. Shame on them! Please update

If Contract doesn't specify, unfortunately you are subject to the new rules unless they will bend. That's why its important to get EVERY DETAIL in writing, whether or not you think it matters at the time, but moot point now.

Would love to hear what the contract says because this very thing is what partly what they're for. They shouldn't be able to just go and change things like this months after signing.

Check your contract, but sometimes venues write in clauses to protect themselves even if it is stated.

Our contract made no mention of any requirements as to who alcohol was to be bought through or how prices would be calculated, only that under the policy they had alcohol could be served but not sold on the property. Since the contract was so vague we figured we would have some options. The email said that the changes were due to changes in their insurance policies for the property and liability issues, so I'm not sure if I can ask them to go against their insurance policy.

**NOT A LAWYER, BUT: Since they didn't have these terms, and now are trying to add them, I think you might be able to get out of your contract. The tricky part would be finding a replacement venue on this short notice.

What? You booked a venue for a wedding -- an event in which the intention of serving alcohol is (best estimated guess) at least 75% -- and the verbiage in the contract was vague?

OP, you wrote, "Our contract made no mention of any requirements as to who alcohol was to be bought through or how prices would be calculated, only that under the policy they had alcohol could be served but not sold on the property." Did you not have questions about this vague clause? Honestly, it's confusing to me. On the surface, it sounds like you can't have a cash bar or any situation in which a guest will hand cash to bartender for a drink. I would assume you had to buy the alcohol, hand it over to bartender, and let the bartender serve the alcohol until it ran out. You knew you wanted to serve alcohol at your wedding, but you signed off on a contract that was this vague?

Don't ever assume that a vague contract clause will ever work in your favor ("we thought we had options"). Ever. I would take your contract to a lawyer. If there is any way out of this contract and having your deposit returned, go for it. This makes me angry.

Ladies...go over those contracts with a fine tooth comb. If you are the slightest bit confused, pay an attorney to interpret the contract, or, at the very least, put up a post on reddit (reddit saved my life in a huge way recently). The pros that offer free advice on that site are amazing.

**Not legal advice**I'd talk to a lawyer. You should be able to fight the vague language in the contract, but the interpretation would be up to the judge (so the venue might win). If you have emails that talk about you bringing your own alcohol, that might help prove you had an understanding regarding that. See what an attorney says and compare the costs of fighting it vs. finding a new venue.

I'm a lawyer. What state are you in?

Well I would assume that if your contract doesn't say you have to abide by their new alcohol policies, then you wouldn't have to.

BUT I'm not a lawyer. Do you have anything in writing via email communications that could help clear this up? I do feel like you should have an attorney take a peek at your contract.

I'm sorry you are having to deal with this

I would refer to your contract if you have one. This should have been agreed upon in the initial signing. You may need to contact a lawyer.

I do feel for you though! The situation sounds terrible.

They shouldn't be able to change the agreement once it's been made without you agreeing to any revisions. Best of luck!

Ditto to what everyone already said, you signed a legal document with the qualifications they promised, they can not change that.

Edited: why would you sign a vague contract without going over every detail first? Tell them you booked them with a certain assumption and they need to figure it out, or you will take your money elsewhere