Unresponsive Paid In Full Venue

All these things would make me nervous but don’t you have a contract? All the things they’re supposedly changing should have been handled in a written contract so I don’t know how they could change those things now. If I were you, and I wouldn’t lose much money I’d probably switch to the other venue. I would just check any contract you do have to make sure you won’t owe any extra money to the first venue.

I would be running, but if all those things are mentioned in your contract you shouldn't have to pay anything additional and whoever shouldn't be booking other events....

I say change venues and cut your losses, you don't need the headache of the owners of this venue!

I'd say if you want to ensure that your event can go on as planned, then I'd book the new venue if your budget allows. It sounds like there's all sorts of shadiness brewing and I've been going through the same thing with my original caterer. I finally decided to walk away from the deposit and hire a new caterer and I feel 100% better not having any more worries because our original caterer wasn't responding to emails, wouldn't send the new contract, sent an invoice instead asking for additional money to hold the date, etc.


We haven't decided if we want to bother persuing any attempt at recovering the money. I think we're both so over it and glad to move on that we probably won't. I just don't have the energy for that right now so I think we're chalking it up to a story now about the time we got screwed by a shady caterer.
Good luck to you.

Run!! Book a new venue ASAP.

Honestly this close, if you can't get your money back I'd be having a heart attack. However, this person can't just put a padlock on the business, that's not how it works.

You could try to show up at the venue if you're close enough and try for an in person visit.

The cleaning deposit should be in your contract, you haven't signed a new one so they can't change that on you.

The bartending may be it's own issue. If the venue has recently gotten their own liquor license you may be required to use their bartenders. That's what happened at mine. There's all kinds of things that go on behind the scenes legally that could force that change. Explain the situation to your bartender and maybe you'll get lucky and they'll be able to refund your money.

To not being able to set-up the night before, if that wasn't in your contract it's unfortunate but it happens. They likely were going to allow that as a courtesy, but since they were able to book the event and make some extra money (especially if the lawsuit thing is true) there's not much you can do.

I'd see if your planner has any insight to what might be going on, but honestly they may just have a bunch of things hitting the fan right now and are trying to get everything figured out before they reach back out. How good was their response time before all of this?

View Quoted Comment Hi Sarah!


I do have a contract that’s why I’m surprised the venue can make so many changes. We haven’t signed a new one yet. She won’t even send the contract with all the new revisions. She (the venue owner) stated she’s within rights to increase her deposit and change bartending. I would be losing $3500. 😓

View Quoted Comment I really want to. My planner and I called another venue today and they are available. It’s equally beautifully, possibly better since it’s brand new. The only heartburn is losing $3500

View Quoted Comment Thank you for you input and advice. I’m going to think about it today. Up until now I haven’t had to reach out to any vendors personally. Everything has been a breeze, until just a couple days ago.

View Quoted Comment I’m going to think about it more today. That may be the best move for us. This whole thing has been going so well and I’m extremely surprised that our venue and it’s owners are going downhill.

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I'm sorry you have to lose out on that money, but i think it would be worth it so you don't have to deal with toxic, petty, shady venue people

View Quoted Comment The person said the owners did not show up in court twice. I really pray not. Our wedding is 59 days away and this is took much.


The cleaning deposit is in my contract but there’s no info about her being able to increase.
The bartender thing is sketchy. But I will wait to receive more details before I jump to conclusions.
My wedding planner has been informed lots of things about the venue owners. We are just trying to be positive and continue communicating hoping we can pull this off. The venue owner was extremely responsive. I have her cell number and email. She hasn’t responded to my planner at all.
The consensus here is I may need to change venues. It’s just such a huge money loss.

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I would try and do a little research on the law in your area and see if the whole padlock thing is something this person can do. Regardless of the owners not showing up for court, they can't just get locked out of their business. There's usually additional court orders/paperwork that has to be filled for the seizure of a business.

The bartending thing is a little sketchy, but again, it may be due to their licensure. I would say stand your ground on the deposit. Unless there is something in the contract that says fees/charges/etc can be changed at anytime she doesn't have a leg to stand on for changing the deposit amount.

At this point if you want I would say put a deposit down for the new venue, but I would do a little more digging myself. $3500 is a hard number to swallow, especially this late in the game.

If you can eat the cost, I would try to move venues. I think the question you need to ask is if the $3,500 is worth the stress of dealing with this vendor for the remainder of your wedding process. Also, you'll need to consider the increased cost in continuing forward with this vendor (increased cleaning deposit, cost of canceling contract with current bartender, etc.). I would also be concerned that if you do sign this new contract (which you are under no obligation to--a contract is a binding agreement that can't just be changed arbitrarily), that it would be a slippery slope with other add-ons showing up throughout the rest of your planning process.

I would definitely look over the contract to see if there is a clause that allows her to increase prices and require certain vendors. Aside from that, I personally wouldn't even want to have my wedding at a place that it making so many changes so close to the date. Will you be able to get a refund or would you just lose out on the money?

Oh wow, that sounds like a very stressful situation. At this point I’d try to book another venue just to get peace of mind, however I’d seek some legal advice to see if I can get some if not all the money back from them. Good luck to you. I hope everything works out.

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No, this is wrong. They cannot make changes to a signed contract, unless they have your consent. Otherwise, it's a unilateral change, and a breach of the original contract.

You have a couple of choices: you can explain that you do not agree with the changes, refuse to sign it, and inform them that you will have the wedding outlined in the original contract, or you will sue them for breach of contract--and you'll win.

If you can afford to do it, switch to the other venue you found!! Quickly!!!

But even if you switch venues, you can still sue the old venue for breach of contract, and possibly get back all of the money you paid them already.

Good luck!!

I’m curious were you able to get your money back?