*UPDATE* Wedding Disaster - What to do now?

This hurt just reading what happened. Not just a failure to provide what was promised but also causing health and safety issues. That's just terrible and I would bug them until I got a refund! Also I agree with leaving reviews wherever you can. I hope your honeymoon gave a better experience.

They definitely need to refund your money, AT LEAST half, if not ALL of it! They failed you guys exponentially. They promised you things and did not deliver. Their customer service was atrocious. They fell short in every possible way. They need to rectify this situation and take responsibility for their epic failings.

Keep all communication with them in writing from this point forward. Go through your contract and highlight each thing they promised in their package and that you paid for which they failed to do, forgot, fell short on, and/or did poorly. Provide as much evidence as possible to support your case for a refund. You really should not have to fight them on this, as it seems they knew the day of that they royally screwed you over, but if they DO deny you any rectification, contact an attorney immediately to send them a notarized letter of your intent, and to figure out your next steps.

I'm so sorry you had to deal with this. A wedding is stressful enough as it is, and it's supposed to be one of the happiest days of your life and these people ruined it for you and your guests. I hope you're able to get a refund!!

Once everything is taken care of, leave reviews everywhere so no other bride has to suffer through something like this!

Get your contract out. Look over what you ordered and what they gave you.

Then start adding up the cost.

If their business wants to grow this will be useful to them.

I would demand my money back until you got results then give a bad review.

Write everything down.

I'm so sorry you had a bad experience!

I am so sorry OP. The venue sounds dodgy to the extreme. All these posters saying you should demand all the money back though, I mean I just can't see that happening. As Rachel said, you still had your wedding there, your guests were still provided with food and drinks (however sub par.) Demand a refund for whatever decor they didn't provide, chairs & tables they didn't provide, the chair covers & table cloths that were dirty, the bouquet that kept breaking & maybe the dodgy grooms cake too.

Does this place generally have good reviews?

You absolutely should ask for money back. You have a contract that they did not fulfill.

@Natalie - yes! In the past 5 years it had great reviews...the ones before that they passed off by saying different management. About a month before the wedding a few bad reviews popped up so I went to visit and made the insect and rotting wood/dirty pool and venue request via e-mail (thank goodness) because they were terrible about answering the phone (maybe should have been a red flag). After the wedding I saw a review from the previous week saying that they ran out of food. But I didn't see it until after the wedding. I honestly don't expect or want a full refund. I mean it would be great if the offered that but I honestly just want my money back for what they screwed up.

@Alyssachu - thank you! I have everything in e-mail and from our face-to-face meetings I have my notes as well as their planning notes which is almost as good, I think. I just want my money back for the stuff they didn't provide really.

@Rachel - no it wasn't low budget, which is the annoying part. I could have had my wedding somewhere else in the area for half the cost...and the reason we trusted them for decor was because we had paid for each specific item. I did not expect anymore than that but I certainly didn't expect less. We literally had a drawing of the venue labeled where each decoration would be in detail and they just didn't do it because they were "running behind"

That makes me so angry. I'm also a lawyer, @Alyssachu's advice is spot on. I will add that there are lots of lawyers that will take on a 20K breach of contract - try smaller firms that offer a free first consultation first.

And yes, absolutely ask for a full refund. This is not legal advice but for any negotiation like this, you should start high so that it anchors the negotiation ground higher. They aren't reasonable people so there's no point approaching this with a reasonable compromise - you paid for a stress free well hosted wedding, you did not get that. We all know that wedding vendors charge a lot extra because they put "extra effort into weddings" or whatever. Do not let them walk away by offering you 10% back or something

Oh dear me!!!!

I am so sorry. I Pray your money is refunded without too much headache.

You've already received all the advice I would have offered you, so I will just offer you a hug and my sympathy. I wish you luck resolving this, I'm so angry for you and will be rooting for you.

Like many posters said, you need to document everything. Collect pictures from guests if necessary. You also need to seek legal counsel. This situation demands more than a phone call to ask for your money back. A formal letter from an attorney is in order. A name with ESQ behind it has a tendency to get action. Believe me, I know. Please put a call into the Health Department. The insect and pool situations are health hazards. Rate this venue on YELP and let them have it. Your actions must be immediate. I am sorry you went thru this.

I'm a less-frequently-posting-these-days lawyer and I echo @Jenny and @Alyssachu but also want to know- what state are you in? This is not intended to be legal advice, but some states have strong specific consumer protection laws (i.e. 93a in MA) that give you an option to sue for say triple damages or something of that nature.

@Sarah I am from Alabama!

I don't really have much to add, except I am so sorry. When you spend so long planning you really rely on the vendors to pull through in the end. I hope you at least get back what they promised and did not pull through on.

This is an excellent example of why you should get every single detail in writing like the OP wisely did, and not rely on spoken promises which are easily contested. Great job, OP! I'm so sorry you were let down so badly. Best wishes for your new marriage <3

Hopefully eventually really far down the road we will look back and laugh at all the nonsense.

I disagree about completely keeping emotion out of your complaint. This place does weddings, one of the most inherently emotional days of your life. In addition to the contractual requirements, they sell an experience. I would definitely find legal counsel and ask them about potential for damages.

I am so sorry this happened to you. I can't add any advice -- you got some good stuff here -- but I'm adding my commiseration.

@xtine - the reason that I have not posted the name of this place on this thread and the reason that I have to keep emotion out of my review is because this could easily backslide. These people obviously do not care about me or they would never have done this so if I go after them these might be the kind of people fight back dirty. For example, if I put my emotion into it instead of just the facts they could try and sue me for libel or something like that to have my review removed or to keep from having to give me any money back. When dealing with crappy people, it is best to strictly stick to the facts. This was my truthful and emotional complaint to you ladies but when I review it, I will simply state what was promised but not provided. The lack of negative reviews is what scares me. Like others have said, I can't be the only one this happened to so where are the other reviews. It just concerns me. I have a friend whose dad is an attorney and he found it suspicious that there were literally no bad reviews on there (not even small complaints). So I am going to tread carefully and leave an extremely fact-filled review.

OMG YES. You need to go through your contract line by line and document everything that was promised and not received or promised (ex: decorations, tables, chairs) and not to promised standards (ex: stained linens, broken bouquet, burned food, grooms cake not to standard). Be very factual. Then you also need to ask for a refund based on STRESS. Honestly, if they don't refund you to a level you're happy with, consult with a lawyer and take them to small claims court. I would wait to post any reviews until you've contacted them about refunds, received your refund, and/or consulted with a lawyer.