Vendor Refunds?

Unless it’s in your contract, which I would be super surprised if it was, they’re not going to refund your other vendor deposits. Unfortunately, they aren’t required to. Have you talked to your other vendors to see if you can switch to another date without losing deposits?

That fact that they offered to refund your deposit is pretty surprising but unfortunately, they are not required to refund any deposits you lost from your other vendors. I think you will just have to accept that you have lost the other deposits.

I am curious how it got booked for someone else if you had put a deposit on it already though.

What does your contract say about them canceling? I’m assuming it states they’ll refund the deposit you gave them, but I can’t imagine it would include language about refunding any of your other deposits. Like PPs suggested, I would reach out to your other vendors to see if you could switch the date without losing your deposit.

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Because what we need is super specific, we can't really change our date. And with this date being so popular, there's nothing really available for us that's comparable. We've emailed our vendors and they've all basically said the same thing: we've held this date for you so if you cancel you lose your deposit. It's just so frustrating.

And the venue didn't book someone else in our spot; the place itself closed so it's not available. Tons of other brides are dealing with similar things.

Agree with other people that they're not really responsible for refunding other vendors' deposits. But on top of that if the place closed and they're giving back deposits to a bunch of other couples they likely just don't even have the money to help you cover your lost deposits even if they wanted to.

You're not likely to get any other vendors' deposits back from your venue. They just don't do that. So, in order to keep your date and not lose other deposits, you'll have to get creative about your venue, since it sounds like you're having trouble finding a traditional venue for that same date. Parks, beaches, VFW halls, community centers, museums, historical sites, and galleries can all be great alternatives to the traditional venues, and sometimes cost a lot less. Check those out.

If it is in your contracts that the deposits are non-refundable then they aren't required to give you your money back. Suing them would be pointless if it does in fact say the money is non-refundable. Did they give you a reason the ballroom is not available? If you have a contract with them for the ballroom then they can't allow someone else use it. I would talk to them to find out what happened like if someone else booked it. If that is the case then they breached their contract and you could use the venue for breach of contract. I would continue reaching out to venues in your area to see if or what might be available. Maybe expane your research to a large area. You might have to drive further, but it would be worth it to find a venue.

Your best bet is to find another venue. You may need to rethink your vision, but call around any and everywhere. If this place is going out of business, I don’t think you’ll get money back for other vendors. Keep the day and find someplace else.