Venue charging postponement fee.

You'll need to look at your contract, for starters.

After that, you might need to rely on the state for guidance. Right now, we've got all kinds of restrictions in place until at least May. Things may change by July, but they also may not.

I don't think this is a very nice thing for the venue to do, and, also, it sounds kind of irresponsible given how hard-hit NY is... but this is, currently, legal, as far as I know.

Is it possible to hold off on postponement for a week or two and see what the state says?

Hi Lauren,

I'm so sorry you are going through this. I definitely understand how disappointing this is. Across the board we've heard that wedding vendors have been really flexible and accommodating with rescheduling your wedding plans, but most vendors do not have the financial ability to completely refund all deposits for cancellations.

It stinks for everyone right now, but it's also why reviewing your contract terms are so important! Contracts protect you the client from being taken advantage of, but they also protect businesses against unpredictable crises like this one. Before you take any other steps I'd review your contract terms.The best approach will be working with your vendors to see how you can come up with a best solution together!Sending you lots of love!

I'm also in NYC, and right now the state has banned any size gatherings through April 29, 2020. So, I would wait until then to see if this gets extended. If extended up until your wedding date, the venue can't charge you because holding a wedding would get them into trouble. But see, the thing is with weddings you kind of need to know in advance so that guests can make their bookings and arrangements can be made. I honestly think your venue is out of line here. I understand that businesses are having a hard time but that burden shouldn't be placed on the client. Like everyone else said, check your contract with them and see if you can strong arm them and say to them that since they can't guarantee a July wedding for 100% certainty, that they have to give you a back up date free of charge. Put it on them, that they can't guarantee delivery on the terms in the contract.

View Quoted Comment Hi all. Thanks for the responses. Our venue is not going to cooperate. For us it’s more about we lost an income due to Covid19 therefore can’t even afford the entire wedding at this point for July, plus we are nervous to have that many people in one room, some, including my mom who have compromised immunity, and also my fiancé’s dad and his family lives out of the country! We had no choice but to pay the $1500 fee. It’s very unfair and I am pretty upset that the venue put us now in this awkward situation with them but we invested so much more in deposits that we have to kind of eat this $. We extended until March so we also now can make up the money we lost from my fiancé losing income. Thanks again.

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Well... on the bright side, you can always write a review for the venue once this is over. I'm glad that it's all sorted out for now! xoxo

My venue is charging me $2500 to move my wedding to the same date but in 2021. June 20. Absolutely ridiculous! My father in law is an attorney, and he is looking into it.

View Quoted Comment Wow! And I thought $1500 was bad enough. Let me know if you find any information with your father in law. Thanks!

View Quoted Comment Just read your contract again. There should be a section about unusual circumstances or something like regarding rain or acts of God. If it doesn’t say in the contract that you’ll be charged a transfer fee, then you shouldn’t be paying the fee.