Venue postponements and upcharges

This happened to me as well. We ended up cancelling everything (we were having an international destination wedding though so we had other concerns too), but the resort gave us the option of either rescheduling for 2020 or we’d have to pay all of the increased rates for 2021 for all of our wedding things and our guests’ rooms.

Hi Angela,

That's a tough situation. From what I'm seeing in the WeddingWire Community, venues and vendors in general are handling postponements differently. Are you thinking of moving your wedding to 2021, or will the new date be heavily influenced by this charge per plate?

Some summer brides are waiting a little bit longer to make the call, but everyone's situation is different. You also aren't alone right now! You'll find a ton of July brides talking about their COVID-19 concerns in these discussions:

- July 2020 Weddings

- June and July Brides do not stress Covid-19!!!

There are many resources on our website that may be helpful as you navigate the planning (and/or postponement) process: Our COVID-19 Weddings Advice Guide -- including What to Do About Your Wedding During the Coronavirus Pandemic.

I'm hoping for the best for you!

We are worried about this too. Our venue has only four open dates for the entire remainder of 2020 if we need to reschedule. We have not made the call yet.

View Quoted Comment Hi Amber! My friend did the same. Hers was supposed to be in Tulum in June. We're just suck on what to do and what would be best.

View Quoted Comment We speak to the venue today about 2020 openings. *crosses fingers* hope everything works out for you! 💜

I can't speak for other venues, but my venue also has this policy. They own 5-6 other locations and my wedding planner said this is how this company is going about postponing for all brides who move into the 2021 year. It's how they make up for loss income in the 2020 year. If all us Spring/Summer even Fall brides move to 2021 they technically have no other income for this year after March.

My venue is charging me $2500 to move my date to the same date but next year, June 20, 2021. So ridiculous! We are looking into it legally, My father in law in an attorney.

Update: I reached out to all of our vendors and they will all honor our agreed upon rates for postponing to 2021, however our venue (also catering) did say the price of food is all over the place right now so they couldn't guarantee that the meals cost would be the same. They are not changing our rate for renting the venue, food service, or anything else included with our wedding package, just that the cost of food might change, but they are unable to predict what it will be since the market is so volatile right now.

View Quoted Comment Hi Kari!


That's good to know that many changes won't be made. I hope that the food prices don't inflate much and impact you negatively!

View Quoted Comment 😯😯 yes, that's a big amount of money. I hope you're able to move it without too much penalty. I was basically told that if the county or town "reopens" and we decide to move it, we will be charged.

View Quoted Comment

Yea, I figured that was kind of similar to the situation you are in, so just wanted to let you know that the "per plate" charge changing seems reasonable!

View Quoted Comment Thank you so much for the update!

View Quoted Comment

Ugh unfair in my opinion for increased rates. Sorry girl.

View Quoted Comment Did you make payments already? i’m having a destination wedding as well and not sure yet how things will be to cancel.

View Quoted Comment Yes, we had already put down a deposit for the wedding as well as a large deposit for room blocks. I argued the language in my contract to get our money back. It took weeks for us to get our money back and our guests still haven’t received their refunds. The resort decided to close so it wouldn’t have been open for our wedding anyways.

I was scheduled for a July 2020 wedding but my fiance and I are postponing. I'm still waiting to hear from the venue, but their policy is that if they are in a state-mandated closure at the time of our wedding we will get our deposit refunded. I don't know if they will still be closed at the time of the wedding (or if our number of guests in our contract will make them in breach of contract if it's larger than the allowed maximum for a gathering), but we're hoping that since we're postponing instead of cancelling, they will let us apply our deposit to the new date. So every venue is taking its own path. Hopefully we don't lose our $6k deposit on our venue...

View Quoted Comment

Hi!

I am having the same issue with my caterer! It is ridiculous.

Any update on your side??

Thanks!

I hope it works out for you Angela! Kari, that sounds reasonable. Good luck!

View Quoted Comment

This must be frustrating for both couples and vendors. While I understand wanting to postpone to ensure the dangers of a wedding being cancelled is kept to a minimum, the venue (or any vendor for that matter) should not be responsible for taking that financial hit with the decision being the couple’s choice and being made this far in advance.

If the postponement is venue issued or from the government, of course there should not be any additional fees incurred. But to call a vendor “unfair”, “ridiculous “, or involve attorneys for a decision you are making (and most likely breaking the contract) isn’t fair to the vendor or their reputation. I would fully expect to pay next year’s prices if I am choosing to postpone.

No doubt contracts are being rewritten to include extreme details regarding postponements/cancellations/why/and who is doing the cancellation (you, vendor or government). If you do resign or start with a new vendor I would make sure every scenario is covered and understood. Good luck!

View Quoted Comment

Yes, we were able to come to an agreement, and we only have to pay $1000 transfer fee to move to next year. However, the transfer fee will be applied to our non-refundable deposit which is fine. My advice though is to just talk to the vendors and let them know if you guys can come to an agreement. I think charging a transfer fee is acceptable given the circumstances, but the transfer fee should be applied to your deposit/remaining balance so make that part clear. I do not agree that vendors should be charging extra money, but that any additional money should go towards your balance/deposit, if that makes sense.