Working with the venue to reschedule or cancel

I wasn’t able to cancel without losing our deposit but I was able to postpone our Sept date to May 2021! Most venues have been very accommodating. My caterer was able to move it back with no problem. Just have to be real and honest with them! I told them that our work cut our hours and they totally understood our reasoning!

To be honest, trying to negotiate my contract with my venue in Northern Virginia was a complete nightmare and ruined our wedding planning experience. We contacted many lawyers. One told us that we’d have a hard time finding someone to represent us because taking the case would be a major liability to the lawyer because they’d likely lose. I reported my venue to the BBB and VA Atty General’s office because it also seemed like they weren’t following laws. I learned from FB that they let certain couples reschedule dates after ours free of charge but chose to ignore our questions about date changes, guest changes, etc. When we finally were able to get clear answers from them (3 months after asking the initial questions), they allowed us to reschedule with no fee. Overall it was a roller coaster. You might have better luck in Maryland though. We live in MD and we really wish that we’d chosen a venue here rather than in VA. Others that I know in MD have had an easier time with their venues being understanding. It might not hurt to reach out to a lawyer. The Virginia lawyers told us it would be hard for us due to Virginia laws but Maryland laws may be easier to work with. Best of luck!

Negotiating with a venue to postpone or cancel isn't straight forward in any case as there are things to factor in that affect the experience differently for different couples. The biggest consideration is obviously what the contract says.

Our wedding is scheduled for December 2020 and our venue has been clear that cancellations will be subject to the ordinary T+Cs regarding non-refundable deposits, but that any postponements would be accommodated without extra charge. Recently when our government started to relax things (i'm in Australia), our venue sent out further comms saying that weddings from September onward were going ahead as planned, but if international guests were still unable to attend, we would be able to postpone free of charge also (otherwise they only postpone free of charge if someone else books in for your date). If we need to, we will *possibly* look to relying on this to postpone our wedding if need be.

I think a lot of venues right now are accommodating postponements because they don't want to go out of business. If they agree to refund deposits on cancellations, then they lose that business and they are at risk of going bust.

To be completely honest, if the majority of your guests would be coming from interstate, I would consider postponing, as it will be quite financially burdensome to pay for a minimum amount of people if not so many attend. Either that or see if your venue will agree to reduce minimum numbers. Unfortunately you won't know how accommodating they are willing to be until you reach out to them!

It Really Just Depends On What Is Said In The Contract. My Venue Isnt Even Looking At Weddings Scheduled In The Fall/Winter Right Now. So Even If We Wanted To Postpone We Couldnt Do It Yet.

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Thank you! Our venue hasn't posted or reached out to give any information on what their plan is (I assume they are only doing that on an individual basis). We reached out a few days ago to speak with them and are waiting to hear back.

Right now I'm trying to research and write down the topics that we want to discuss with them, along with potential avenues that we can try to pursue to move forward.

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That is interesting, so what are they currently saying to you when you ask?

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I Had Asked Them What They Are Currently Doing && They Said They Aren't Postponing Any Fall Weddings Right Now. We Are Entering Phase 3 On July 1st So The Venue Isn't Worried About Any Issues.

We also signed a contract with a minimum spend that we would've had a hard time going over if we had to cut our guest list by 50% or something. I started asking our venue coordinator what their plans were in March, and at first he said they weren't expecting to have to cancel any summer weddings. Then he said they weren't expecting to have to cancel any August weddings. They definitely had to cancel the earlier weddings because I think we're still limited to 10 or 25 person gatherings. When the state guidelines finally came out in May, they weren't super clear regarding weddings. He emailed us and gave us the option of choosing a new date or taking a wait and see approach. We chose to postpone (we're still getting married this year, but we postponed the big reception/venue contract) to 2021. If we had decided to keep our date, he would've worked with us to figure out something that would work within the guidelines, so we could've reduced the guestlist to whatever was allowed or had only the ceremony (so little to no catering) and presumably we would've gotten the money back for things they couldn't (reasonably/safely even if it was technically legal) provide. I think Maryland is opening up pretty slowly, similar to the way Massachusetts is, so there might still be some restrictions in November re: gathering sizes, venue % of capacity, etc. which could help you. If you're not allowed to have 100% of your guest list, they'll have to give you options. If you're allowed but not able to have everyone for reasons beyond your control, they might be willing to let you move because you'll pay them more for a full guest list next year vs the minimum you would pay them this year. It might also be worth reaching out to them now to see if you can move, because there could be an August or September bride who would be happy to take your November date, and if the venue can have a different wedding on your date, they'll be more amenable to letting you choose a different one.

Hi Kim! It will definitely depend on the current government restrictions (at that point in November) and the terms agreed upon in your original contract.

I'd review your contract to see what the postponement and cancellation clauses are, as well as any mention of non-refundable deposits. Your venue may be open to more flexible terms for postponing your wedding, but they will be much less flexible the farther away you are from your wedding date - because there's no guarantee they wouldn't be able to host your wedding in 5 months!

I haven't changed anything yet for our November wedding. I was waiting 2-3 more weeks before deciding. I think I might lose my deposit so I am hoping I won't if things change. I suppose whatever the case we will make it work. I am a little nervous but trying not to be sucked into any anxiety. I already had everything planned before this started but haven't done anything since COVID became a thing. I am till hopeful but also trying to be realistic. I live in the hot spot of Phoenix so I think they next 2-3 weeks till tell. I have had two guests cancel their RSVPs that had said they were coming and I am sure there will be more. It was already a small wedding. I guess I don't mind it being just immediate family, but I did spend a lot in planning as I was expecting 50 people approximately initially. It is a bummer that is for sure this whole experience. I sure hope the venue doesn't give me trouble. I will update if they do.