Lying Venue Smackdown

CassieM9330

Today is not the best day ever in wedding-planning land. Not only did my venue double book the outside space that we had for the wedding, but they also promised to stay within the budget we gave them and they told us that the price tag will be doubled because they "didn't see the note on our budget". Lovely.

Apparently, even though we booked 8 months ago, they are only now seeing that someone else had the venue booked (the other people signed a few days before us so they got to use it.) We only found out about the mess up a month before the wedding. Invites have already been sent out and there is nothing I can do.

The venue wedding coordinator that had sold us on the venue lied about a lot of things the hotel could do when I met with him 8 months ago, then he quit and we had a new girl as the "wedding interim" that gave us the wrong info, and then only three weeks before the wedding we had to start working with a new lady that has completely misled us on pricing after repeatedly meeting with her and asking prices.

Now, 1 1/2 weeks before the wedding they just told me today the $10,000 they said it would cost is now $20,000. I am meeting with the venue wedding coordinator, the general manager, and the director of sales after work today. I have given them many, many chances to repair the situation and now have no idea how to approach this.

Have you had any situations like this in your wedding planning? What on earth am I supposed to do? My mother passed away less than a year ago, so I don't have someone to help me go charging in to fix this. Due to my father and grandparents' urging to have a big wedding and also use this as a celebration to honor my mother, the wedding will be giant - we have had over 300 RSVPs come back. With that being said, I would love to find a different venue but do not have that option with it being so close now and not having as many options because of the big crowd.

Please let me know your thoughts - eloping sounds super awesome right now.

loro929

Yikes.

Did you sign a contract with the venue? 

The prices of everything venue related should be quite clearly stipulated in the contract. You should double check what you did sign because legally they can't alter it unless both parties sign an addendum.

Secondly, the ONLY reason a price would change in the contract should have to do with the number of people that are coming. For instance, in my contract, we guarantee 150 people. We pay for that no matter what. If we have more than 150 people than we pay the additional cost per person. This final count is provided to the venue 10 days before the wedding. Could something like this have happened in your case? If not, I would be at the venue 5 minutes ago with the contract in hand demanding explanations.

loro929

Plus, in regards to the double booking, I would be demanding some sort of credit toward the venue costs no matter what. The double booking was their fault, you shouldn't have to pay for it.

southernbelle0915

I'm so sorry this is happening to you!

Get a copy of your contract and read it word by word. Did they agree to do the wedding for $10K? Did they agree that only you would be using the space? Did they agree to other things they are now not agreeing to? And when I say agree, I mean is it in writing and SIGNED? Highlight everything they agreed to that they are not following through on. Print out/highlight all your emails where they agreed to do things that they aren't doing. Document dates/times/names of phone calls and what was said. If it's not documented, it didn't happen, so make sure you document, document, document.

Flop those papers in front of them at the meeting today and tell them you expect them to meet each provision they've agreed to and each promise they've made via email and via phone. Discuss each and every issue. Tell them you will be paying what you contractually agreed to pay and no more. And you expect to receive what they contractually agreed to provide and no less. Tell them you're documenting their responses and let them watch you do it. If recording is legal in your state, record the meeting.

If they say "we don't know if we can do that" or "we're sorry but [insert lame excuses here]", tell them they need to figure it out because [point to provision in contract] they've agreed to provide XYZ and you expect they will not breach their contract. Tell them if they do breach the contract, you will sue them for damages.

In the meantime, I would start looking for private spaces at a restaurant. Like now, today. Call restaurants that can fit your guest list TODAY. Tell them your situation and your budget. Ask them what they can do. This may mean a lot of last minute logistics like losing deposits and cancelling vendors. But it may be the only thing that's actually in your budget. 

[Deleted User]

Hey so how did the meeting go?

Nymeru

I don't suppose you have a lawyer buddy who would go with you and just silently intimidate them, do you?