Hello fellow brides!
I am getting married in September, but am absolutely frustrated/fed-up with/done with the owner of the venue that I had picked out. She is absolutely horrible at communicating with me and that's only one of my concerns. To answer a few questions that may come up: 1) this is in Florida, 2) the venue is private property that she has just recently opened up for weddings, so they aren't "closed" right now, 3) there are no issues on her end due to COVID-19 that would prevent her from responding to my emails, calls, and texts (her primary business is running a food truck and coffee cart and both are still open and no busier than normal).
When I booked and signed a contract in January, she was amazing and friendly and seemed like she would do most of the work for me and would be great at communicating. Unfortunately she hasn't done anything since then, and I still do not have pricing on the optional beer package that she wants me to do (I've been asking for that pricing since January and she always tells me that she'll send it that day or week and she just never does). There have been a few red flags that have popped up since we signed a contract, but last week, a neighbor of mine got married at the same venue and called me afterwards to tell me that it was an absolute disaster and basically warned me to run the other direction. She had LOTS of issues with her wedding, but the worst was that the owner of the property contacted her after the wedding to tell her that one of her vendors had somehow punctured her septic tank and that it can't be repaired and will have to be replaced (which will cost $28,000!!!) and that she's going after them and if they don't pay - she's going after the bride! OMG!!!!
I'm wanting to get out of my contract and change venues now. The contract states that the deposit is non-refundable, so we've pretty much already accepted the fact that we've lost that $1200. We haven't paid anything else yet (balance is due 6 weeks before the event), but the total that's still due is $3500. The contract says "If, due to unforeseen circumstances, cancellation is necessary, the following conditions apply for any further payments thereafter your deposit. Cancellations made 2 months prior to start of event - 50% refund or alternative date will be offered". And of course it states that notification of cancellation must be provided in writing. So here are my questions:
1) Since we haven't paid anything after the deposit, based on her wording, we just wouldn't get a refund, but is there a chance that she could actually come after us for 50% of the balance due?
2) Do we owe her a reason for cancelling? Or can we just send the letter simply stating that we're cancelling our wedding? I don't want to tell her that we're cancelling because I'm worried that she'll ruin my wedding, so if I had to provide a reason, I would say due to COVID-19 (which isn't completely wrong... my mother is in a nursing home and there is a chance that she wouldn't be able to make it to the wedding and I'll end up cancelling it altogether).
3) Since I have to notify her in writing, I was going to mail the notice via certified mail. Is that the best option? Should I also email her a copy today so that she is actually notified on the day that the decision was officially made?
Thanks in advance!