Venue Frustration!! HELP

SweetSima

So I have had my venue booked since last April for my April 24th wedding.  We are getting married on site.  The plan is to have the ceremony outside as they have a nice garden area.  Being the planner that I am,  I specifically asked what the backup plan is,  seeing as there are two rooms at the venue for parties. I  was told that the other room would be used for our ceremony (not the one where our reception is being held)  They said that if another wedding was scheduled it would not interfer with having the ceremony in that room,  that it would start later. 

Well low and behold,  they emailed to schedule our rehearsal time and I asked if another wedding had been scheduled.  They said a breakfast luncheon was scheduled but they would be out by 2 or 3.  NOT THE POINT!!! Now if it rains, my ceremony and reception will have to be in the same room if the weather is bad.  This would totally have been a deal breaker had I known this.

The only thing about the ceremony is how much the fee is and how much chairs cost,  nothing about "where".

I am so so so upset about this.  Any help ladies??

banana468

If it isn't in writing in the contract, unfortunately you're stuck.

So instead, make lemonade.  Talk to them about how they can do a room flip or other options so if it comes down to it, your guests aren't affected by the flip.

Can you get married in the same room as the reception but have a partial wall put up somewhere for the cocktail hour so they can flip the room during the hour?

SuMmErKuTiE

I'm having the same frustrations...the reason we chose our venue was because of the outdoor ceremony and cocktail hour. I'm so scared it'll rain because everything will move inside and just like in your case our ceremony will have to take place in the same room as the reception. That does not sit well with me at all, but FI keeps telling me to not let it ruin our day if it ends up that way. It took some time and I was able to come to terms with it. Of course I would prefer for it to go as planned, but I have decided that the inside area for cocktail hour is actually very beautiful and I'll be ok with it. You just have to hope for the best but expect the worst, and just remember that it's your day and it's the day you're marrying the love of your life and it doesn't matter if it's outside or inside where the reception is. HTH! 

SweetSima

Thanks girls.  The thing that really upsets me is they specifically told me one thing and now they are telling me another things.  Shame on me for not seeing that in the contract,  but in reality,  there is nothing even in the contract about that.  OY!

banana468

That's the issue though - if you don't get it 'in' the contract, they can do what they want with their venue.

So instead, just be creative with it...and pray for sunshine!!

starrbuk13

actually, legally, you're not stuck, even if it's not in writing.  you could choose to back out of the contract, but what they told you verbally will be hard to prove if they decide to keep your money and you have to sue. it's your word against theirs.  therefore, practically, you're probably stuck.    to change your venue at this point would be difficult, at best.  

have you talked to them at all about using the other room since you found out about the other reception?  they may have a plan to keep your ceremony/reception separate.  

if they can't/won't keep them separate, explain who told you that you'd have different rooms, and explain why it was so important to you, and that if you knew earlier, you never would have booked the venue.  the squeaky wheel gets the grease!!  with enough complaining, they should figure SOMETHING out, even if it's a refund of part of your money but both in the same room.  if they are an honorable company, they'll do something to keep their bride happy!

so so unfortunate that you have to go through this!  i know how much it sucks to encounter vendor issues  hang in there!!  it WILL all work out!

Agey310

I don't have any glorious answers or plans but what I can say is that no matter what everything will work out. My brother's wedding was this past June and he ran into the same situation. He had to have the ceremony and reception in the same room which was not ideal, but at the end of the day it didn't matter. The guests watched the ceremony from their seats and then we partied like crazy.I will cross my fingers for all of you to have beautiful weather ( I am wishing for the same for myself)! Good luck 

SweetSima

Thanks for the helpful advice. I actually emailed them this

I apologize for the email, but I am quite busy with a new job and studying for the Law School Admission Test and have limited time to speak on the phone.  Secondly, I am quite upset about this situation and thought better to send an email.  I must say that had I known there was a chance that our ceremony would be in the same room as our reception, I would have thought twice about signing the contract. You both have been great and easy to work with, but this situation has me quite upset.  The "rain plan" was to use the other room.  At the time, when we asked what the fall back plan would be, you told us that if a wedding would take place in the other room, it would be after our ceremony,  therefore giving us that room to use.  Of course, we all want the best case scenario with no rain, but as a planner,  I needed to make sure I was happy with a back up plan.  I was pleased knowing I would have that as a back up plan.  I am not pleased that my back up plan has become using the reception room for both.   Quite frankly, I am considering taking my ceremony elsewhere,  which I do not want to do,  as this would be a hardship on my family and friends as well as a financial hardship on FI and myself. Unfortunately, in light of this news,  I have to make a new decision on something I made nearly 10 months ago and put significant money towards.  The information given to both FI and myself was incorrect and misleading.


We shall see how this pans out!

starrbuk13

i think your email is good.  see what they say, and don't be afraid to make demands.  they can't give you what you want if you don't tell them (aside from the separate room...they already know that lol!)

and good luck on the lsat!  i graduated law school last may...it's a long road, but well worth it  where are you thinking of going to law school?

JTink0609

I don't konw anything about getting out of the contract or anything about that, but I can tell you that this happened to me. We picked our venue because of many things not the least of which was the outdoor area for the ceremony, fell in love with it as soon as I saw it.

Here comes October and we are having a cold snap, I was hoping for an indain summer and I got snow...in October. Well it was too cold to have the ceremony outside and we ended up having it inside, in the room our reception was in. I wanted a sense of seperateness so I asked that they move the tables to the sides and set the chairs up in rows with an aisle. In the end it honestly didn't matter. I was not so calm about it at the time mind you (snow on the cars during the RD, really!!). But it worked out so well & no one minded being ushered out of the room for a few minutes to get it re-set for the reception.

Basically what I'm saying is just take a deep breath and remember that althought it may not be ideal the setting doesn't matter as much as the ceremony. (I really don't mean to belittle the problem, I promise this is a calm brought on by having gone through it and seeing it from the other end, I was not so zen about it until about 2 in the afteroon the day of the wedding!)

SweetSima

Thanks girls!  Hopefully a resolution is in the making.  We came up with an idea and hopefully they will go for it!

Starbukk...the LSAT/Law school idea was always something I wanted to do, but actually started preparing and applying this december for Fall 2010.  I am taking the LSATS on feb 6th.  Very quick,  and one chance...but all I can do is study!! Wish me luck

SweetSima

oh and where....Ideally UCONN, but applying for all evening programs at Uconn, Quinnipiac and Western New England