Wedding Etiquette Forum

Who had to scramble for a new venue?

I can't remember for the life of me which E reg had to scramble to find a new venue due to hers closing... so who was it?! I'd love to pick your brain. Got word tonight that my venue was just bought out by a local hospital to expand their medical buildings and my venue will be closing. I have not yet confirmed this myself, though the town's chamber of commerce has confirmed that it was sold. I'm swinging by tomorrow to get a straight answer on whether they'll be open come August (and if not, when we can expect our $2000 deposit back), and my mom (who is graciously paying for everything) is getting in touch with the hotel that shares a parking lot with the venue, as they called today but just left a "please call us back" message. So it looks like I'm 7 months out with everything booked/deposits down (DJ, florist, photographer, hair stylist, makeup artist, etc.) with no ceremony or reception venue. And perhaps the most frustrating part is that I talked to my wedding coordinator (with the venue) last week about the next deposit and scheduling a tasting, and there was no mention that the property was for sale/under contract.

Re: Who had to scramble for a new venue?

  • My venue didn't close, but I had to find a new one in case it did because there was a very good chance it would due to flooding.  This happened 3 weeks before the wedding and I did find a back up, but we got lucky and the flooding held off.  It did end up closing 5 days later though, so it was worth the search.
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  • I am in the process... FI decided he didn't want to use the one we had (which is actually a relief, because neither did I+) and now we are looking for a vineyard. They're expensive! Bleh...

    Wedding Countdown Ticker
    "He was my mum and dad's best friend. He's a convicted murderer, but he's broken out of wizard prison and he's on the run. He likes to keep in touch with me, though...keep up with news...check if I'm happy..."

    Harry on Sirus to the Dursleys. HP Prisoner of Azkaban
  • I planned my whole wedding in 9 months, and I think the reception venue was found 8 months out, the ceremony venue wasn't officially "booked" until 5 months out.

    It sucks that you have to search again, but you can do it!  Just get started right away, and I'm sure you'll be fine.
  • Thanks everyone. A friend of mine who was holding his wedding at the same venue texted me this morning - he confirmed it with the venue that they are indeed closing. So let the scramble for a new venue begin. We emailed some last night and already have gotten responses that at least 2 are booked. Fantastic.
  • We had to find another one with about 9 months left.  My parents became ill, FI was almost deployed to Afghanistan, and our original venue was bought out and prices increased to the point of being a deal breaker for us.  We changed our date a bit and our vendors were thankfully flexible and were able to adjust to reschedule (we lost our photographer but we hadn't officially deposited, so we didn't lose anything).  It's actually worked out for the best, and I think we have a better location and experience because of it (plus we got a better and cheaper photographer). 

    It sucked at the time.   Too much stuff was going on, and I was ready to throw in the towel and elope, but we managed and so far we've done really well.  It did force me to make faster decisions, as I had less time to mull over things ("is the veil ivory? Great! SOLD!" "Can you do gluten free cupcakes? Good, can we move to contract?") It all worked out, now I just need the day to get here!
  • Unfortunately, I'm in school full time plus completing 75 clinical hours this semester plus working part time plus tutoring part time this semester.... so there really isn't a lot of time for me to be exploring new venues, etc. Deposits have been paid to all vendors so far, so I guess my next step is to email all of my other vendors and check their availability for surrounding weekends in case we do have to change the date. We might also have to scale back on guest list which pains me greatly. But it can be done. Just frustrated... this is why I went last year to contract everything so I didn't have to worry about it this semester.
  • I really hope that everything works out okay for you.  If it is going to close, it sounds like you still have time to find a new place.  I hope that you are able to book one for the same weekend that you had originally planned to have your wedding because it would probably be a pain to try to see if all the vendors were avaliable a different weekend.
  • Kelly - Sending you a private message. I believe we had th same venue. 
  • Mcweiss - I can't open PM from my phone, but will look when I get to a computer. Yes, we had the same venue... FI found your posts last night confirming what we'd heard (from a coworker of mine who DJs on the side). My stepdad confirmed today that they are, indeed, closing and are intending to refund all deposits in the next 2 weeks. My mom and I are going down to another venue today that was on our original list that we'd decided against for budgetary reasons. She called there today and they still have our date open and have agreed to work with us to make it happen. Yay!
  • Good luck that completely sucks. I hope it all works out. Most the time other venues seem pretty willing to work with couples when this happens. A wedding place in my area closed last year because of fires in the area. As soon as word got out, others in the area immediately called to help. I hope it all goes well for you.
  • Met with what was previously our 2nd choice venue (mostly due to price)... they had our date open, lowered the minimum number of guests for the room we want, and allowed us to put down a smaller initial deposit, since the other venue has not refunded us our $$ yet. So it looks like it will all work out, though this venue will cause us to be over budget. We are looking at what we can cut back on to make up some of that difference, though.
  • I spoke to Karen at the Squire yesterday.  She asked if I still had my receipt documenting the deposit.  She wanted me to email her a scanned copy, stating it would expedite things.  I was able to send it this morning.  I will keep updating as more progresses for me. 

    If you have not called the Squire yet, do so.  You can also still email them via the website at csquire.net.  Provide them with your deposit receipt.  I also asked them if they had other venues who were open for my date that would honor their pricing.  Hope to hear back shortly. 

    As for negotiating, keep in mind this new place didn't have the venue booked yet so they won't losing money if they work with you on the price.  You shouldn't let them dictate what you have to pay.  Other locations are honoring Country Squire's pricing, so dont hold back using that if you have to. 
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