Help with Act of God Clause in our Venue contract

JulianneMag

After months of searching, we have finally found a venue that we LOVEE. After looking over the contract there is something that just isn't sitting right with me. It is the part about the Act of God (the force majeure clause): "It is agreed that the venue and caterer will not be held responsible for any Acts of Mother Nature, including, but not limited to, hurricanes, floods, or storms of any kind." And after Sandy, I guess we can all say anything can happen. 

I first expressed my concern to the wedding coordinator and she said that the owner is a good man & he would work with you (like a reschedule) if something does happen, but when I asked if they can amend the contract to state something about rescheduling if an act of God did occur or provide that in another form of writing they told me they cannot alter the contract because it is a legal document put together by the venue's lawyers & how is ‘commonplace in the industry’ & if we are so worried to take out wedding insurance. 

Wedding insurance would cost me around $225. I really want to avoid spending that because we have a tight budget & we can avoid this if they will just simply put it in writing or if they do not want to put it in writing, they should deduct the $225 from our final cost. 

Before we negotiate anything I figured I would ask if anyone else ran into this issue & how you handled it. Something else you should know is we are also going to try to talk them down $500 from the price they gave us to make it a done deal& now I feel like I need to ask for an additional $225 if we have to pay for the wedding insurance. 

I really feel like I am not unreasonable. I am not asking for a full refund. I just want to have piece of mind that if something did happen, we didn't lose part or even all the money we are spending. I just don't know what to do because I really LOVEEEE the wedding venue & can't believe they might loose a wedding over a simple issue. Has anyone run into this issue? And Please tell me if I am being unreasonable (I have no experience dealing with wedding vendors)

Thank you!!!

jcg98

I think you are overreacting. Force majeur is pretty standard in any contract. Personally I don't think this is a hill to die on. If you can talk them down in price, great, but I doubt they will budge on the contract language. That's going to be the case for the majority of venues, so don't lose out on the one you love. They will almost certainly work with you if the unthinkable happens. What time of year are you planning?

SummerGrl15

I agree with this.

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_new-jersey_help-with-act-of-god-clause-in-our-venue-contract?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:90Discussion:4e90e89c-68ee-41c8-b5cb-6a4d895e5062Post:c284c611-a1dc-47e5-9683-02eaeb457395">Re:Help with Act of God Clause in our Venue contract</a>:
[QUOTE]I think you are overreacting. Force majeur is pretty standard in any contract. Personally I don't think this is a hill to die on. If you can talk them down in price, great, but I doubt they will budge on the contract language. That's going to be the case for the majority of venues, so don't lose out on the one you love. They will almost certainly work with you if the unthinkable happens. What time of year are you planning?
Posted by jcg98[/QUOTE]

Gordo2014

Me, too.  Your deposit is not paying so much for the service as much as for the reservation of your day.  While it's not the venue's fault that another Hurricane Sandy comes along, it's not theirs either.  This is in every contract I've ever seen and I wouldn't think it's negotiable.  This is exactly what insurance is for.

JulianneMag

Thanks! This is what I needed to hear, since I really clueless & someone told me that it is really important to get that clause taken out!

[Deleted User]

I agree with PPs but would add that you can see if they'll put the rescheduling part into the contract. That's what our place did. They're still not responsible and won't refund money, but it now says in writing that they will reschedule to a mutually agreeable time and date if something happens of that nature.

ChristineL23

I would agree to put a clause in there about rescheduling into your contract.  We added this language to our contract and (WHAT ARE THE CHANCES) had to reschedule our wedding date Set for Hurricane Irene in 2011.  The venue was very willing to work with us and we found a new date just 2 months later.  The venue was just as eager as we were to reschedule our date (in our case they do not want to have their 2011 pricing carrying on to their books in 2012).  

Chrissy241987

I think it is a reasonable thing to have in a contract. A place really cannot be repsonsible for what mother nature chooses to dish out. If something is their fault, that is one thing. But some things are out of everyone's control.