Venue Contract: Should I be concerned?

simply.me · December 2009

Long time lurker, first time poster.

I wasn't sure whether to post here or reception, but I know you ladies are active, fun, and honest, so I'm hoping you all can help me out.

We've reviewed the contract for the venue that we hope to book and there are a few clauses that jumped out at me, but I don't know if these are pretty standard or red flags:

1. venue reserves the right to assign another room for your function shall the original room be unavailable.

2. Food and Beverage minimum - any prices quoted are subject to change.

Is this similar to wording you all had? If not, what would you suggest I ask them to change it to?

Thanks!

lyndausvi · December 2009

1. I have a big problem with.

2. Is kind of standard. Food prices change and some places will not lock into a price until closer to the wedding. I know DH has a 90 day? lock. Although if you do not want to go over a certain price, he will adjust the meal to make the price work for you.

aMrsin09 · December 2009

for #2 I would see if there is a cap on the amount it can increase.

#1 would have me worried. If you are contracting for Room A, why in the world would it become unavailable (assuming you meet your minimum for the room).

SwedishChick2011 · December 2009

I'd be concerned (especially about #2), even though that might be standard wording. I think you need to ask them about those things. It seems like there should be an amount that the price cannot go over - for example, no more than 10% more than what they quoted you or something. Don't sign anything you're not comfortable signing.

aMrsin09 · December 2009

OK, maybe in case of fire or flood in Room A, but I would have that kind of stuff spelled out. If it is becuase they got a bigger party and want to move you, that would be a no-go.

JK10910 · December 2009

Yeah, that's going to be a problem.

The room thing is huge to me. I wouldn't be ok with that.

The food--well things change, but we got our venue to guarantee us (in writing) that prices would not increase more than 10%.

opalsky007 · December 2009

Agree with Lynda- #1 is kind of ridiculous. My venue contract had #2 included, but it wound up not being an issue. They're honoring the prices under which I signed the contract.

mandapanda78 · December 2009

1 is a tad concerning but probably not really. 2 is standard. If you want to feel better about either I suggest finding other people who have had events there and making sure everything went ok.

ootmother2 · December 2009

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_venue-contract-should-concerned?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:6cca76ed-4acf-4d95-8b5a-61c15f6d46e8Post:b45c594e-bf4d-4471-8f36-5951c909db33">Re: Venue Contract: Should I be concerned?</a>:
[QUOTE]1. I have a big problem with. 2. Is kind of standard. Food prices change and some places will not lock into a price until closer to the wedding. I know DH has a 90 day? lock. Although if you do not want to go over a certain price, he will adjust the meal to make the price work for you.
Posted by lyndausvi[/QUOTE]

I agree mostly but the venue contract put a 10% cap on the price increase.

#1 doesn't apply, you had the cc or your didn't. No other functions for the duration

cmhershey · December 2009

#1 is kinda dicey. Check with the venue to see what exactly does it mean (is it due to an unforseen circumstance like a fire/flood, you don't meet you minum for the room, just because etc.) #2 is normal...again check to see how much it could go up to see if you would be comfortable paying the extra if need be. Don't sign it if you still feel uncomfortable with the answers they give you.

lyndausvi · December 2009

The only reason I can see the room thing being in there is if you book thinking it was 200 people and say you really only had 100. They might want to be able to move you to a different room in order to get the revenue for having more people.

Or if something happend to the room.

Other than that I can't see why they would need to move you.

squirrly · December 2009

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_venue-contract-should-concerned?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:6cca76ed-4acf-4d95-8b5a-61c15f6d46e8Post:277c49fa-a8cc-4445-88de-55f48dd1aff8">Re: Venue Contract: Should I be concerned?</a>:
[QUOTE]OK, maybe in case of fire or flood in Room A, but I would have that kind of stuff spelled out. If it is becuase they got a bigger party and want to move you, that would be a no-go.
Posted by aMrsin09[/QUOTE]

This. I would require it to be spelled out that if the room is unuseable due to damage that can not be repaired in time for your event that they have the right to provide an alternate location of equivilant quality and decor, but no other reasons.

Also, on the F&B minimum, I'd want it to say that the MINIMUM is fixed, but that specific menu prices are subject to change, up to X days prior to the event, and that you can change menu choices until then, should the prices change. That protects both of you.

simply.me · December 2009

Thanks!

This gives me some great guidance on how to approach them about changing the wording. Hopefully they will...

And sorry about seeming to post and run. Mental note - the refresh button is your friend. I was sitting here going, "why does no one like me!!" :-)

stargazerlily82479 · December 2009

I definitely agree on getting more catastrophe-type wording clarification on 1. Our caterer had a clause like #2, but when we brought it up as a concern, they actually said that based on what we were choosing for our menu, they didn't foresee the prices on those going up, so they wrote into the contract that our prices wouldn't change.

tenofcups4me · December 2009

I wouldn't sign a contract with either one of those clauses. At least in my area, half the purpose of signing a contract is to lock in the prices. So for them to say they can change it at any time to any price is ridiculous. At the very least, there should be a clause with a cap for how much it can be raised, but I would fight long and hard to have the prices locked in now.

lauralaur · December 2009

1. Is a no-sale for me.

2. Our venue didn't lock in prices until 90 days before the wedding. Lucky for us, they didn't up their prices at all from when we booked to our wedding (didn't want to scare people away because of the economy). We also had a food revenue minimum. If everyone on our guest list came, it wouldn't have been an issue, but our turnout was about 2/3 so we were jamming appetizers on there to meet the minimum (just to have them decide our wedding was "off season" and waive the minimum.)

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