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Wedding Contracts & Cancellations: COVID-19

knottie330dd46c180bfd71knottie330dd46c180bfd71 member
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in Wedding Woes

Our wedding was scheduled for April 2020 at The Oaks at Salem. After guidance was released from the CDC and the Government, we had to cancel. The health and safety of our family is our top priority, and 80% of our guests were to travel to Raleigh for the occasion. The Oaks sent us email updates and offered to reschedule, which was great, but we sent back a date in October we wanted to hold, and it was booked within the three hours it took us to coordinate with friends and family on a date.

Since none of the dates work for us or our family, we had to cancel altogether. We've asked for a refund (even partial) because we just paid the remaining balance a few weeks before this outbreak impacted events, and The Oaks will not budge. The contract does not explicitly state pandemics or government shutdowns, but includes the "Act of God" clause. Is anyone else out there going through something similar with wedding contracts? We've had the same response from other vendors as well.

My heart goes out to all the brides out there impacted by this virus.


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Re: Wedding Contracts & Cancellations: COVID-19

  • banana468banana468 member
    Knottie Warrior 25000 Comments 500 Love Its 5 Answers
    This is really rough on everyone impacted. Is there any other date that would work?  Can you push it out into 2021 or get married and have a 2021 anniversary party?  Normally I'm all for "this is the way you do it" but a lot of those etiquette rules apply when you're not in a pandemic.   So can you do something that at least allows you to not lose your money? 
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  • bubblylovebubblylove member
    Ninth Anniversary 100 Comments 100 Love Its First Answer
    So they are keeping all of the money - as if you had the full wedding - or just your deposit? 

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  • knottie8b0a49edbca8ddc4knottie8b0a49edbca8ddc4 newb
    First Comment
    I am so sorry to hear about what you are going through, this is indeed a crazy time. I myself just got recently engaged and am just starting wedding planning. I can't imagine what it must be like during these times. 

    My advice is to keep communications open with your vendors. Refunds are always tricky. If no service has been rendered yet and you have already paid in full, I think it is reasonable to ask for some of the money back outside of the deposit. I would take the deposit as a loss as these are usually non-refundable or maybe work with your vendor on how you can use the deposit in the future (such as an equivalent photo session for photographers etc). 

    I wish you all the best and hopefully we can all get through this with minimal damage :)  
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  • knottie330dd46c180bfd71knottie330dd46c180bfd71 member
    First Comment
    They are keeping all of the venue fees, we've paid in full at this point (unfortunately)
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  • banana468banana468 member
    Knottie Warrior 25000 Comments 500 Love Its 5 Answers
    knottie330dd46c180bfd71 said:
    They are keeping all of the venue fees, we've paid in full at this point (unfortunately)
    This is unprecedented so without a lawyer it's going to be hard to see what you can get back.   Did you have wedding insurance?   Did it cover acts of God? 

    Can you talk to them about making it in 2021?  If you're not going to get your money back then why not? 
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  • STARMOON44STARMOON44 member
    Knottie Warrior 5000 Comments 500 Love Its 5 Answers
    Yeah they’re probably right per the contract so I think you’ll need to look at more dates. 
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  • charlotte989875charlotte989875 member
    Knottie Warrior 10000 Comments 500 Love Its 5 Answers
    STARMOON44 said:
    Yeah they’re probably right per the contract so I think you’ll need to look at more dates. 
    This would be my guess too that since they’re offering alternative dates they’re upholding their part of the contract and would treat declining the alternate dates as backing out. 
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