I had heard some really unsettling things about our original venue, and the knottie I originally heard about it from switched to a different place 2 weeks before her wedding. The event coordinator there wouldn't follow through with simple things (like getting back to me about where to even send the deposit). Also, we went there on a random night just for a few drinks and some food (it's a restaurant at a golf club) and needless to say, they weren't good at all.
So we forfeited our $250 deposit, cut back our guest list even further and went with our original idea of getting married at the park where FI proposed :-)
We're mailing off the rental agreement and deposit tuesday!