Postponing Wedding Due to Covid 19 / Contract

Emma_C1980

Hi All,

We have our wedding booked for the 4th of July in a fairly reputable hotel. It says on our contract that if we want to postpone we can do 6 months from the original date. However, we obviously would rather not postpone but due to current circumstances feel it best, and we feel we wouldnt be able to go ahead with our original number of guests. The hotel isn't entertaining going beyond the 6 months even though they can only offer us Thursdays September - December, we didnt want a Thursday wedding, never mind in the winter. Would anyone know where I stand legally on this issue due to the circumstances?

Thanks!

pullandbang

If you are initiating the postponement, then I'd say the venue is well within their rights to stick to their contract. Different if the hotel was asking you to postpone, but they're not.
With the amount of postponements going on at the moment, I'm surprised you're even being offered a Thursday. Don't forget, you also have to consider the availability of your band, photographer, videographer, church....etc...etc.
Have you consulted with all your other suppliers to check their availability?

Emma_C1980

Hi @pullandbang,

They have Saturdays available next year but the GM won't give me one of those. There is no way they will fit in all postponed weddings between 11 Thursdays of the rest of this year. I'd have thought I'd be entitled to like for like? Every other hotel in the country seems to be being more than accommodating. At the moment I'm saying I'm more than happy to go ahead in July if everything is ok which I really don't feel they will be but I wanted a back up date just in case.

tonytoc11

Emma_C1980 wrote: »

Hi All,

We have our wedding booked for the 4th of July in a fairly reputable hotel. It says on our contract that if we want to postpone we can do 6 months from the original date. However, we obviously would rather not postpone but due to current circumstances feel it best, and we feel we wouldnt be able to go ahead with our original number of guests. The hotel isn't entertaining going beyond the 6 months even though they can only offer us Thursdays September - December, we didnt want a Thursday wedding, never mind in the winter. Would anyone know where I stand legally on this issue due to the circumstances?

Thanks!

Our wedding is scheduled for 3rd of July and we've been offered any alternative available date over the course of 2020 or 2021 if we need to reschedule. The only days available in 2020 are Thursdays or Sundays. We're holding out at the moment to see how things develop for 3rd of July.

Teach30

Same story but our hotel has no similar date available until 2022 when we asked. We are looking for get our money back and go elsewhere. They didn’t even bother to inform us other couple we’re looking at changing and booking provisional dates and perhaps we should too.
We are at a loss as what to do because we dont want to wait another two years.

dockysher

tonytoc11 wrote: »

Our wedding is scheduled for 3rd of July and we've been offered any alternative available date over the course of 2020 or 2021 if we need to reschedule. The only days available in 2020 are Thursdays or Sundays. We're holding out at the moment to see how things develop for 3rd of July.

Its very unlikely weddings with large amount of guests will back anytime before September and even thats being optimistic. If its a wedding of say under 50 guests and church big enough to social distance for this and venue is then there might be a chance.
But do you really want to get married like that, I would be taking best dates to postpone wedding too before all gone.
We postponed from 29th of May to 18th December and we still worried we won't be having a normal wedding.

I really feel for all who’s plans are thrown into array. Don’t be rushed into anything. If the wedding is definitely postponed, contact your guests and inform them. Don’t depend on word of mouth getting the information out. Then wait until the lockdown is well and truly over and start planning again. You may not get what you want, but please keep in mind that it’s the marriage that is most important. Not the wedding. (Speaking as a twice married woman). A small, more intimate ceremony can be more meaningful and less stressful than the full monty. You can always have a massive hooley either that night or at a later stage. Good Luck and be happy.

Teach30

dockysher wrote: »

Its very unlikely weddings with large amount of guests will back anytime before September and even thats being optimistic. If its a wedding of say under 50 guests and church big enough to social distance for this and venue is then there might be a chance.
But do you really want to get married like that, I would be taking best dates to postpone wedding too before all gone.
We postponed from 29th of May to 18th December and we still worried we won't be having a normal wedding.

Totally agree with this, unless your having small numbers there’s no way 300 people will be allowed in a room together.

Heartbreaking to have to do it all over again.

Only dates left for us next year are Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday and no one will go midweek.

I’ll never again be able to go to a wedding if mine doesn’t happen it’s that disappointing.

Salary Negotiator

Our venue offered us any available date. Our original date is a Friday and we’ve picked a contingency Friday but the venue offered us a Saturday that was provisionally booked for a Christmas party.

That Saturday would have suited us better but we didn’t feel right taking other business from the venue.

It tough for everyone but I think venues should look after existing business first so if dates are available they should be made available to re-booking.

Emma_C1980

That was my thoughts too, that they should be looking after Existing business. Did your contract say anything about having to stick within a certain time frame if you did postpone?

Emma_C1980

I think at this stage we would rather get our money back as he has been so awful to deal with.

Salary Negotiator

Emma_C1980 wrote: »

That was my thoughts too, that they should be looking after Existing business. Did your contract say anything about having to stick within a certain time frame if you did postpone?

We don't have a contract, all agreed with a handshake (perhaps naive of both parties but that's how the venue operates and we were happy to go along with it).

amdublin

Emma_C1980 wrote: »

I think at this stage we would rather get our money back as he has been so awful to deal with.

Can you get your money back at this point? What does your contract say about getting refund?

If you can get your money back, what is stopping you doing that, and then rebooking for the date you actually want?

(I have a feeling your contract will go against you for getting your money back)

Sorry about this, must be terribly hard am sure

TomTree

Teach30 wrote: »

Same story but our hotel has no similar date available until 2022 when we asked. We are looking for get our money back and go elsewhere. They didn’t even bother to inform us other couple we’re looking at changing and booking provisional dates and perhaps we should too.
We are at a loss as what to do because we dont want to wait another two years.

Hi we are i nthe exact same boat as you. I wonder if we are i nthe smae venue. Would you dm me your veneu so we can mpare if it is the same or if a few venues are adopting this approach. Going to delay us by over 20 months.

djdwainec

We had to postpone our wedding. We had Saturday 15th August booked and had to reschedule to August bank holiday Sunday 2021 due to the lack of Saturdays available but our hotel were offering us any available date in 2021 or 2022 if we wanted.

I'd ask your hotel for your deposit back due to the circumstances, if not maybe cut your losses if it's a small deposit and look for a venue that will look after you.

TomTree

Our date was early April, we were due to go ahead when the government said crowds of 100 or less, however it hten changed and we had to postpone on the advce of the venue, which we did, to mid August a the time the venue adivsed that they would have to chekc if the 2021 dates would be available to postponing couples.

We asked at he first postpoining if could get our money back as we fel the uncertainty was to hard to deal with and we might push pause until things had cleared, we got no answe on that at the time.

We are not feeling a little uneasy about August the venue - are not offering other " back up dates" to couples however, they only have availabiity starting 2021 from October

We have asked for our money back,this has been denied.

If August date cant go ahead we will be foced to postpone over 20 months or loose thousands.

dockysher

TomTree wrote: »

Our date was early April, we were due to go ahead when the government said crowds of 100 or less, however it hten changed and we had to postpone on the advce of the venue, which we did, to mid August a the time the venue adivsed that they would have to chekc if the 2021 dates would be available to postponing couples.

We asked at he first postpoining if could get our money back as we fel the uncertainty was to hard to deal with and we might push pause until things had cleared, we got no answe on that at the time.

We are not feeling a little uneasy about August the venue - are not offering other " back up dates" to couples however, they only have availabiity starting 2021 from October

We have asked for our money back,this has been denied.

If August date cant go ahead we will be foced to postpone over 20 months or loose thousands.

We postponed from May 29th to December 18th as I mentioned earlier in thread and we still worried now that we wont be able have normal wedding then.
We should have went with summer date in 2021 probably but didn't think at time it get so bad.
In reference to your situation one of our friends wedding was scheduled for last weekend in August and they postponed it until next year.
Hotel contacted them at wekend saying they were now moving weddings up to October.
There lucky they got good date tho again in 2021 with hotel

Salary Negotiator

dockysher wrote: »

We postponed from May 29th to December 18th as I mentioned earlier in thread and we still worried now that we wont be able have normal wedding then.
We should have went with summer date in 2021 probably but didn't think at time it get so bad.
In reference to your situation one of our friends wedding was scheduled for last weekend in August and they postponed it until next year.
Hotel contacted them at wekend saying they were now moving weddings up to October.
There lucky they got good date tho again in 2021 with hotel

We postponed to December as well and I’m starting to thank even that was too optimistic, seriously considering just buying the bullet and further postponing to summer 2021.

Means I can buy a BBQ this summer so not a total loss

Sparky

This sounds exactly like the hotel we chose too. We contacted them a number of times over the course of the last 10 days and they will not budge. They told us that they expect to be back in full operation mid June and will follow HSE guidelines for the event should there be any. One of their remarks was none of their June/July couples have contacted them to reschedule. So we should be fine.
We asked for a tentative reschedule date just so that we could work to something as a plan B, but this was denied and again we were told the hotel will be in full operation by mid June.

The hotel seem to be of the opinion that there will still be a 100 guest restriction for the room and since we have ~170 guests, we have been advised to start working on our guest list to remove some of our older guests. Both myself and partner were truly shocked at the remark considering it's our day and our decision who is on the guest list. Both my father and partners mother have high risk health conditions, but that fell on deaf ears too. An additional anxiety here is that my dad is not going to risk his life again and has already aired his concerns with me. So we may look at having to fork out €1000s to cancel and break the contract and start from scratch.

I'm holding out until May 5th to see what happens so that they may end up forced someway to offer us a postponement. My gut feeling here is that they won't give in for insurance reasons.

Brianmwalker

Sparky wrote: »

This sounds exactly like the hotel we chose too. We contacted them a number of times over the course of the last 10 days and they will not budge. They told us that they expect to be back in full operation mid June and will follow HSE guidelines for the event should there be any. One of their remarks was none of their June/July couples have contacted them to reschedule. So we should be fine.
We asked for a tentative reschedule date just so that we could work to something as a plan B, but this was denied and again we were told the hotel will be in full operation by mid June.

The hotel seem to be of the opinion that there will still be a 100 guest restriction for the room and since we have ~170 guests, we have been advised to start working on our guest list to remove some of our older guests. Both myself and partner were truly shocked at the remark considering it's our day and our decision who is on the guest list. Both my father and partners mother have high risk health conditions, but that fell on deaf ears too. An additional anxiety here is that my dad is not going to risk his life again and has already aired his concerns with me. So we may look at having to fork out €1000s to cancel and break the contract and start from scratch.

I'm holding out until May 5th to see what happens so that they may end up forced someway to offer us a postponement. My gut feeling here is that they won't give in for insurance reasons.

Hi sparky, I'm having similar problems with a country house in Wicklow! Very disappointed with the level of service

TomTree

Brianmwalker wrote: »

Hi sparky, I'm having similar problems with a country house in Wicklow! Very disappointed with the level of service

Same with a manor house.I have a feeling they are going to provide us with a wedding but god knows under what sort of restriction and try and get out of giving us even an alternative date. Saying to wait until the 5th of May now saying to wait for further information till August now when phase 5 begins.

stargazer 68

The hotels are due to open in June however as far as I can see the bars are to remain closed until August so how is that going to work with weddings? Will there be a special dispensation or are they even addressing that with you?

woodchuck

Dovies wrote: »

The hotels are due to open in June however as far as I can see the bars are to remain closed until August so how is that going to work with weddings? Will there be a special dispensation or are they even addressing that with you?

There really is zero clarity from the government on weddings at the moment. Technically you don't need the bar to be open to get married though. There will definitely be restrictions, but nobody know yet what they'll be. Social distancing is the obvious one, but maybe there'll be a rule that you can only have a ceremony and a sit down meal. They may not allow a drinks reception or evening reception with dancing etc.

stargazer 68

woodchuck wrote: »

There really is zero clarity from the government on weddings at the moment. Technically you don't need the bar to be open to get married though. There will definitely be restrictions, but nobody know yet what they'll be. Social distancing is the obvious one, but maybe there'll be a rule that you can only have a ceremony and a sit down meal. They may not allow a drinks reception or evening reception with dancing etc.

But then the hotel won't be in 'full operation' as a poster above has been advised. So maybe there is the get out clause for people wanting to move dates and having trouble. A lot of this is up in the air and I feel for all the couples trying to get it sorted.

woodchuck

Dovies wrote: »

But then the hotel won't be in 'full operation' as a poster above has been advised. So maybe there is the get out clause for people wanting to move dates and having trouble. A lot of this is up in the air and I feel for all the couples trying to get it sorted.

Yeah that's true, I don't know how hotels can claim to be in "full operation". They're obviously just hoping that they can still let the wedding go ahead in some way shape or form, but don't seem to care if the couple aren't happy with how it'll be able to go ahead.

Brianmwalker

TomTree wrote: »

Same with a manor house.I have a feeling they are going to provide us with a wedding but god knows under what sort of restriction and try and get out of giving us even an alternative date. Saying to wait until the 5th of May now saying to wait for further information till August now when phase 5 begins.

Same here. The contract from their side is so in their favour that I can't see how I'll get my deposit back! And I don't want to have the wedding there at all now. They won't deal with us
until its too late.

Going down the insurance route but don't deal I'll have any luck there either. 10,000 thrown away!

TomTree

Brianmwalker wrote: »

Same here. The contract from their side is so in their favour that I can't see how I'll get my deposit back! And I don't want to have the wedding there at all now. They won't deal with us
until its too late.

Going down the insurance route but don't deal I'll have any luck there either. 10,000 thrown away!

Ya exactly the same, would rather get the money back and just have a nice restaurant reception and small wedding ceremony. But kinds been held ransom by the venue, either go with their lack of availability in 2021, Mid week wedding, or social distance wedding this year.

Contract wise as we have to have a minimum to book the venue that might get us out of it as they wont be able to have the minimum they set themselves originally.

1990siobhan

Hi, I am just wondering is any one having problems with getting deposits back from make up artists and would any one know the rights? I paid mine 150e and she refused give it back. It said non-refundable deposit but then says in the unlikely event cant do your make up you will get it back??

Thanks

woodchuck

In my own personal experience and from what I've read from many other couples on another forum (HIGM facebook group), the vast majority of suppliers are willing to transfer deposits to a new date. However, if they're not available on your new date, the refund is non-refundable.

I think that's fair enough. It's not like they're being money grubbing hanging onto the money. The reality is that their industry collapsed almost overnight, they're probably struggling big time financially and they may have already spent that money in order to pay their bills. You can't get blood from a stone!

Also, it's not their fault if someone picks a new date that they're not available on. We have a plan B in place and I went to an awful lot of trouble to secure a date that all of suppliers are available on. Obviously we wanted to keep the suppliers (we chose them for a reason), but we also didn't want to lose the deposits. This included switching from a Saturday to a Sunday though. We could have stuck with a Friday or Saturday, but we would have lost some of our suppliers.

Teach30

I’ve had the unfortunate scenario of losing a substantial deposit due to government guidelines prohibiting the wedding gathering taking place.

Band refusing to give back even a partial repayment of deposit. Not our fault they can’t play. They are not available for any dates that suit us next year. We lose deposit. They get to keep a nice sum of money for doing nothing.

If they are currently out of work they will be in receipt of covoid payment. There are no winners in this but certainly keeping a large sum of money is morally wrong.

Won’t be recommending them to others. after our dealings with them feel no pity for vendors tbh.

1990siobhan

Is your band in the irish wedding association because then the deposit can be transferred to another band

Teach30

1990siobhan wrote: »

Is your band in the irish wedding association because then the deposit can be transferred to another band

Thanks I know, and our new band aren’t part of the assoc.

If we had picked an off peak day yes we’d have gotten the same vendors again but that still doesn’t give them the right to retain deposits when they can not provide the service on the day due to no fault of the couple.

A deposit holds the day. There’s no clear guidance as how to proceed if the day can not go ahead as it’s prohibited. They should give us back half but they have it now so they’re not parting with it.

Very greedy of band to keep deposit, they had done nothing for us to deserve it bar pencil us in.

woodchuck

Is it the couples fault? No.

Is it the suppliers fault? Also no.

It should be the wedding insurers who pay up for loss of deposits due to rescheduling as a result of Covid-19. It's an absolute disgrace that they're not, but why should the suppliers have to take a hit just because the insurers are being dickheads?

Teach30

woodchuck wrote: »

Is it the couples fault? No.

Is it the suppliers fault? Also no.

It should be the wedding insurers who pay up for loss of deposits due to rescheduling as a result of Covid-19. It's an absolute disgrace that they're not, but why should the suppliers have to take a hit just because the insurers are being dickheads?

Didn’t even know wedding insurance was a thing until a few weeks ago..!

Shelli2

Teach30 wrote: »

Didn’t even know wedding insurance was a thing until a few weeks ago..!

Suppliers are businesses who should have insurance for this kind of thing really.

qwerty13

Shelli2 wrote: »

Suppliers are businesses who should have insurance for this kind of thing really.

True, and I’m not a vendor or insurer, but they tend to insure for ‘known’ risks that they can quantify - and the premiums reflect that. It starts getting difficult if an unknown / unanticipated event is thrown into the mix, ie the insurers never anticipated a global event, so therefore it wasn’t charged for, so therefore they tend not to pay out.