Sept. 6,2020-nj-venue not letting us postpone yet

Yep! We’re still planning our October wedding. The only thing that would stop the plan is if our venue closes or cancels.

Our venue said the same thing for our August wedding. 🤷‍♀️ They don't want to lose more money, so we have to go ahead as planned. My advice is to decide with your fiance what you need to feel comfortable going ahead and what would make you postpone. Knowing we have no option to move the date has pushed us into the final planning stages.

I’m having the same problem with my venue in NJ. We are September 17th so we already had a Thursday to begin with. They aren’t touching until July too, which I get but not really. I also want to know if I would need to cut back my guest list, which we still don’t know. Let me know if you know anything before me!

It sounds like they have a protocol, which our venue does too. Our venue advised that they would be able to reschedule if we decided to postpone, but similar conditions. Couples who booked earlier would have priority in selecting new dates, and it makes sense they would charge new pricing as most vendors do adjust their pricing year-to-year.

Double-check your contract, but I’m sure these terms are outlined.

September in NYC. We want to have things happened as planned - Sept 19th, 2020. Our venue has not given us an option either way. NYC is planning on opening up on June 8th, so we are literally taking it week by week. Solidarity. This just plain sucks.

Hey jersey brides! I don’t know if my post will be of much help but I wanted to give you some insight on what other states are doing that have opened up a little more than NJ. I am from NJ and also had to postpone my originally scheduled April wedding to November 20, 2020. I am in constant contact with my venue and as of last week they did not postpone any July or August yet either. I really think unfortunately it depends on your venue, their demand, and their popularity.


Currently I live in Georgia. As you know we’re one of the first states to open. I know someone getting married down here in July and the wedding is still on! It’s hearing things like this that give me hope. Although “large gatherings” cannot happen she is able to have her wedding, that is because her venue considers themselves a restaurant not an event space. Therefore, with the current capacity rules she can have up to 80 people at that “restaurant”. I am really not sure how it all works but I follow the news very closely and one day I’m optimistic and the others not so much. Ohio, Texas, Montana, And Alaska are all having weddings again! The reality is even for us fall brides and ones who have already postponed we need to prepare To have a reduced guest list. just gotta keep praying that Jersey gets there soon! We will!!

Hi!

So I'm not in New Jersey but down in Maryland. Our states have very similar restrictions, although Maryland just eased slightly. But my wedding is August 29, and my venue will not allow us to postpone. I don't believe my state will be in a place to allow 200 people to be together, but my venue still thinks otherwise. I know they have cancelled all June weddings. But I am not sure when they will begin to reach out to the July brides. I'm assuming they must have already or will be soon. I'm just frustrated because I don't want to spend money on invitations for them to tell me they aren't moving forward with it. Our invitations are costing us about $1,000 and that is too much money to throw away if it gets postponed.

I wish there were more guidelines but the governors about what group sizes will be allowed. I know things are changing but honestly, even 50 people together over the next few months seems super risky.

View Quoted Comment And we hired a band which if there are restrictions where people can’t dance that would be a waste of money to have a band and no one can enjoy dancing.

Hey! Congratulations. We're having a large wedding- 275 guests this October. We just decided to postpone till May. All of our vendors were super understanding. Only my photographer had me put some extra money down for a 2021 deposit. Murphy so far wont alow large gatherings until we have a vaccine. I really didn't want to cut my guest list since its basically all family and close friends. If there are still restrictions next year then I guess we have no choice but to have a smaller ceremony. But for now we postponed. Good luck with everything! Just do what's right for you and your FH.

Hi Gina,

I got a very similar answer when I spoke to my venue. We would only be allowed a weekend in March OR we'd have to pay an extra $25-$50 per person + a rebooking fee for a date outside of March. We also had to pay for 150 guests as a minimum before coronavirus. We had a plan B so we can still legally be married this year and postpone our reception.. This forces a lot of us to either cancel & put money into a new smaller scale event altogether (but the venue would likely still keep the money we've already paid) OR pay for overpay for our day (out of town guest already said they are not coming). A lot of people were affected financially by Coronavirus and July leaves very little time to finish planning We have considered seeking legal advice.

We are also in NJ. Gina, we have the same date. All we want to do is keep our elderly parents safe and our siblings safe who are traveling from CA and FL. Hopefully they do not catch anything in their travels and spread it at the wedding either. Too many huge risks with live at stake. I can't imagine having my wedding without my mom there but she has a lung condition. We would happy to postpone and paying so much more money planning in limbo. Cutting back our quest list is not even an options because it's our parents we are worried about and I can't imagine having a wedding with them at home for their safety. My fiance and I both work in healthcare, we have the former CDC director as our VP and our company is working on 3 different vaccines for COVID, so we very well know that is not about closures, it's about lives.

My coworkers who are also getting married in September in western PA (where the cases are not as bad) were able to easily postpone. Seems like the NJ owners are banning together to protect themselves at the expense of their clients.

BUT our wedding venue said they are not sure if they can host our wedding YET they will not let us reschedule without paying an extra 6,500 right now (+10% 2021 markup and $3500 change fee). If they are unable to host wedding because of coronavirus restrictions, they said that we will still pay extra for 2021 prices. Look, I get they have a business to run, but it is very unfair to introduce amendments etc., that uses existing clients as a way to draw up more revenue and be responsible for a pandemic we did not cause. It's unfair how they are making this experience worse for us. This is not elective for us, we did not choose to unleash coronavirus, my fiance even lost in Godmother to this thing so we are so deeply concerned and would do anything to protect our families. It just breaks my heart.

We are less than 3 months away. They are holding our money hostage and pretty much making us choose between safety and more money. They can give us no guarantees but want us to pay more money no matter what because we already are clients and stand to loose $16,500+ if we walk away. We have been asking them for answers for months yet silence. Our venue had amazing reputation for customer service and when we need them the most they don’t even answer our calls or emails. The word wedding gives me anxiety now. This has been such a nightmare, it's not the way we should be starting our lives, with a place that was so great at selling themselves, but so insensitive now and looking for anyway to make their loss of revenue a charge that existing brides will have to pay anyways. Just a nightmare. Hoping to resolve this with the venue first before getting lawyers involved since they wanted to use those words on us.

This is ridiculous


https://www.nj.com/coronavirus/2020/07/is-monday-is-the-new-saturday-for-weddings-venues-try-to-reschedule-but-brides-and-grooms-balk.html

Https://www.nj.com/coronavirus/2020/07/with-couples-wedding-on-hold-nj-banquet-hall-refuses-to-return-45k-deposit-suit-says.html