Venue Issues - allowing a festival to take parking lot and close down street access

That is ridiculous. I’d ask them for a discounted rate or some kind of refund. Tell them what you told us and how much of an inconvenience it’ll be. You’re missing out on certain aspects and you shouldn’t have to pay full price for the stunt they pulled. I’m sorry you have to deal with this.

Wait is the venue the one that organized this event or is it the city? You said the park district so I’m a little confused.
Does the venue own this parking lot?

If I were in your shoes, I wouldn’t be concerned about the festival impacting my wedding or photos, simply because I think the backdrop could make for some really fun pictures and create an upbeat atmosphere!
However, I would be very concerned with all the other ways it is impacting your wedding and inconveniencing you and your guests. Was on-site parking part of your original contract? If so, they need to honor it! I would also inquire about getting some sort of parking passes so that you can park next to the venue in order to unload florals and your vendors can do the same. You and your fiancé should probably sit down and discuss the situation and decide what actions, if any, you wish to take if your venue is not accommodating to your requests (ie, Will you request a refund and try to find another venue? Would you request a discount on the venue for your inconvenience, and stick with them? Will you stick with this vendor if they are unwilling to meet any of your requests?) I am so sorry you are going through this! It sounds like your venue is not being very considerate. Hopefully they will work with you to come up with some solutions. Worst case scenario, they won’t budge at all, and things will be a bit more inconvenient for you and your guests…. But you will still marry your fiancé in the presence of your family and friends, and have a wonderful night! 💕

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It's the venues parking lot but they agreed to let the park district host the event in it. sorry about the messy description and thank you for the reply!

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Thank you so much for your detailed response. If it weren't for the inconveniences to our guests and vendors we actually would've been quite excited to have that nearby, cool bands and beer! For the photos unfortunately we can't use that area in front of the building at all since it will be taken by equipment for the fest. But you're absolutely right the biggest memories happen inside with our families

we will definitely reach out to our coordinator to see what we can work out. Unfortunately its been over a month and half since she has answered any of our emails besides sending this one about the festival so we are a bit nervous about being able to voice concerns.

You make do with the situation as best you can if moving it elsewhere obviously isn’t an option. Seems they could have given you earlier notice. Is this the first year for the festival? That could explain the sudden notice.

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Thank you for the kind reply, we definitely did consider that!

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It's been held for 5 years but skipped 2020, always was in august. With covid making a mess of everyone's plans we can understand why they decided so last minute to go through with it. Just shocked the venue didn't try to work with them another day since they have other September Saturdays with no weddings or events. But we will definitely roll with the punches and shoot for having a wonderful wedding. Thank you for the reply!

You are not overreacting. I would be freaking out too! I would read the contract carefully and take note of what is being hindered by the festival. Maybe they will give you a refund, or discount. Or hopefully they can make arrangements to make sure you have parking and better access, etc

I understand the freak out, but really there isn't anything you can do other then inform you guests. I wouldn't stress over it, it's out of your control and there is nothing you will be able to do to change it. More important stressors will come up that will need your attention.

I’d be freaking out I would demand a partial refund

The street festival has a strategy to get their own vendors into the area, so the venue can contact them and make sure your vendors can use the same method. It may mean coordinating with them for a special pass for the cars/delivery vans to get through the street barriers, that sort of thing.
The parking situation is bad, yeah. See if the venue has any options for you.

Maybe hire a couple people to valet, to help with people who can't walk really far to park

Not to add more stress, but if the festival is happening right outside your venue, make sure that your guests will be able to get to your venue without paying any sort of "admittance" fee for the festival

I would let our guests know about the parking situation. Something similar happened for my best friends wedding. She got married at a venue downtown and they ended up closing off all of the surrounding streets for a 5K. Many guests were late because they were unaware that they had to try to find parking, park far away, and then walk to the venue.

Other than alerting your guests, I would not stress about it.

The venue should have informed you before renting out their parking lot to the festival and offered you options. It's not unreasonable to be upset they did this and failed to communicate with you. Definitely talk to the venue about it and ask if they can offer valet parking, a shuttle, parking passes, etc or partial refund so you can hire these services. Also don't forget to ask the venue about handicap parking. I'm not sure if your ceremony or reception wil take place outside but if so I imagine it's also going to be very loud. I would approach the venue politely and ask what they can do for you as your wedding will not be what they've advertised and if they say they don't plan to do anything then explain your disappointment with their lack of communication and professionalism. Also don't forget to leave an honest (non-emotional) review.

Other than that, try not to stress over what you can't control (easier said than done, I know) and try to make the most of the festival - definitely a cool photo op!

Just want to thank you all for your responses! While I waited to talk with my venue, my nerves were calmed and we were able to look positively at the situation

As of now the festival decided to not close the streets and only take the parking lot, and our venue will also be offering us security yay!

We also decided to hire and pay for a valet service so our guests don't have to walk far distances from the other lots.

Thank you all again!