doodle
Brilliant_Rock
- Joined
- Feb 22, 2008
- Messages
- 1,810
this could get lengthy, so please bear with me because i really need all the advice i can get on this! as many of you know, my FI and i felt that our venue was breaching part of our contract because they''re trying to charge us for a great deal of expenses pertaining to a bar that they did not mention when we signed our contract, and we specifically asked about any additional charges regarding this. we were told that our $5000 fee covered set-up, clean-up, china, crystal, chargers, etc. apparently, there are additional fees for set-up and clean-up IF it is for a bar, barware is PLASTIC unless we rent otherwise, and if we do so, crystal for a bar must be ordered separately at a charge per individual piece (the woman wasn''t even sure what this fee was, although she said she THOUGHT it was $.30 per item). in addition, the cancellation policy is that we get a full refund on all monies paid other than our deposit IF and only if they are able to rebook the facility at the same price. we bought the most expensive of their packages, and our date is only 6 months away, so i''m concerned that if we cancel now, we may wind up forfeiting $2500 that we''ve already paid to a venue that we feel is now trying to screw us over. i emailed the coordinator and told her that we felt some of this late-breaking information broke our contract and asked for a meeting with her to sort it out, so the FI and i drove 45 minutes up there today to talk to her in person, and what REALLY broke my heart is that she didn''t seem to care at all if we were to break our contract. i guess she figured that, with their cancellation policy, either someone else would book and she was still $300 richer due to our lost deposit, or, if nobody booked our date, she would gain $2800 because we lose our payment if they can''t rebook. i had my heart set on this venue because it''s really beautiful, but the owner''s lackadaisical attitude destroyed my faith in her, and we really don''t know what to do now. i cried all the way home, and believe me, i NEVER EVER cry (one of my best friends died and i made it through his funeral without tears, but i cried over this, so that says a LOT!). i REALLY REALLY REALLY need advice, and i need it quickly because, if we do decide to pull out with this venue, they''re more likely to rebook and refund our money if we back out sooner rather than later, so PLEASE, anyone with words of advice, HELP ME!
here are some pros and cons:
our original package was $5000 and, of what the package included, we are using: the building and its gardens, tables, chairs, and china. the package also included decorations and a catering assistance package of tea, coffee, ice, etc, although we aren''t using any of their decor. we just bought this package because it included china. they''ll let us bring in our own alcohol, but they charge us out the wazoo for the glassware to serve it in, plus bartenders, etc. it''d be simpler to stick with our original venue and not have the hassle of finding a new place.
on the negative side, the venue is 45 minutes away in the middle of nowhere, and after the woman adding on so many fees that we specifically asked her about before but she''s claiming we misunderstood, i''m afraid of what else she''ll charge us for later. the bar is very important to us; above all else, we want our guests to have a really great time--the ceremony is about us, but we feel that the reception is our way of thanking our guests for attending, so it should be about them! if we cancel, we lose $300 plus, if they can''t rebook, we lose an additional $2500. we could find another, potentially cheaper venue, but it probably wouldn''t let us bring in our own alcohol, and many local venues have in-house caterers, so we''d also lose the deposit we''ve put down on our current caterer, whom we absolutely ADORE!
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE help me out here, PSers! dangit, now i''m all teary again! i just really don''t know what to do, and i have very little time to decide because the more time that passes, the less time we have to possibly get back the other $2500 we''ve already paid this venue.
i really appreciate ALL THE HELP I CAN GET!!!
here are some pros and cons:
our original package was $5000 and, of what the package included, we are using: the building and its gardens, tables, chairs, and china. the package also included decorations and a catering assistance package of tea, coffee, ice, etc, although we aren''t using any of their decor. we just bought this package because it included china. they''ll let us bring in our own alcohol, but they charge us out the wazoo for the glassware to serve it in, plus bartenders, etc. it''d be simpler to stick with our original venue and not have the hassle of finding a new place.
on the negative side, the venue is 45 minutes away in the middle of nowhere, and after the woman adding on so many fees that we specifically asked her about before but she''s claiming we misunderstood, i''m afraid of what else she''ll charge us for later. the bar is very important to us; above all else, we want our guests to have a really great time--the ceremony is about us, but we feel that the reception is our way of thanking our guests for attending, so it should be about them! if we cancel, we lose $300 plus, if they can''t rebook, we lose an additional $2500. we could find another, potentially cheaper venue, but it probably wouldn''t let us bring in our own alcohol, and many local venues have in-house caterers, so we''d also lose the deposit we''ve put down on our current caterer, whom we absolutely ADORE!
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE help me out here, PSers! dangit, now i''m all teary again! i just really don''t know what to do, and i have very little time to decide because the more time that passes, the less time we have to possibly get back the other $2500 we''ve already paid this venue.
i really appreciate ALL THE HELP I CAN GET!!!
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