Wedding Venue

Aaron_Little123

As many we are debating postponing our wedding for Oct 2020.  We have spoken to the venue a couple of times about this and they have point blankly refused.  We have explained to them that we would not want the wedding to go ahead if key members of the family (father) can not attend as they are classed as extremely vulnerable.  We are struggling to plan anything for the wedding and are now exploring options of potentially cancelling.  The venue have said if we do, they will not refund any money.  With no further government advice forthcoming we may well have to take a hit and lose the money already paid out.  Do we legally stand a chance of getting the deposit back?  The insurance company have said as its personal choice to cancel the wedding, we won’t.

poppy12345

It's very unlikely if you decide to cancel it yourself.

happyandcontented

I think with the announcement on Monday that those who are vulnerable can now go out 'if they choose to do so' you don't have much chance tbh. It is horrible, but the reality is that this state of affairs will exist for a long time yet and until there is a vaccine for some people. How long will you wait? Or can precautions be taken to try to get around the issues?

gettingtheresometime

They say 24 hrs is a long time in politics and that's exactly the same with this virus.

It's my understanding that if you chose to cancel for whatever reason, the terms of the contract would come into play as it would be your choice to do so.

When is the point of no return (ie when do you have to pay the balance)? It might be better to see what the situation is like at that point 

Aaron_Little123

Thanks, as we thought.  Currently next instalment is due end of June which we are reluctant to pay.  As many, we do not want our wedding to go ahead without key members and celebrating with social distancing in place.  You spend all that money to enjoy the day and if the current measures are in place, we cannot enjoy the day.  If that is the case we would still get married but have the celebration at a later date.  We will have to wait until the end of this month and make a decision. 

HopeAndDriftWood

It seems that an announcement on this is expected soon... I think your chances of cancelling will depend on whether your venue can comply. If you cancel, you’re unlikely to get your deposit back, and most insurance won’t cover government acts - so a lot of couples have created a hybrid solution with the venue, splitting it half and half so they can legally marry with as many people as are allowed on the day, and then hold the reception later. You could suggest that? 

It’s worth knowing that if you cancel completely, you’ll need to give notice again to marry somewhere else such as a registry office, if that’s one of your thoughts. Currently no notice appointments are being taken; and a lot of registrars won’t book “new” ceremonies until the end of the year. Check that out if it’s important to you. 

Can you tell my wedding was affected to?! 🙈 best of luck. 

HopeAndDriftWood

(Although a lot of people are rescheduling to October, and our honeymoon was moved to then. It’s widely expected that unless you’re affected by a local second wave, you might be okay then. Pubs etc should have been back in for quite some time... I’d be cautiously optimistic about October!)

happyandcontented

I think you might be ok if you are happy to try to comply with regs. If not, (which I completely understand) then I don't think you will be covered. How long will you wait for the celebration though?