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I concur; you win
If I were you I would be crying. I do hope that everything works itself out for you. Have you been able to contact the venue to see if they can give you an clue as to what it going on and if your wedding will still be able to take place there?
@noritake22: The owner of our venue assures us that it will be fine and the venue is not for sale. However, if the sheriff says it's for sale and the bank says it's for sale, it's for sale. My fiance is going to talk to the owner tomorrow (because, quite frankly, I just can't handle it right now), so hopefully something will be explained. As of right now, though, the venue is still included on the sheriff sale list. And I'm beyond crying. At this point, I'm basically in a perpetual state of shock and will be until this is cleared up.
You win.
I hate to say this...but are they saying they are not for sale because they don't want to refund your $$? Or maybe, someone else holds the title for it and the people you work with have no clue?
Worst case scenario: it is for sale, contact your vendors and work with them to move it to somewhere else. At this point, they've invested time and money into it too and should be able to work with you.
**sending positive thoughts your way**
I'd cancel your deposit with that venue and try to scrape something else together quick. What about just a local restaurant? I'm sure you could rent out a room if worse comes to worse. It sucks that it's happening, but right now you need to focus on finding another place for your wedding. GL.
@PinkPinstripes: Oh, if they're lying about it being not for sale, my fiance and I are going to sue the shit out of them. (Excuse my language.) We have, in writing, the owner providing reassurance that it's not for sale. Plus, the local newspapers have picked up on the drama, and the owner has also gone on record with the press that it's not for sale.
My only concern with getting our vendors to supply services elsewhere is that we don't even have an elsewhere at this point. And no money left to rent another venue. And no guarantee that this mythical elsewhere will even allow us to use our current vendors .
@redherring: Another suggestion would be a community center. Yeah, it's not ideal, but it's a venue and most of them allow you to use whatever vendors you want.
@Statutory Grape: It's not just a deposit. Our venue required payment in full about a week ago. At this point, I'm not sure whether we even have the money to rent another venue. And we definitely don't know of anywhere inexpensive that will accommodate 108 people.
@redherring: They won't refund it at all? That's slightly crooked, but I guess it is close to your date. It's shitty that they'd do this. =/ I'm sorry.
Awww. Big hugs! I hear your frustration and honestly, that's something you should never have to go through (although shouldn't doesn't fix the bind you find yourself in). I'd probably look for a plan B venue, even though you're only a little over a week from your date, and tell them in no uncertain terms that you want your money back. NOW. If they don't and it does go up for sheriff's sale and you don't get what you paid for, you could always go to the court before the sale and talk to them. They might be able to put some sort of lien on some of the proceeds to try and recoup some of your $. I don't know, I'm not a lawyer or anything, just a thought. I'm so sorry you're having to deal with this, it will get better. I'm glad your fiance is trying to help and is at least going to talk to the owner.
Best of Luck,
~ Bella
With a week to go, I would call prospective reception places nearby, tell them your sob story and see what they can do ... as a backup plan of course.
Let's say there's an available reception hall nearby that rents for $2500. If it's a matter of no $ or $1000, maybe they will agree to rent it to you for $1000 if your other deal falls through. It's not like anyone else if going to rent it out 1 week before. It's worth a try, and hopefully they will try to help you out!
I would put all of your vendors on notice that the location MIGHT change, and again, give them your sob story so they feel sorry for you and you don't incur change fees or transportation fees or anything else they could potentially tack on.
So, this might sound a bit over the top dramatic, but this happened to a venue in Mass. (or maybe it was NH?)...Anyway, a venue had gone out of business and several weddings had been planned for there...The families called the local newspapers and genorsity just poured in. Other venues didn't even know that place was going out of business and arranged for the weddings to be moved to their places, vendors reached out and helped....
@futuremrskelsey: A lot of our vendors are exclusive to our current venue, and they are all aware of the situation. If things work out unfavorably, hopefully they'll be thrilled to continue working with us, since we're guaranteed business! I'm already looking into some other spaces. There's one that might be feasible that isn't too outrageous, as far as price goes. It's nowhere near the space I'd envisioned, but I'll deal with it, if it comes to that. My concern at this point is for our guests, including the wedding party. Our guests have booked at a hotel that's nowhere near the other possible venue. And I'm not sure whether our wedding party would even be able to book anything with basically zero notice, since we were counting on them staying at the venue/B&B.
@PinkPinstripes: Dare to dream! That actually gives me some hope. Thank you.
You sooooo win!! I can't even imagine being in your shoes! Like the previous poster, if it's already in the paper, I would be taking my story there too! You never know what could happen with the generosity of locals!
I wish you all the luck!
@redherring:You would be surprised what people will do when they hear of something that is just so completely unfair (like your current situation). When calling around for other options, explain what's going on, I'm sure people will step up to help.
Since the owners have "assured" you that you will have the space, they should have no problem to agreeing to pay any damages you incur as a result of having to book another space on very late notice.
I would require that they, at this point, and in writing:
(1) Agree to pay the cost of any transportation costs incurred, if you are not able to have the wedding at the current venue,
(2) Agree to pay the additional cost of lodging for your bridal party, if you are not able to have the wedding at the current venue.
I would also require a discount NOW because of the stress and inconvenience you've suffered. If they won't agree to a discount/refund, ask them to throw in something extra.
@futuremrskelsey: I like the way you think :) I really like the things you're suggesting - hopefully my negotiation tactics will be up to par.
@redherring: That's why I'm a lawyer. I'm sweet in real life, a real hard a$$ when it seems as though someone is getting screwed, and a totally fearless negotiator!!
Honestly, the key to effective negotiation is not to be an A-hole. It is to be sweet and reasonable. First compliment them, tell them how much you LOVE their venue, how special it is to you, how it was your first choice. Then tell them how much it has upset you that all of this has happened, all of the stress it has caused, and how you're losing $/sleep/guests over this. You might remind them that they have a contract with you and are obligated to deliver ... think if you come at them from a very reasonable standpoint, and explain to them that "had the contract been performed I would not have suffered XXXXX (insert all of your additional costs here)", so they should absolutely be responsible for all those added costs.
That'll be $150.00, please :)
Oh wow hun... I am so sorry this is happening to you! I would be beyond a wreck... :(
I don't know how everything would work out from the sale, but would it be possible for you to go to the sherrif's office and explain your situation? I would be banging down the door of that place tomorrow and make them aware of the situation!!
And also, even if it is technically sold on the 7th, since it's a B&B, they probably have to give them some time to move out and such.... so fingers crossed you could still hold it there even if it for some reason does sell. I don't know the legal issues behind all of this, but right now the B&B has a contract with you that was prior to the sale, so wouldn't they have to legally carry that out, even if it's after the sale?
Those are great suggestions. Unfortunately, I don't think it's that easy. I thought about that, too. The B&B would be legally required to carry it out, however, they would have no legal right to do so if they are no longer the owner of the B&B. So all you'd have is claims for damages against the B&B, and that won't solve the issue at hand (not having a venue).
I don't think the sheriffs can do anything even if they wanted to, it's a legal matter. If anything, it would be talking to the attorneys and seeing if they can delay the process. Once the attorneys start the process in motion and the judge issues the order, the sheriffs need to carry out the order.
In my opinion, it is not going to happen that fast -- I would assume that these things take a while. If however, the property is sold, you would then try to negotiate with the new owner to allow you to have your party there. I don't think that they would do it free of charge, since they would be exposing themselves to liability. You'd require the B&B owners to pay the fee from the proceeds of the sale (assuming there are extra). But if your event is 4 days after the sale, it's not as though the new owners would have moved in already, right? So worst case scenario, you could probably get them to agree to let you use the place, you would probably have to enter into a separate agreement with them, and they probably would require wedding insurance.
Honestly, I think you'll be okay. :) Good luck.
It seems to me like if the property was sold, the new owners would still have to carry out any existing contracts. Usually when a company is sold, then all the employees automatically become employees of the new owner - nobody can get fired during a sale. So wouldn't a contract be the same?
THE SHERIFF SALE GOT PUSHED BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's not happening until December!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I. Am. So. Relieved. Seriously - I did a dance of joy at work when my fiance gave me the news. WE'RE NOT GOING TO LOSE OUR VENUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm of the opinion that this outcome is at least partially due to the universe listening to the people on Weddingbee. Totally :)
YAY!!! I'm really glad it is all going to work out! That's not the kind of stress we brides need so close to the date! Now you can relax and enjoy the days leading up to your beautiful wedding. :)
WOOOO HOOOOOOOOOO! I was getting ready to say you should call your vendors pre-emptively and ask them to work with you no matter where you end up, but it sounds like you won't need to now!
How's the zoning issue?
Yay, so happy for you! Have a glass of wine and kick off the long weekend early. :)
@daydreamwanderer: I talked to a lawyer friend of mine, and the zoning stuff should take at least a month to sort out. Yay for bureaucratic red tape!
SO HAPPY FOR YOU!!! Ahhh.... that's awesome! Now you can sit back, relax, and ENJOY! :)
Oh, GIRLFRIEND. I was reading this post in terror. I'm so glad your wedding is safe. What does the sheriff sale mean, exactly? Is the venue going out of business? I was about to PM you and ask if you wanted help brainstorming every possible Pittsburgh reception venue I could think of!
@octopus: To the best of my understanding, a sheriff sale is like a foreclosure, but the sheriff presides over the sale. In either case, the owner hasn't been making mortgage payments, and the bank's goal is either to take back the property or find another buyer. In the case of my venue, the owner claims this was a strategy to achieve refinancing. To refinance a mortgage, I guess the buyer must be delinquent in payments. So, the owner simply hasn't been paying the mortgage. (This is not an assumption; he actually stated as much in the Post Gazette.) As for going out of business - I'd be really concerned if I were a December bride, especially since it took until four days before the sheriff sale for anything to be handled in this case. (And even now, I'm unsure if it was the owner who got it pushed back, or some other factor.)
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Our venue is a B&B. We've rented the whole thing and will be providing housing for our entire wedding party. Maybe.
First, our venue's neighbors have filed a complaint stating that the owner of the venue did not file the appropriate zoning paperwork, and therefore should not be allowed to host events. This is currently working its way through the legal system, where it will ideally be bogged down by a humongous spool of red tape.
Oh, but that's not the best of it. Our venue is also on the list for the September 7th sheriff sale. That's right - our venue might be sold 4 days before our wedding. And we can't even formulate a Plan B, as (1) we have no money since our current venue already has quite a bit of our money, meaning we can't even make a deposit on another venue, and (2) we've already signed contracts and made deposits with all of the other vendors exclusive to our venue, and should we choose another venue, lord only knows if we'll be able to use those same vendors.
And should anyone come forward and say, "But at the end of the day, you'll still be married" - don't kid yourself. If the goal were to just get married, we would have gone to the local courthouse and signed some papers. The whole point of having a wedding is being surrounded by one's loved ones. At this point, said loved ones might be standing in the middle of a field (assuming we can even find one that will allow an event) with no chairs, tables, or food.
If your stress level beats or ties mine, feel free to share. Misery loves company.