<p>Just when things were going smoothly, a blip. Wedding has been booked at a place that could be a candidate on the Cabins thread (huge grounds, a large manor house, lodges, a barn, etc). Contract signed a couple of months ago and deposit paid. Covers full weekend use of facility, their staff and stuff, and their long time manager of the property who serves as day-of-wedding coordinator and has gotten great reviews. Caterer was captive, but separate. We had been trying to set up meeting with the caterer to discuss possible menus, prices, etc. because of huge influence of those numbers on the rest of budget. Today my bride daughter got email from the caterer (“M”) saying that M had been told this AM that the facility has just been sold and her services as caterer are ending because new owner is bringing in his own people beginning 1/1/14. Say what?! No one ever mentioned that the place was for sale (and I guess we did not do our due diligence). We can’t wait til January to find out about the new players, so we are gearing up for a bunch of fact finding phone calls tomorrow. To prepare for that, we are trying to compile a bunch of questions that will help us decide whether we are safe in staying put, or whether we should bail and find a Plan B. </p>
<p>Has anyone had a situation (wedding? Bar/Bat Mitzvah? giant party?) or know of anyone who has where a facility has changed owners during pendency of the contract? Any war stories? Thoughts? Words of wisdom? We are trying to remain calm so our daughter doesn’t freak out, but DH and I are thinking this is a pretty serious situation. </p>
<p>In case it influences your replies, as far as we know so far this is NOT like the kind of case you read about in the news where an owner just locks the doors and disappears, taking wedding deposits with him.</p>
<p>I guess a huge question would be, will you honor the existing contract? Are colors, table sizes, chairs etc. the same as when you booked the facility? Is is a well known company that bought the facility so that you could check out their track record at other locations? Are they planning any major construction or renovations that would impact your day? Where can you go to sample the caterers food? I wish you lots of patience and luck. It may even turn out better than you anticipate.</p>
<p>My own experience: We booked a restaurant for my son’s Bar Mitzvah…fun, loud and trendy. I got a call from a friend that the restaurant was closing. Ran over…and yes it was. The manager gave me our deposit back. I did run and cash the check. Two days later: bankrupcy.</p>
<p>Friend’s experience: Major venue huge Bar Mitzvah. Three weeks before the event…the restaurant was sold. Too bad. They lost a lot of money and had to find a venue for 400 people AND change everything. It was a nightmare. </p>
<p>I too wish you luck, patience and a little shot of single malt whisky. I love EC’s take: it may turn out better than you think.</p>
<p>^ Did you mention when the wedding is scheduled for? If there is time enough, I would feel more comfortable trying to line up an alternative, assuming you can get a full refund on your deposit. I do not know the legal technicalities, though – such as if the new owner takes on any contracts and the value of such contracts was factored into the price.</p>
<p>But I would not want to be worrying about this during the coming pre-wedding months. </p>
<p>You did not mention the size of the wedding guest list. That of course may be a factor as well.</p>
<p>We had this happen with a restaurant scheduled to be used for a post-funeral luncheon/reception for a family member of mine. Someone (fortunately) called us to let us know that the restaurant (in NYC) had a sign up that it was closed. We had no deposit, though (owner had not requested one) so just had to quickly find another restaurant nearby that could give us a private room. Pricier, but worked out nicely, so we considered ourselves fortunate. (Could only imagine our party of 60+ showing up on a cold winter day to locked doors!)</p>
<p>It sounds as if you really didn’t know anything more about caterer ‘M’ than you do the new caterer so it seems your position on that point remains the same - an untested, untried, unpriced, and yet to be arranged caterer.</p>
<p>This is the time to review your copy of the contract including the terms and conditions and the fine print. The first thing to do is to contact the venue and have it confirmed in writing that the contract you have will be honored. You might also want to just have a general discussion with whoever now does the arrangements there to see what they might have to say about how that new ownership/direction might affect you. The original contract might even state the specific caterer (‘M’) in the contract which means they’d need to either allow you to use ‘M’ or let you out of the contract altogether - if you want out.</p>
<p>Bevhills’ story about the friend and JEM’s story above are enough to make one nervous - i.e. when the place goes bankrupt and potentially your deposit money is gone or the place is closed and you have no idea.</p>
<p>You have no reason to believe the new management will be anything less than dedicated–especially if they want the resort to be successful. For all you know the staff from the old group might have had an off night for the wedding, or have grown complacent if they were looking to get out of the business anyway. If I were you I would expect a better experience now, not a worse one.</p>
<p>Read that contract carefully about refunds of deposits. I was (pleasantly) surprised that we could have gotten back the deposit on the rental facility and the party rental shop up to a WEEK before the event. The venue was a county-owned facility, so that made sense vs. a commercial venue. Even so, the only place where S & DIL were on the hook for the full amount of a bill was the cupcake shop. The photographer’s deposit was about 1/3 of the total bill and that would have been subject to forfeiture.</p>
<p>What I would want to know:
will they honor the contract as it stands
I’d want to see whatever linens/china/sound system they now intend to provide (are they getting them from a (new?) supplier? do they have them in-house?
Read the caterer section carefully. I’d push to have the caterer you want do the wedding. The facility does not want to lose your business. They are banking on already-booked customers to bring in cash til they are on their feet.
Is the manager still going to be there? That person seems to be a key to a smooth transition and wedding day. Can you bring in an outside day-of coordinator?
I would start looking at other venues just in case. You want to have something in your pocket when you talk to these folks.
Do not have a chat/phone conversation without putting EVERYTHING that was said in writing. Once you document what is said, you send it in an email or certified letter to the owner. Phrase the letter with “Based on our discussion on XX/XX/XX, we agree that the following items will be provided/events will take place/YYY will be the caterer, etc. If there is anything here that is not correct, please let me know in writing by XX/XX/XX.” </p>
<p>I used to do this with certain clients. It eliminated a lot of nonsense. :)</p>
<p>This happened at a bar mitzvah I attended in June. The Wed before the actual bar mitzvah, our family friend N drove to the restaurant for a menu tasting. She pulls up – and it is shuttered. Gone. Out of business. She has 75 people planned for Saturday afternoon. </p>
<p>Luckily, she called a local favorite Italian restaurant and explained the situation. The owner had a private party in the party room already but knew N and said he’d see what he could do. The other party was only 20 people. They agreed to move their party to the evening and let N have the party room during the afternoon if N paid their room rental fee (which she agreed to) and if the restaurant owner would give them the lunch prices for their food served at dinner (which he agreed to - since he was getting an incremental 75 people through N). N sent an evite explaining the change of venue and gave us cards with a map to the new location on Sat morn to ensure no one went to the wrong place. It came off without a hitch. I don’t really know if she lost money with the first restaurant though – I didn’t ask.</p>
<p>I would have a sit down meeting with the new owners and go over every detail, but I would also start looking for an alternate venue. Just in case.</p>