It is turning out to be the toughest year in memory to plan a wedding.
Not only are plans in flux, but now some wedding vendors are going out of business, weeks before the big day!
Imagine planning a wedding right now: shrinking your guest list and moving everything outdoors. Now, to make things worse, some brides and grooms are finding their vendor, and their money, gone.
Emily Waters is scrambling to re-plan her August wedding due to the pandemic, but when she recently checked on the eight tuxedos ordered for the wedding party, the vendor was suddenly nowhere to be found.
"Either [the phone] keeps just ringing and ringing and there is just a voice mail, or it says user busy," Waters said.
The doors were locked, and no one was answering the phones, but the store took $200 from each groomsman. Overall, it's around $1,700.
Many bridal vendors, from venues to caterers, are closing up shop this pandemic summer. Most are refunding money, but some have just locked up and disappeared.
Feliz Hill and Alyx Imgram look inside the luxury wedding venue they hoped would be the site of their two upcoming weddings.
"I'm just at a loss for words," Ingram said.
The hall is now locked. Emails from management state they lost their lease had to close.
But these brides-to-be say the worst part is the center still has their money.
"We have paid to date, I think it is exactly $4,616. We have not received any of it back," Ingram said.
Here are a few steps you can take if your venue closes?
- Contact your credit card company
- Contact the better business bureau
- Contact your state attorney general
- If you’ve lost thousands of dollars, talk to a lawyer
"To just leave us high and dry without any information, whether they went out of business or just couldn't meet their end of the deal, I would appreciate some sort of communication," Waters said.
If this happens to you, your best bet is to dispute the charge through your credit card. Another reason to always put deposits on credit cards, so you Don’t Waste Your Money.
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