Venue Angst...Haven''t Signed the Contract Yet

[mayachel]

We thought we had finally picked a place. However since requesting a contract and the events transpiring over the past week I am worried that there are red flags.

1. The venue has an attached inn (this was supposed to be a plus). They only have 22 rooms, do not block rooms for weddings, so it is first come first serve. We figured no big deal, we''ll just be on the ball about figuring out who MUST stay there and reserve rooms asap. Well, to start they have been all over the map in how they take care of this. I reserved 3 rooms for my bridesmaids. I was told they needed a cc to hold (normal). Then, I noticed my cc was charged $61 per room that same day. (this is about a third of the price for the rooms)

Meanwhile, my mother reserved the bridal suite, and about 4 rooms for family members. Her cc was billed for the entire cost of all 4 rooms! AND she only received an e-mail confirmation for 3 rooms, specifically not the bridal suite.

2. The contract has a pricing clause: "Published food and beverage menus and prices are updated each year. An effort is made not to increase prices by more than 10%. Management reserves the right to make price adjustments due to unforeseen market conditions."

....so when had our interview, we were verbally told that the published 2009 prices would be used for 2010. Am I right to be concerned that all of a sudden we are going to be hit with a wallup increase 5 days before the wedding (when the final estimate will be given!).

So what do you think? Should I pass this place up? are these real red flags?

 

[sunnyd]

Definitely clear up the pricing before leaving altogether. Get in writing what the price of the menu would be, and find out why they heck they''re charging differently when reserving rooms!

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

First-I've never had a hotel actually put a deposit ON my CC. Usually they just take the number to hold as collateral against a cancellation. Not sure what's going on there, but you should definitely ask about it and have your mom confirm her reservation was made for the correct rooms. They may have already booked the BS and have booked other rooms for your mom in place of that one.

I would sit down with the coordinator/sales person and walk thought all of your concerns. Be honest with them about EVERYTHING and take notes. Take someone else with you so you feel supported. By signing a contract you should be locking in the rates listed on the day the contract is signed. That's why you sign a contract after all. It protects both the vendor and the renter (more the renter in this instance). So I would clarify that the 10% unannounced increase should not apply to you after you sign the contract. Make sure your contract clearly states the prices you've agreed to pay.

In the end, go with your gut. If you have this meeting and you're still really concerned, then by all means, don't sign the contract.

 

[Italiahaircolor]

I would call and ask about the rooms and fees and bridal suite...don''t assume anything when it comes the big stuff...a 10 minute phone call now to make sure you have the bridal suite may save you countless hours of stress later.

Secondly, I cannot stress the importance of contracts enough--esspecially with the food and beverage charges. You need to have an iron-clad price for everything before you sign the contract and also make sure that same price is reflected in the contract with no small print that could possibly wallop you down the road.

If you can manage those two things...you''ll be fine. It doesn''t sound like anything out of the ordinary--and everything is easily corrected at this point, so no need to jump ship IMO.. If you have questions--ask...if you need to double/triple check--do it. Mistakes happen, but this is your wedding so you need to stay on top of everything, every step of the way.

 

[mayachel]

An additional issue regarding the pricing is that there are like many places, "packages" at specific price points. They don''t sign you into a package (even though we know which we want) until the menu meeting. The idea is, that you can "customize" the menu by adding additional things etc...and than they''ll add the price accordingly. So the contract is set up to put a deposit down on the date. However...we will have had to put down $5000 by the time we are 9 months out from the date, as a non-refundable deposit. This is still prior to the final estimate given 5 days before the event.

 

[sunnyd]

In that case, I''d keep looking. They can''t guarantee what the price will be until 5 days prior? Weird.

 

[emeraldlover1]

First off...try and clear it up with them. I would want everything in writing that you have to pay for. Period.

As far as the hotel credit card thing. All of the independent privatley owned hotels usually take a certian percentage of the deposit immediatley off the credit card. I''ve stayed at a lot of boutique hotels and they always do this. The hotel we are using for the wedding did this too. However, they took half on all the rooms and its fully refundable if canceled withing the 24 hour before check in cancelation window. I don''t find that weird at all. I do however find it strange that the amounts being charged are not = to a percentage.

Out of curiosity...what is the venue?

 

[mayachel]

Right, regarding the Inn it isn''t even a consistent percentage between guests.
Em1, we are trying to finalize with GlenSandersMansion-outside of Saratoga Springs area.

They''ve just finished renovations and reputation wise, the management group owns the 3 main wedding venues in the area.

 

[PilsnPinkysMom]

Date: 5/18/2009 4:52:19 PM
Author: mayachel
An additional issue regarding the pricing is that there are like many places, ''packages'' at specific price points. They don''t sign you into a package (even though we know which we want) until the menu meeting. The idea is, that you can ''customize'' the menu by adding additional things etc...and than they''ll add the price accordingly. So the contract is set up to put a deposit down on the date. However...we will have had to put down $5000 by the time we are 9 months out from the date, as a non-refundable deposit. This is still prior to the final estimate given 5 days before the event.

Is this final price deal because they won''t know the total number of guests until then, or because they can change their prices? Some venues won''t give you a final price until a few days before for headcount reasons. Perhaps it''s worthwhile to ask what they mean by final estimate and their reasons behind it?

Or wait... Final ESTIMATE is different from final COST. This sounds a biiiiit sketchy.

What are the chances of them price shifting? Probably low... But do you want to risk that? If not, be bold and raise the concerns you have. See if they''ll write up a different contract or else make some addendum to the current one.

Go with your gut!

 

[Gypsy]

That pricing clause has GOT to go. If they told you the pricing will stay constant, it needs to say so in the contract.

Just as an FYI 10% is REALLY high for a price increase provision in this economy. Granted I'm not a caterer, and don't work in that industry but that's a nice amount of money. Frankly even IF they hadn't promised the pricing to stay constant that would be a flag.

Whether or not the inconsistency of the room charges, etc, bother you is ultimately up to you. If those are the only two issues, I'd probably not be overly concerned, unless there was something off about their response to you bringing things to their attention. But DO bring things to their attention and see how they react. For me a good vendor is not one that is infalliable. People make mistakes, a good vendor is one that makes very few mistakes... but when they do they are REALLY on the ball about fixing them and making sure I am happy.


ETA: About the pricing... we didn't get a final cost until we gave them our final headcount and final menu... 7 days before. We did change things up until that time (and our headcount was just weird) so that makes sense to me. But the BASIS of the pricing never went up from the pricing we had agreed to at the time we signed the contract. 5000 non-refundable... well, I personally would want a re-schedule clause in there. That in case of any major issues you cna re-book an "event" (not specifically a wedding, an EVENT) and apply your full deposit toward the event as long as you give them a certain amount of notice and are not within a certain amount of time to your wedding date. Another option is that you only lose your deposit if they can't rebook-- but you have to include language that states they are under obligation to mitigate damages and to make every effort to re-book, which gets really tricky.

 

[AmberGretchen]

I''m really worried about the pricing thing - that would be a deal-breaker for me. Even with a good pricing policy, you can still get hit with surprises, and your budget will probably already be strained at that point (right before/at the time of the wedding) - you don''t need that kind of stress!

 

[kama_s]

While your final menu/cost will only be decided later, the contract should STILL say what the base price would be and what is included in that base price. I wouldn''t sign that contract until they give that to me in writing.

I also feel if they''re going to be so difficult to deal with now, it''s only going to get worse closer to the date. I''d probably pick another venue based on principle alone.

 

[marchswallowbird]

NOTHING they told you verbally is binding, they will go by what is in the contract, to the letter. So make sure they spell out any changes IN WRITING before you sign...or move on.

 

[bee*]

I would definitely clarify the price issue. On the other hand though, the venue that I booked only publishes it''s prices for the next year the summer prior to it so when we booked our venue, we weren''t 100% on the price we were going t have to pay. They were still pretty reasonable though so even if they had an increase they wouldn''t be unreasonably price. I wouldn''t want to be charged for the rooms though if we hadn''t booked the wedding there.

 

[mayachel]

Thanks for your input. It sounds like our next step is to see how they respond to polite request for clarification within the contract.

It is helpful to hear that their contract is not the common way to go about it. It didn''t seem right, but they buy a lot of trust based on their management company.

 

[mayachel]

Good news, the wedding planner jumped on everything we asked about. My parents were very pleased with how it was handled.

They were directed to simply cross out the pricing policy clause and initial it. So we are happy with this resolution and good to go.

 

[LadyBlue]

Yay!! Congratulations, i''m happy that at the end everything went well.

 

[mayachel]

Thanks gaby and everyone else for your help! I''m so pleased to feel like this is now settled. I would have hated to be passive now, and then 3months before my wedding be hit with the bad feelings of going over-budget because of fine print nonsense.

 

[emeraldlover1]

Hi, Maya...sorry I''m late to respond. I just wanted to say that Glen Sanders is a highly reputable place and I''m glad they delt with it. I don''t think you have to worry there which is why I asked you where you were getting married! Congrats!

 

[mayachel]

Hey Em1! I really appreciate the vote of confidence in the place. It seems like such a huge decision. Thanks!