'It's been a nightmare:' Couples struggle with planning weddings amid the pandemic
MILWAUKEE - Shorter guest lists and lost security deposits -- these are the realities facing people who plan to marry during the coronavirus pandemic. How are local venues responding -- and how are couples coping?
In a world without COVID-19, Sharonda Martin would be married by now. Instead, her gowns go back in the closet.
"It's been a nightmare," Martin said.
Sharonda and Correan were supposed to be wed on Aug. 1. But because of the coronavirus, they called it off.
"We had a guest list of 150 people," Martin said.
Sharonda Martin
Like others with wedding plans during the pandemic, shutting everything down will cost them. The venue kept Sharonda's first and second deposit as the cancellation fee -- saying it would hold the deposit "for up to 12 months" and will "apply 100 percent towards your new date."
Martin said that is no good.
"You can't guarantee me a moved date for this year or next year," Martin said.
The Ingleside Hotel told Contact 6 it is trying to work with couples by "accommodating lower attendance, moving the event to our outdoor space or holding the event as contracted...with no penalties."
But coming to an agreement on a refund for a wedding is challenging for two reasons.
"One, lots of money. And two, lots of emotion," said Consumer Attorney Nathan Deladurantey, who said it all comes down to the contract. "What are your rights? What are your remedies? And often, frankly, it's not too favorable."
The Ingleside Hotel
At the same time...
"It's probably a terrible business practice that you're playing hardball with someone in a wedding in the middle of a global pandemic," Deladurantey said.
"My daughter wanted the wedding of her dreams," said Susanne Smith.
Susanne and Jeffery Smith said their daughter is out $10,000 after scaling back plans for a 225-guest wedding at the Grain Exchange, owned by the Bartolotta Restaurants.
"We're going to have the wedding, but there's only going to be 10 to 15 people," Jeffery Smith said.
They said the minimum cost of the event is $22,000.
"For 10 people, we're gonna pay $2,000 a piece to have it there," Jeffery Smith said.
The Bartolotta Restaurants
The Bartolotta Restaurants told Contact 6, "We are working closely with guests to either accommodate their event within the new guidelines or find a future date." The company's standard policy is non-refundable deposits. But in these cases, will apply money to events of similar value for one year.
"This is a bad situation for everybody. Nobody is really making out here," said Jim Temmer of the Better Business Bureau (BBB).
The BBB said there is no cut and dry formula for how venues are handling wedding refunds.
"From their vantage point, they have all these cancelations going on and if they want to stay in business they're just abiding by the contract," Temmer said.
Making matters more complicated -- are the contracts. Some specify a food and beverage minimum based on a number of guests no longer allowed per CDC guidelines.
Some list an "act of God" as a right to cancel, but does that include a pandemic? Ask five lawyers how to interpret some of these contracts and you could get five different answers.
The consumer attorney told Contact 6 a refund can come down to whether it is impossible for the venue to hold the wedding -- not difficult, but impossible.