Do I just put up with the construction or do I plan a new wedding in less then 90 days

View quoted message We were able to find a new venue. Thankfully the date we picked is not busy for weddings so we had our choice of a few places. Everywhere we looked was very helpful.

The place we have booked now is actually nicer then our original venue. Although we are paying a bit more. But that’s ok.

We don’t have a huge guest list and it’s mainly family and close friends so we’ve been gradually letting everyone know by text, or email. But we will also be mailing out the information on the new place along with directions, and the info to book hotel rooms.

Now i’m just redoing all the things like figuring out the decor, room layout, the menu. We had all that set at the old venue. It’s made for a lot more work but we will get through.

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Dying of curiosity! Did you find a new venue?? I'm glad the hotel agreed to give your money back, and I hope you're able to find a new venue that's still everything you're hoping for.

How many guests do you have? While its annoying as hell, I would personally telephone all those that RSVP yes and double check that they know the venue has changed.

So we’ve been going crazy looking at venues again. Thankfully we have a bunch of options and now we just have to ask some specific questions and make a decision.

People at the venues we have talked to have been great at tying to help us get this done quickly. But it sounds like we weren’t the only people affected. We just got back from looking at one venue and the lady we met commented how she has heard all about what happened. She then made a comment about how we aren’t the only ones scrambling to rearrange things. She says she’s had several meetings/conferences that now need to find a new location at short notice because they were actually bumped out the rooms they had booked (because of the renovations).

Made me feel better about our decision to move. Even though it’s crazy. I just don’t have any trust in that hotel any more.

View quoted message Good luck! I hope you find something. And the WW community is here to help

So I think we are most likely switching venues. My fiancé is adement he doesn’t want the wedding where it is now. I think one reason he’s so angry is that they would have known about the potential of renovations for months and they told us nothing until now.

So we went to see one venue last night, which was gorgeous but a little more pricey. And we see another today.

This is crazy and I feel like I’m starting from scratch with very little time to go. I think I preferred when my biggest problems were what to wear under my dress and what music to play 🙄

View quoted message My fiancé is actually more upset with this then I am. It’s been a hard year for him and he just wanted to throw an amazing party for his everyone including his family. All of which are coming from out of town. I think that’s why it’s bugging me so much.

They have agreed to refund our money if we want to move venues. So no we are calling places to see what options we have. As far as our other vendors go it shouldn’t be a problem as we are staying in the same general area and it’s just the DJ, our officiant and the baker that we would have to notify. Guests are all family and close friends so we can get the word out.

And yeah i’m angry. They are starting construction in a few weeks. They knew about these renovations or at least the possibility of the renovations before now.

I agree with moving hotels and looking to get back the deposit/payments back to avoid any mishaps from the former hotel. They needed to notify you about this beforehand knowing it was i their plans.

Hopefully you get the change in time and update your guests and vendors.

View quoted message Agreed with this.

With all the problems you seem to be having and with others giving suggestions that aren't necessarily good enough (seeing as how you are giving a lot of push-back), I think your mind is made up and you should start looking elsewhere if you haven't already.

The worst that could happen is that you end up sticking with the hotel you already has which is what people are suggesting. No harm in looking to see if any other venues in the area are at least available for your wedding date & time right? And I can't see the venue holding much of the money back when there is all that is going on. I would assume they would be willing to cancel the hotel block as well as give you at very minimum most of your deposit/payments back.

I would look fast though so you have time on your side when going to your current venue to cancel though - and don't cancel until you have something lined up elsewhere. Also put on your wedding website that your venue may change but don't go overboard on letting people know just in case it doesn't get moved.

View quoted message The ceremony is in another room from the reception (different parts of the ballroom separated by a wall). But the hotel was saying they needed that half an hour. I’m guessing they will use the same chairs? We also have some decor that will be moved from the ceremony to the reception room Oh and the DJ has to move from the ceremony space to the reception space. So it’s best if the guests aren’t in the reception room right away.

I’ve considered just having the ceremony at a different location but I don’t know where that would be. It has to be inside (December). Only chapel I found sits up to 50, we have more then that. And we don’t really want a church. Only non-denominational church I can think of if we did do that is the church I got married in before a long time ago. Not using that one lol.

going somewhere else for the ceremony will also cost us several hundred dollars and then we need to plan transportation. And I wasn’t planning on needing to go outside in my dress (December).

Do they have ANY other space available for the ceremony? That would eliminate the need for the 1/2 hour set up time for the reception. If I was going to move anything it would simply be the ceremony that way they can have the ballroom set up for your guests to enter immediately when they get there.

I don’t know what we are going to do. I’m not happy about any of this. But I also don’t want to start planning all over again with less then 3 months to go.

View quoted message We are having a cocktail hour, but that will be in the ballroom. But we have about half an hour where the guests can’t be in the room while the staff switches chairs etc from the ceremony to reception. We weren’t concerned about the break before because there was all this open space with chairs people could sit in (we were going to have them set up some punch or something).

But now the only options for our guests will be the temporary lobby, the bar (which is likely to be full of people there for the tournament and it’s not that big) or for those staying there to go to their rooms. Oh or the “hallway” just off the lobby. None of which are good options.

And yes this isn’t the only concerns. The hotel also didn’t tell us about a hockey tournament at the hotel, and they gave every single double room to that tournament and put only rooms with a single King bed in our room block. We already had to run around finding another hotel that had double rooms available in case any of our guests needed those. So this construction isn’t the only issue.

View quoted message We know there will be other venues available. The weekend we picked is a dead weekend for weddings. And I don’t think many guests have booked hotel rooms yet since the invitations just went out a couple weeks ago.

We’ve sent an email to the hotel outlining all of our concerned. And asking if it’s possible to get the 1000s we’ve already paid them back if we decide to go somewhere else. And yeah I’m pissed. I know every one here is saying it won’t impact your day. But how would you guys feel if you showed up to the church you booked for your ceremony or the venue for your reception and you didn’t see what you did when you booked your wedding, but instead saw construction walls everywhere.

Its not even even about my guests understanding. It’s about what we wanted for our day.

View quoted message It’s not clear if Emma is having a cocktail hour, but her post mentions that the area between the ceremony and reception is where the front desk has temporarily set up due to construction. If I’m understanding correctly, that space, which she could have used to allow her guests to mingle, will now have a front desk and people checking in and out. If she is having a cocktail hour in this area, that is very crappy on the hotel’s part. Emma previously made a post that the hotel didn’t give her blocks of rooms she needed and that her wedding falls on a busy weekend at this hotel for a hockey tournament. I would very worried about the possible mayhem that could ensue with tons of people crammed into an area while her guests try to mingle and having no where to go due to construction (as well as potential wedding crashers). I agree with her notifying the guests beforehand, but it seems like a lot isn’t working out with this vendor.

View quoted message I guess then you have to decide if using the pool and having to share common space (that was already being shared with other hotel guests) is something that will ruin your day. But honestly it won't. It's absolutely frustrating but it's only a huge headache if you let it be. Especially when you had a set vision for your day.

Construction is a part of life and guests should be understanding. As Brittany said let guests know now so they can decide for themselves if they want to stay there. Check over your contract again and then talk to the venue to see if there is anything they can do to compensate for the lose of those extra spacers during your stay since you didn't know about this when you booked them. You might be able to get a discount on the room, upgrade part of the dinner or bar package.

I agree this is inconvenient and I would worry the construction would somehow slow down the service of cocktail hour and reception or be heard during the ceremony, for instance. I think changing venues would be very difficult if your guests booked rooms at this hotel and have to travel somewhere else on very short notice. But you seem to be having issues with this particular hotel and I would worry about what else isn’t as described the day of. Did you pay a deposit? Are the rest of your vendors okay with you moving? If so, there’s no harm in at least looking but it may be difficult or expensive as venues tend to be the vendors booked far in advance.

View quoted message Yes it will impact our day. And it’s not right that we are now no longer getting what we were shown. The areas under construction are areas near the ballrooms, areas all our guess will travel through and the hotel rearranging things takes away open space that could have been enjoyed by our guests.

Instead of our guests coming to and staying at a nice hotel they are coming to one under construction.

View quoted message It’s only half an hour and there is no where to go.

Do these changes really have any impact on your day? Probably not. I think your fine keeping your date and location. It's a definite inconvenience but at the same time it doesn't sound like it's going to affect your day.

Give guests a heads up if you have a wedding website and make sure to keep your card box and a gift table (if you have one or both) inside the room and keep a designated person with them them during the cocktail hour and then secure them away once diner is starting.

I say stick with your original date. Find a few places nearby and recommend them to your guests where they can go in between the ceremony and reception to eliminate some of the cramped space.

View quoted message No I didn’t know about it before. We literally found out about it today. This won’t impact the ballroom, but it will impact other factors. For example we have about 1/2 an hour in between the ceremony and reception. The space where our guests could have hung out will not be the temorary lobby. And to top it off there is a hockey tourneament at the hotel the same weekend.

I will be getting ready at the hotel. My walk to get married will now be through a construction zone. I know it may sound stupid but this is not what I envisioned. I had many other options for venues We picked this place with the whole experience in mind. About 70% of our guests will be staying there.

You may may not think some drywall is a big deal but I was in tears today. I’m sure most people would be upset to hear that their venue will no longer look as it did. And not in a good way.

Do you have a wedding website? You could make a little note saying something cute to let guests know that you apologize for the construction, and that the party is in the ballroom (try and direct guests there quicker).
I wouldn't move venues this late in the game over some drywall. Its not going to make or break your big day, and your guests wont hold it against you. Maybe ask your venue for something to compensate you for the nuisance of major construction... unless you knew about it when you booked your wedding.