Wedding Blog

I agree with with Miss Beetle. That’s not Bridezilla behavior in the least! Whoever is paying, is dishing out a lot of money, so you have the RIGHT to make sure it’s the way you want, and to understand everything!

I’ve worked with hotels a lot in the past for non-wedding events, and usually they will start with that contract, then when you get closer to the event, they should give you BEOs (Banquet Event Orders), which will be every last flipping detail written down on a page for each room and set up you are having. This is where you need to be sure EVERYTHING is exactly right because this is the exact sheet the people setting up the room, cooking the food, and arranging the linens will use. You will need to sign this as well as your contact at the hotel to make sure you both agree it’s right.

Here’s the thing: I can’t imagine any place expecting the bride to look over BEOs with them; it’s much more of a conference coordinator’s thing. Usually places will have a contact with you so you can tell them exactly what you want, then I assume the hotel coordinator fills out the BEOs per your requests.

And since this is a wedding, I would think you have every right to ask for these earlier than normal. Even if they can’t do the BEOs now, make sure you get negotiated things in writing, since those kinds of things are easier to “forget” (though a reputable hotel should always honor what they have agreed to).

Another thing brides don’t know about hotels: You should NOT be charged a room fee. Usually (unless it’s a super-fancy place, maybe), if you spend enough money in food and have enough room rental guarantees, they will throw in the meeting room for free for meetings. Why should weddings be any different? If you are going to negotiate anything away, it should be the room rental fee. Unless you are having a tiny ceremony with no food, you’ll probably be spending enough Remember, it pays to be nice (and remember that you are bringing a lot of money to the hotel!).

It does sound just like this is for rooms only. But whenyou do get the contract, get them to itemize everything and if any fee was negotiated away, get them to write that down before you sign it. Our venue changed hands and we are dealing with a person with whom I would not have contracted with at all had she been in place this time last year. She’s a little shady and doesn’t like to write things down, etc. We’ve referred several times to the contract we signed (that we gave her a copy of) and it has allowed us to maintain control over what is still an unecessarily stressful situation.

i agree with everyone else…it is not the least bit bridezilla to clarify details. i did that with the wedding coordinator at my reception site, and when i said…sorry for all the questions, she replied…”not at all, it’s great that you’re asking, you should be asking these questions”.

my contract included the ceremony room rental fee, but also breakdown for all meals - per person dinner charge, price for vendor meals, price for children, gratuities, etc. good luck!

I just received the “venue” contract of the venue that we would like to choose for our wedding site. One of the items on the contract is “Natural Disasters”. Stating - the venue is not to be held responsible for inability to perform event due to natural disasters or acts of God such as, but not limited to, earthquakes, floods, and power failures. In the event of inability to perform the Event due to the aforementioned natural disasters or acts of God, the venue shall be entitled to retain and is not required to refund andy monies paid to the venue by Renter under this agreement.

We live in CA and this venue is located in wine country. Likely, a natural disaster will not happen, but you never know.

We’ve discussed this and the Vendor has come up with this amendment - In the event of failure of Vendor to perform due to damage to Area A, as shown on site rental agreement, we will reschedule the event on a mutually-agreeable date between mid May and mid Oct within 365 days. After 365 days, if event cannot be held due to Area A being unusable or unsafe, the full event fee paid by the renter will be refunded by Vendor.

We just can’t see why the vendor could not refund the monies in the result of a natural disaster if we cannot have the wedding on the scheduled date. We even are open to cancellation insurance.

Do you have any suggestions.

Thanks!