Brides and grooms scramble to salvage their big day amid coronavirus pandemic
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - The busy wedding season should be getting underway, but of course the COVID-19 pandemic has shut it down completely. It's happening all over California with the stay-at-home order and Santa Barbara is always one of the top destinations.
The shutdown is creating hard times for everyone in the wedding industry and it's putting many couples through their first big test together.
The wedding invitations went out long ago, friends and family had booked their airline tickets and the couples had paid deposits for everything from the venue, to the disc jockey, to the caterer. Then the pandemic hit and it came to a grinding halt.
Now, those same couples are scrambling to postpone their weddings or in a few cases get their deposit money back and start planning a new wedding. But at this point they don't know when this health crisis will end and when it does, would they ever be able to get the same venue, photographer, caterer and disc jockey?
Kelly Robertson and Mauricio Lalieu live in Denver and planned to get married in Santa Barbara in May. They called the NewsChannel Tipline when some of their vendors refused to return their deposits. They said they paid a total of $25,000 in deposits for their wedding, including $6,750 for the location where they planned to have the wedding and reception. Robertson said she did get her money back for the venue.
However, she said the catering company still owes them $2,000 and the DJ owes them $1,000.
"Contractually, they can't hold up their end of the agreement either. Our wedding was slated for May 2 and there's a stay at home order in California until May 3 banning all non-essential business. So that's a frustrating piece for us is that legally they're not allowed to be able to hold the money that they're holding, yet they're continuing to do so and they're creating this stressful fight that's unnecessary," said Robertson. "It's so frustrating because we need that money. We can't afford to use different vendors if the first vendors don't return our money."
But, Zohe Felici who owns SantaBarbaraWedding.com said most couples would rather postpone their wedding and not cancel it altogether. Felici also points out that 99% of vendor contracts spell out that most deposits are non-refundable even during a pandemic and the couples know that.
Felici, who also runs an inspiration blog, said vendors work hard at helping their clients navigate through tough times like these.
"Even though couples sign a contract which states that deposits are not refundable, our community is doing everything they can to instead reschedule while helping clients move forward to postpone their celebrations and to continue to support our local small businesses. This community bond we have as wedding professionals included helping each other through this unchartered time, allowing clients to be able to celebrate with their original visions at a later date keeping in mind the health and safety of all their guests. #rescheduledontcancel," said Felici.
The Courthouse Sunken Garden in Santa Barbara is one of the more popular places to get married. Sherman Hansen, Business Manager for Santa Barbara County Parks, said they've cancelled about 3700 events countywide already and a few hundred of them were weddings. Hansen said the county is returning all deposits in full and they are getting a lot of people thanking them for making that decision.
Robertson said she understands the vendors are struggling too, but she believes everyone can work it out if they communicate with each other. She said the catering company called her and offered to pay them back a little at a time.
"Amidst the chaos and uncertainty of COVID-19, we want couples to know that they're not alone. Wedding planning is already unchartered territory for most couples, much less when you add the current situation. The SB Wedding Community is empathetic for how overwhelmed couples must feel for having to postpone their big day. Here, at Santa Barbara Wedding Style, we are focused on creating ways to support our wedding community that’s taking a big hit right now," said Felici.
Here's an article Felici wrote recently that involved a few wedding pros' advice that you can use. https://www.santabarbarawedding.com/blog/covid-19-wedding-planning-tips
