Fight At Wedding - Shut Down My Reception
Help! I could use some good advice. I had my wedding a little over a month back and we had some of the "usual" mishaps that happen during the day....my limo was late, no air in the limo, blah blah blah. Anyway, the day was going perfect and I couldn`t have been happier. At about 10:30, an hour and a half before my reception was to end, I was out on the dancefloor w/my flowergirls doing the chicken dance when the lights go on, the deejay shuts down and the bartenders leave. Apparently there was a fight, out in the hallway and NOT in my room, and the club called the police and the CLUB shut down my wedding. It was only for about a 1/2 hour but I wound up with a red nose and puffy eyes for the rest of the night. NOWHERE in my contract does it say that they have the right to shut down the wedding...for any reason. Does anyone know what I`m entitled to? Am I able to sue??? Any help would be GREATLY appreciated.
Posted by Jen; updated 10/02/03
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I would demand a refund for the cost of the venue. If they refuse, tell them you intend to seek a lawyer. Hopefully this will make them relent and give you the money back. If it doesn`t, i would sue them for the cost of the room rental.
Posted by Sarah; updated 10/02/03
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What the heck kind of club is this where they shut down the entire venue for one fight? That`s totally unprofessional (and unreasonable). You can TRY to get some reimbursement for this but they`re going to pull a "we were just concerned about the safety of all inside the building." If you`re serious about this, consult a lawyer. But, unfortunately, you`re probably going to have to let it go. The most you might get out of it are some gift certificates for future use. What you should have probably done was address the issue right then and there with management and get a percentage cut off your bill. Even 10% would have sufficed (assuming venue rental, beverage and food was all on one tab). Unfortunately I`m sure the bill is already paid in full. But that`s just ridiculous that they would shut down the whole thing UNLESS the fight was truly so bad that guns were waving.
Posted by ann; updated 10/02/03
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You`re absolutely right. They`re playing the "safety of others" card. Mind you, one of the guys had already left. They were basically holding my reception randsome until someone fessed up who else was involved in it. There`s no need to shut down a bride`s wedding because 2 people can`t handle their liquor. I`m still fighting it and trying to get something back. Unfortunately, the reception was paid in full a few days before the wedding. They let the reception go on an additional 20 minutes to make up for the time, but I lost time w/my deejay, photog and videographer. Not to mention some of my guests left because they thought it was shut down for good. I`ve considered looking into a lawyer, but kind of wanted to know my rights before I pursue it and spend a ton on legal fees.
Posted by Jen; updated 10/02/03
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To be honest with you, it will probably cost you more to consult the lawyer than what you will get out of the club owner. If anything, they may have to give you a certain percentage of your money back, but not the whole amount since the majority of the reception did take place as planned. You could threaten to report them to the Better Business Burea, your local news station consumer advocate group or something but odds are you`ll just have to swallow the bitter pill.
One last option would be to ask for a discount from the DJ service and explain to them that they were only suppossed to shut down temporarily. Your guests were left without music.
Posted by JC; updated 10/02/03
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Who were the people fighting?
Posted by Leah; updated 10/02/03
