Kristin McClure and Joshua Ferrell got engaged on February 1, at a time when the United States had only eight confirmed cases of coronavirus.
The couple searched for a wedding venue, and on March 9, booked a 12,000-square-foot converted Atlanta factory that features “pine beams, expansive skylights, and polished concrete floors,” according to their website.
But soon her emotion turned to concern.
Like many other engaged couples in the United States, McClure and Ferrell have had to struggle to follow through on wedding plans and jeopardize the health of family and friends, or postpone and risk losing thousands of dollars in deposits. .
In mid-March, the coronavirus epidemic was raging in some parts of the country, and many states were about to issue closure orders.
In Georgia, where there were still a relatively small number of confirmed cases of the virus, McClure and Ferrell held out hope that the worst of the pandemic would have disappeared.
Then, in late June and early July, Georgia reported record spikes in the cases.
“At the time, we knew we had to go ahead and make the decision,” said Ferrell.
The couple contacted their location, The Foundry at Puritan Mill, and a copy of the company’s coronavirus policy was sent to them on July 2, a copy of which was obtained by NBC News. It said: Any customer who moved an event from 2020 to a Saturday in the first quarter of 2021, or any Friday or Sunday throughout 2021, would lose their rental deposit. Customers who chose to postpone beyond the first quarter of 2021 would lose their rental deposit and would have to pay a $ 1,500 date change fee.
At the time, Georgia had more than 87,000 confirmed coronavirus cases with more than 2,800 deaths.
The next day, Ferrell and McClure, who had been laid off from their marketing job, e-mailed the president of Novare Events, the venue operator, to ask him to postpone their wedding and reception of 200 people, for whom they had paid deposits of $ 6,500 for rent and $ 5,000 for drinks.
The couple wrote that they, their family and friends are African-American, a demographic group disproportionately affected by the coronavirus.
President Myrna Antar responded: “I would like nothing more than to allow all of our clients to move 100% of their deposits to a date in 2021, but that is not economically feasible.”
She offered to make an exception to company policy and apply Ferrell’s $ 6,500 deposit to a new date in 2021 and waive the $ 1,500 date change fee, meaning she would lose her $ $ beverage deposit. 5,000.
“Once again, this is a devastating time for all of us and we are really trying to be fair to all of our clients and work with everyone in any way we can,” Antar wrote.
Ferrell, 26, who works as a recruiter, argued against these terms, citing “ethical” concerns and “force majeure,” a common contractual provision that excuses either party from complying with its obligation due to uncontrollable events, like extreme weather or other “acts of God.”
He noted in a July 13 email to an account executive in the wedding hall that “last week there were more than 1,000 confirmed cases within 25 miles of his location.”
The account executive said the force majeure language did not apply.
“Your event is not scheduled until September,” he wrote. “At this time, Novare is open and can organize your event.”
The venues, as well as their potential tenants, have invoked force majeure during the pandemic in an attempt to renegotiate or cancel contracts, said Natalya Johnson, a New Jersey attorney who has negotiated event contracts for clients ranging from nonprofit organizations to Fortune 500 companies.
When state orders to stay home were first instituted, Johnson said he saw a lot of flexibility in the venues, including “allowing people to postpone or reschedule their events.”
Months after the pandemic, however, he said he sees many places that “have become increasingly stringent.”
Antar told NBC News on Thursday that companies like his have been affected by the pandemic.
His company has had more than 600 events, either cancel or reschedule due to the coronavirus, but rent, utilities and other expenses at the company’s six locations are due each month, whether they have events or not, he said.
Novare Events received a loan from the Federal Salary Protection Program, but covered less than two months of rent and payroll, he said.
“We believe that we have been as fair as possible to all of our clients as we work to keep our small team of less than 20 employees and our business up and running,” said Antar.
However, Antar said that “based on the escalation of COVID-19 cases in Atlanta,” the company revised its policy from that sent to Ferrell and McClure earlier this month. Under the new terms, people hired to rent a place would lose less money if they cancel or change the date.
Two days later, in a statement Saturday, Antar said that with coronavirus cases in the state continuing to rise, the policy was further amended “to allow any client booked for 2020 to change their date at no charge.” She said the company is constantly adjusting its policies to adapt to the new environment.
Before Antar relayed these policy changes to NBC News, Ferrell and McClure had reluctantly agreed to the terms previously reviewed with the venue and rescheduled their wedding and reception for September 5, 2021, though that meant they would have to pay An additional $ 5,000, Ferrell said.
“We are at the point where we have to give up,” Ferrell said Wednesday.
On Saturday night, Ferrell told NBC News that he had not yet spoken to Antar about the policy change.
Which girlfriend would want to put her father “in danger”?
Another couple planning to get married in the fall in a rural southern New Jersey location told NBC News that they began asking in May about postponing their summer wedding.
But, the options they were given were slim: reschedule for some time in 2022. Get married on a Wednesday in 2020 or 2021, instead of a weekend as you preferred. Or keep your original 2020 date.
The bride-to-be said she made it clear to the venue owner that her father’s health could make him vulnerable to the virus, and that most of his wedding guests would be from out of state, even from areas with high rates of coronavirus. Currently, New Jersey requires visitors from certain states to be quarantined for two weeks.
“What bride, if you have the privilege of having a good relationship with your father and a father who is still in your life, would want to plan a wedding that would put you in danger?” she said.
After months of coming and going with the venue and on the condition that they sign a confidentiality agreement, the couple, who requested that their names be retained in this article, obtained the agreement in July to have their deposit refunded.
While the bride-to-be said she is grateful that she will be reimbursed, she said that she has been in contact with other couples with similar frustrations with this place and believes that the site operator hoped that people trying to change or cancel an event could come by past due and losing your advances.
The place “has chosen to put all previously reserved couples affected by COVID-19 between a rock and a difficult place for us to get away from our deposits and get a year of free money,” he said.
‘You cannot tell me what I can and cannot do for my own reception’
A groom in Michigan also encountered what he considered inflexibility about his wedding location in the midst of a historic pandemic.
Fahmi Islam, 31, dean of Sterling Heights Elementary School, about 20 miles from Detroit, and his wife, a dental assistant who did not wish to be named, were married last year but were planning a reception for 750 people on June 28th.
The couple is a Bangladeshi American, and said that large wedding receptions are common in their culture.
Islam booked the place in September 2019 with a $ 1,000 deposit.
On June 22, he emailed the banquet hall management that, in light of the Governor of Michigan’s order to restrict indoor dining to 50 percent of capacity, the venue was unable to accommodate its reception planned and wanted a refund. He indicated in the email that he had already spoken to a salon manager on the phone about his concerns.
Islam also said in the email that it was unwilling to postpone its event until 2021 because it was unclear when the pandemic will end.
The venue, the Imperial House, replied that he could have the reception with fewer guests or choose a future date, and that he could apply his deposit to an event for himself or a relative within 12 months.
“If you decide to cancel entirely, the deposits are non-refundable,” the email said.
Islam said it found the suggestion of the venue to hold the reception with fewer frightening guests. “You cannot tell me what I can and cannot do for my own reception,” he said.
The Imperial House, which has a capacity of more than 1,000 people, told NBC News on Thursday that Islam was aware when the hall reopened on June 8 with a 50 percent capacity that, according to state order, could accommodate up to 540 guests.
“They were given many options so that they did not have to lose the deposit,” the place said. “Customers chose to cancel; and the deposit is ultimately lost in this case. “
The banquet hall added: “We are a family-owned and family-run business and, like all small businesses, we have many activities and try to stay afloat … It is an unfortunate time for all, yet we have been and are doing the best we can. “
Islam said it still wants their money back because the place was unable to meet the terms of the contract on the date it would take place.
“It is a small amount. It’s not about the money, ”she said. “It is about the principle itself. There are other couples who can use that money for something else. “
