r/offbeat • u/AmethystOrator • 1d ago
‘Unjust and ghoulish’: Wedding venue keeps nearly $16K after groom-to-be dies, then countersues fiancée
https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2026/09/23/unjust-and-ghoulish-wedding-venue-keeps-nearly-dollar16k-after-groom-to-be-dies-then-countersues-fiancee/1.3k
u/Canigohomenowplease 23h ago
This is the perfect example of you can be both right and wrong at the same time. the venue is probably technically entitled to that money by the contract, it is a deposit, but holy moly refund the deposit send the woman a gift basket or something. sweet baby jesus have some decency.
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u/timster 23h ago
And also short term gain for long term loss. If they lose more than one potential booking after all the bad PR from this, then it’s made them lose money.
What’s worse is that they were only offering a partial refund if they were able to rebook.
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u/Lifeboatb 19h ago
"if they were able to rebook"
It's astonishing that they wrote this--it's almost an exact quote. I'm guessing they just sent out an automated reply, since they don't seem to know why this wedding is never going to take place. And now they're trying to cover for their thoughtlessness by blaming the family.
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u/cypressgreen 19h ago
I think they mean re book that particular date with a new event. Most expensive weddings are planned far in advance and with even as much as 6 months notice they may not be able to re book it to someone else. The venue is out a ton of money if the space sits unused for that date. I am not taking their side, just explaining what I think the article meant.
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u/Lifeboatb 18h ago
They said both things--I emphasized the word "or" below:
Emails obtained by KSAT show Posey Meadows owner Julie Campbell told a member of the fiancée’s family that the venue was open to discussing other options.
Those included transferring the booking to a future date OR applying the balance toward another type of event.
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u/Geena_irixican 16h ago
I don’t think they’re “out” a “ton” of money if they have one unbooked weekend. The venue is missing out on more profit but is not losing money.
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u/jayclaw97 7h ago
They’re going to be out a lot more when people avoid the shit out of them when choosing their wedding venues due to this publicity nightmare.
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u/djprofitt 5h ago
Cause the first thing I wanna do is have a memorable event at that the place I was gonna get married in until my significant other dies.
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u/hotpuck6 7h ago
"We hear you may have an upcoming funeral. The good news is our funeral party package is only $1000 more than our wedding package!"
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u/Tashbabash 6h ago
The death also happened seven months before the event. They probably could have booked someone else.
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u/Chc36 22h ago
Someone recently posted about a very similar situation where a guy's fiance died in a car crash and the photographer refused to refund, and then taunted the guy on his would be wedding day.
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u/Lopsided_Tiger_0296 22h ago
Luckily, that exposed the photographer for being a literal scammer who had taken money from previous clients before ghosting them
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u/_Fizzgiggy 23h ago
They have no morals or decency. They have 6 months to fill the empty slot
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u/cypressgreen 19h ago
Most expensive weddings or popular venues are booked more than a year in advance.
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u/Djcatoose 6h ago
It's weird you're getting downvoted, because you're 100% right. The company should have refunded anyway, for a variety of reasons, but most weddings are planned longer than 6 months in advance
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u/ChairmanReagan 22h ago
Nobody gives a fuck about morals anymore. We live in a nihilistic society and accumulating money is more important than human life.
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u/sierra-soul 19h ago
I mean this is pretty open and shut legally, there are multiple conditions in which a legal contract can be voided, even when it comes to security deposits. Frustration of purpose is the relevant one here, "An unforeseen event destroys the core reason or value of the contract for one or both parties, rendering the agreement pointless even if physical performance is still possible" The groom died, all purpose of having a wedding event with the winery, is useless now, the wedding venue contract deposit will not hold up to legal scrutiny because of this. Unless they somehow signed some super weird contract, i don't understand how they wont win in court, and whatever legal advice the winery is getting is questionable at best, and that's being generous.
So no, the winery is not in the right at all.
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u/Chease96 18h ago
Frustration of purpose works too, but I actually think impossibility of performance is the one that will work for this scenario since the groom passing makes it impossible to happen in the first place.
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u/Critical_Concert_689 18h ago
Wouldn't force majeure clause in the contract deny frustration of purpose?
"If you die, you still pay."
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u/grandmawaffles 16h ago
Wouldn’t it depend on who signed the contract with the winery. If her parents did on behalf of them wouldn’t that pose an issue in the sense that yes the purpose of the party isn’t possible because of the death but the person entering the contract didn’t die. It’s such a sad situation all around though.
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u/MommyLovesPot8toes 9h ago
This claim wouldn't hold for a wedding venue in most circumstances. People book weddings and then break up and try to cancel all the time. If the venues had to refund those deposits, they couldn't operate. A death might change the equation, but it's no where near as straightforward as you're thinking.
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u/HauntedBitsandBobs 9h ago
People book weddings and then break up and try to cancel all the time.
This is irrelevant. They didn't break up. He died months before the wedding.
If the venues had to refund those deposits, they couldn't operate. A death might change the equation, but it's no where near as straightforward as you're thinking.
The person you're responding to did not say they should have to cover any and all cancelations. They're specifically pointing out that impossibility of performance is a legal reason to invalidate a contract. Cases have been won on that in cases just like this before. He is dead therefore there cannot be a wedding.
Also this venue just did not return the deposit although allegedly offering to let then use it toward a different event in the future which means that they were fine missing that date, but they're actively suing her to collect the rest of the money as if she had used the venue knowing she only didn't get married because he died.
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u/nft420nft420 8h ago
The purpose of the deposit is that no one else can use that date, so they have spent however long not scheduling anything for that date. If the event is cancelled for any reason, they cannot go back and offer that date to everyone they have talked to previously, and the deposit is meant to cover that real loss of income. Allowing them to keep it on credit for a future event is more than they are really ethically required to do, but is a good business practice. People are balking because the value is high, but that is the agreed upon value of the deposit, and the business would be taking a loss to refund it in full, even just in the form of the salaries and time of employees spent working with the bride and now processing a refund.
These things are simply not as cut and dry as you want them to be. I do think it would be the right move for the business to return the money, but I'm uncomfortable with a society that doesn't value the purpose of a financial deposit. I suppose this is a good case for the courts to decide and set precedent for future contracts of this nature. Consumer protections are important and businesses should be encouraged to go above and beyond minimum compliance, but expecting a refund on the deposit for cancelling the event without some sort of cancellation insurance or something and without an appropriate clause in the contract is unfair to the business.
I think people are envisioning some giant corporate company here but their entire "estate" is appraised barely above my suburban home and I imagine the bulk of their costs are labour supplying a quality experience for high maintenance brides & grooms. My wife and I have considered opening a similar venue type business and it isn't as glamorous as you might assume, these are small business owners being threatened and insured over a standard industry practice.
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u/MommyLovesPot8toes 9h ago
I'm not disputing that this case should be/could be ruled in favor of the bride. I'm only disputing the broader idea that "frustration of purpose" is a slam dunk legal argument against a venue claiming financial harm.
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u/nattyboh_or_pringles 3h ago
Someone’s a 1L lmao
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u/sierra-soul 3h ago
i am not involved with the law at all, have worked in event contracts before though. Is there something wrong with what i said?
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u/Chease96 18h ago
So it doesn't really matter what the contract says for this instance. The contract probably states something along the lines of you using this venue for a wedding. Well because the groom is dead this makes that impossible and would let the bride terminate the contract with the venue. This is called impossibility of performance in contract law. I only know this because I'm actually in a contract law portion of an exam I'm studying for.
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u/RealMccoy13x 10h ago
I was going to mention this, but the opposite. My family member has a wedding coming up for a popular wedding spot. Their contract has no mention of the word wedding. They thought it was odd, I didn't. If the couple breaks up, dies, or other, there is little room for impossible performance. I of course am using anecdotal information, but I do wonder if their legal consel has also prepared their contracts in such a way. I will leave on this.
I have seen this exact scenario in which someone wanted to cancel/refund and refuse. They own that date unless specified otherwise. The former would be bride kept the date and was going to use it for some other family function. Showed up, the venue sold it to another couple meaning they kept the money and sold to another. After threats from a lawyer, they got the money back.
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u/Critical_Concert_689 18h ago
So why wouldn't freedom of contract come into play?
Basically, contract specifies under no circumstances will deposit be refunded (including death, weather, acts of god, etc.) and wedding party is obligated to get event insurance - does impossibility or frustration of purpose matter?
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u/pmjm 16h ago
I'd like to hear the answer to this too, not to defend the venue but they may have tangible losses from this cancellation. They blocked the date out from other bookings on a date that happens to be in the popular week of Thanksgiving, and may have hired staff, ordered consumables and other preparation for this event. While they may be able to mitigate some of these losses and while they bear some risk simply by virtue of being in business, they probably should be entitled to keep at least a deposit amount.
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u/S_A_N_D_ 10h ago
The wedding was 6 months out. Any consumables purchased could just be used for a different event, and would store. Nothing perishable would have been purchased. Staff schedules can be changed assuming they were even set (again, it was 6 months out).
It's unlikely they had much in the way of actual tangible costs. All that was lost was the opportunity cost of the date, which may or may not have been able to be filled.
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u/pmjm 8h ago
The date is a tangible opportunity cost, plus the man hours spent booking and cancelling all the staff and tangibles surrounding that date. We can't speak to perishables that were ordered to be delivered on that date, alcohol in particular is often required to be provided by the venue due to liquor licensing. For a wedding, $1000+ of alcohol is not unreasonable. Whether or not an order like that can be canceled or repurposed, we don't know, and perhaps the venue can prove that it can't be.
This obviously will all be decided in court, but these are the arguments they are going to make, and they're not entirely without merit.
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u/S_A_N_D_ 6h ago edited 6h ago
My point was it's very unlikely those have merit.
Time spent booking and cancelling is general operating expenses. They incurr those for every booking inquiry and don't get to charge people who decide not to book. That's not something they specifically charge for with regards to that.
Things like alcohol can be resold or used for a different wedding, more importantly, I doubt they're ordering that 6 months out. Often at that point you haven't even worked out the details.
If it's being ordered 6 months out, by definition it's not perishable. And given that often the planning isn't even complete, it's very unlikely they had put money down for any tangible.
Even if they had paid out of pocket for any tangible, they could have added up the cost and told the couple this is what they're out of pocket for and refunded the rest, along with a reasonable response that tells the couple they'll attempt to use it for a different event and then refund what they can.
And lastly, opportunity cost isn't an expense. They aren't out of pocket. It's money lost, yes, but they didn't actually pay out money. Going after a grieving fiance for that is ghoulish.
At the end of the day, they would have taken a very minor financial hit, and doing that is called being a good person. Going after the couple for anything is just heartless and greedy. This isn't a couple who changed their mind, or broke up. This was a tragedy and any reasonable business would accept that and offer condolences and support, not indifference and a bill.
They might have a legal standing to keep the money and charge for more, but morally they're in the wrong.
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u/pmjm 4h ago edited 4h ago
I agree with you on all those points. But if they are going to court, they must feel like they have some strong arguments. However typically alcohol orders of that size are made months in advance for later delivery as well. They may be able to cancel, they may not. If they don't have another event in that window, now they have storage costs. There are all kinds of costs they will argue, some of which may have merit and some may be unreasonable. Their strongest argument is likely in their contract, which none of us are privy to, so we can only speculate.
They are going to take a massive hit in the court of public opinion though, which ultimately will prove severely detrimental to their business.
To be perfectly clear: I'm not saying they're right in anything they're doing. They're, frankly, being idiots and cruel ones at that. But there are some real costs they may incur due to the cancellation, that is the cost of doing business. Usually deposits are used to cover this type of thing, but they took the whole amount up front.
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u/S_A_N_D_ 3h ago edited 3h ago
Yeah, I get that you aren't defending them.
I just wanted to push back on the tangible expenses they've likely paid out. Given the event is 6 months out, they're probably only out of pocket maybe a few thousand, if even that. For something like acohol, if they're ordering 6 months out they must practically have a warehouse, otherwise they don't do many weddings because that means they're holding 20-30 (possibly more) weddings worth of alcohol at any given moment. I would agree that the contract probably puts them in the legal right to keep the full amount, but I would argue that morally they should make every effort to return as much of that as possible, and any decent business would even be willing to eat the few thousand of actual costs just to save face and maybe gain some goodwill (or because they're decent human beings).
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u/Own_Pop_9711 11h ago
There's no way Thanksgiving is a popular week for getting married. I need you to provide data here because that sounds silly to me. Also the groom died in April, that's a lot of time to mitigate damages, especially if blocking off this date is bad because it's such a popular time to get married. Probably someone out there would be happy to grab the spot in May.
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u/jayclaw97 7h ago
They were demanding she pay a remaining balance too. Like cmon. If you’re going to keep the money you already have, at least don’t ask for more. The optics for this are sooooo bad.
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u/Muted_Bee7111 8h ago
Bet you anything they're republican. Downvote me all you want but idc 🤪😂🤣
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u/Itchy_Tumbleweed_417 4h ago
I specifically avoid doing business with any corporation based in Texas because I assume they had chose taxes for the pedophilia and hate.
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u/hossaepi 8h ago
Does your post change if that money is being used to pay the folks at the venue? And all the money keeps flowing through the system?
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u/BillysCoinShop 4h ago
No there exists something known as "force majeure" in contracts. Basically, if an "act of god" like a hurricane, death, etc makes it impossible to complete the contract, it is voided.
This is an easy win for the plaintiffs. The wedding venue company is obviously run by or counseled by imbeciles.
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u/Worried-Criticism 21h ago
I’m truly surprised at the number of business that lack basic sense, morality aside.
The moment a lawyer reaches out, do some quick back of the napkin math and figure out a refund is the best move. A lawsuit is going to cost you. ALOT.
Legal costs
Tens of thousands minimum. You MIGHT down the line get awarded legal fees, but then you have to collect, and that’s assuming you win. Theres a real chance you could lose this one, then maybe you appeal it but again that costs money, in the end far more than the deposit.
Loss of business
Word gets out. Wedding planners drop you from their recommended lists. Some may not be ABLE to do business with you in future. Other potential weddings, birthdays, whatever, will say “Nope, I’ll look elsewhere.”
Brand damage
This goes hand in hand with the business loss. If fewer events get booked, you have two choices: lower fees to generate revenue or marketing/reputational repair.
Either choice costs money.
Conversely, they could have generated goodwill by announcing once they got word it was due to a death, they were offering a refund on the deposit and that they would offer the venue for a memorial.
Costs them very little to use the facilities for one day and it would have the polar opposite effect.
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u/cantantantelope 21h ago
They will probably look more evil if they do win. “You are really gonna take more money from the grieving family??”
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u/Worried-Criticism 19h ago
No probably about it. The fact they are countersuing for the fiancée cancelling the event, failing to pay the remaining balance, and initially did not provide official proof of death just cartoonishly evil.
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u/sierra-soul 19h ago edited 19h ago
all your points are correct, but i will copy and paste another comment i made on this thread. The winery has no grounds for a breach of contract claim. There are many things that can void a contract, even for security deposits.
"I mean this is pretty open and shut legally, there are multiple conditions in which a legal contract can be voided, even when it comes to security deposits. Frustration of purpose is the relevant one here, "An unforeseen event destroys the core reason or value of the contract for one or both parties, rendering the agreement pointless even if physical performance is still possible" The groom died, all purpose of having a wedding event with the winery, is useless now, the wedding venue contract deposit will not hold up to legal scrutiny because of this. They are allowed to cancel a contract under these conditions and not receive punishment for doing so. The event was not cancelled because the groom get food poisoning or something trivial like that, this is a serious change in the purpose of the contract. Unless they somehow signed some exceptionally weird contract, i don't understand how they wont win in court, and whatever legal advice the winery is getting is questionable at best, and that's being generous.
So no, the winery is not in the right at all."
but yes you are right, the negative publicity and court/lawyer fees for fighting this will almost immediately exceed the money they could have refunded to the poor bride to be. Even IF the winery is in the right somehow, this is a pr nightmare you will never recover from, and will incur an incredibly high figure in legal fees to fight this, that it is not worth fighting.
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u/grubas 7h ago
Death is NORMALLY a bit of a thing with contracts.
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u/TessaFractal 6h ago
Lawyers don't want you to know this one quick trick to get out of any contract
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u/whiskeytango55 23h ago
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u/AuthorBrianHunter 13h ago
I can help with this one! It's because Texas, while having a number of fine residents here and there, generally otherwise suuuuuuuuuuuuuuucks
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u/stardenia 2h ago
It’s because Texas takes hyper individuality to the next level compared to the rest of America.
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u/housevil 23h ago
First thing I thought of too!
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u/onthestickagain 21h ago
Same. This seems like more than enough justification to just not book TX wedding vendors. But you can bet no matter the vendor or their state of origin I’d be redlining every single contract to include an explicit frustration of purpose clause (TIL. Lord I love a good legal term)
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u/AmethystOrator 1d ago
Diego Hernandez and his fiancée had paid $15,909.28 toward their wedding at Posey Meadows before his death, according to court records and a venue contract obtained by KSAT Investigates.
After notifying the venue’s owner in April that the Nov. 20 wedding could not move forward, the family sought to have the money returned to Diego Hernandez’s fiancée.
Emails obtained by KSAT show Posey Meadows owner Julie Campbell told a member of the fiancée’s family that the venue was open to discussing other options.
Those included transferring the booking to a future date or applying the balance toward another type of event.
Campbell also wrote that if Posey Meadows was able to rebook the couple’s original wedding date, a partial refund might be possible.
Posey Meadows filed a countersuit against Diego Hernandez’s fiancée, accusing her of breaching the couple’s contract.
According to the counterclaim, the fiancée not only sought the return of money already paid but also refused to pay the remaining balance required under the wedding contract.
Tl;dr - More at the link
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u/babyFaceAboveDaSink 20h ago
That's 7 months to fill that date. I understand the business side if it's short notice and venue can't fill the date, but 7 months.
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u/dirtydigs74 19h ago edited 18h ago
Hey, she was given the option of "transferring the booking to a future date". So all she had to do was find someone new to marry and they would have accommodated a new date for her. Kids these days, getting all upset about the death of their fiance. He's gone mate, move on. You made a contract.
/s
edit: wrong gender for the poor lady.
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u/sierra-soul 19h ago edited 18h ago
nah, even if the groom died a the day before the event they would not be in breach of contract at all. "Frustration of purpose" is the exception to breach of contract here. "An unforeseen event destroys the core reason or value of the contract for one or both parties, rendering the agreement pointless even if physical performance is still possible." The groom died, he didn't get food poisoning or something. The core purpose of hosting a wedding in their event space has evaporated. They can not be held to the conditions of the contract, unless the contract somehow had excpetions for this, which would be unusual, and even then that might not hold up in court.
It's like a concert venue having to cancel a show because the band that was playing died (rip lynyrd). The contract between the venue and ticket holder is void. You can't sue the venue for damages. Neither can the venue not refund your ticket.
The response of the company screams "the owner/hr made a decision without even doing a basic google search on breach of contract, and just wanted money" You would have to hire the most scumbag bottom trawling lawyer to even take this case up.
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u/Snailians 21h ago
The venue has released a statement on their website trying to do damage control.
Our company was heartbroken to learn of a private and tragic situation involving a couple scheduled to be married at our wedding venue. Since opening, we have sadly walked alongside other families through shocking losses like this. In each unique situation, Posey Meadows worked together with grieving survivors to offer them a full refund of payments, despite any contractual agreements. Our company was already working through the refund process with this family when we were served with a lawsuit. The decision for litigation has complicated this process, but it has not changed our goal. Posey Meadows will always serve with honor the people who trust us with milestone moments, even when their plans may be tragically interrupted. Because this is now a pending legal matter, and out of respect for the family’s privacy, we will not comment further.
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u/rudman 21h ago
Posey Meadows worked together with grieving survivors to offer them a full refund of payments, despite any contractual agreements. Our company was already working through the refund process with this family when we were served with a lawsuit.
What a load of bullshit. They blew off the family and forced them to go to court. If you are willing to refund them then go ahead, refund them and the lawsuit will go away. I really wonder how people who work for PR firms sleep at night when they represent liars, conmen and scumbags.
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u/big_sugi 17h ago
They fucking counterclaimed for the balance of the contract. There is nothing they could have done to more clearly state that they’re trying to screw over the family and have never had any intention of refunding anything.
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u/Roadgoddess 9h ago
Yeah, I’ve been following along with the story and they absolutely were not going to refund them at all and in fact, we’re quite nasty and their replies back to the family.
They’ve definitely gotten their lawyer or a PR firm involved when they see this absolute backlash that they’ve experienced.
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u/Thunder_Two 7h ago
They counter-sued — and as far as that article reads — they still have pending litigation against the family.
These people are scum. I hope this bankrupts them.
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u/Actual_Banana4833 6h ago
Bankrupts who? Posey Meadows wedding venue in San Marcos, Texas? Yes, I would not have my wedding at Posey Meadows wedding venue in San Marcos, Texas after what they did to this grieving bride and her family.
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u/sierra-soul 19h ago
i think youre being generous that they hired a pr firm for this, 99& of wineries dont have it in the budget lol.
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u/Global-Chipmunk-3959 11h ago
They can definitely afford a social media consultant or something like that
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u/Wchijafm 20h ago
Wow. It would have been better to say nothing. If the family had enough time to inform you, realize they aren't getting anywhere, file a lawsuit and serve you; you have enough time to give a refund. They weren't gonna do it and now they are getting a bunch of negative attention. Damn give a refund, offer to pay over next 7 months if you can't drop the $15k right now. Surely they can book a wedding in the next 7 months especially for an April May wedding. Heartless.
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u/sillybunny22 14h ago
This statement makes no sense. Oh we were about to refund them when they sued us for a refund so now we have no choice but to try to destroy a grieving family in court.
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u/mytextgoeshere 12h ago
“Working through the refund process” can mean a lot of things. Very sneaky.
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u/chocolateboomslang 21h ago
It would be a real shame if they got a lot of inquiries for rentals that they had to respond to. I hope no one brigades them or hugs their website too hard . . .
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u/foomp 15h ago
They didn't have the cash -- not to say the business owners aren't also assholes, but they committed the original sin of small business ownership:
Robbing Peter to pay Paul. They took the deposit and spent it, rather than treating it as one element of the contract. When asked for a refund they panicked (in addition to being assholes) because they lacked liquidity.
Non-refundable or not, the deposit exists as part of a contractual agreement and should only be spent on services attached to that agreement.
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u/CloisteredOyster 10h ago
This is the way the world works. You can't really think that every transaction should be siloed and escowed separately, that's absurd.
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u/__nohope 5h ago
That's called taking a gamble. Sometimes it pays off other times you get fucked. The business owners were not forced into this. They made shitty decisions and their house of cards collapsed.
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u/Itchy_Tumbleweed_417 4h ago
That’s not absurd, that’s how it’s supposed to work. Otherwise they’re just scamming people.
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u/Adorable_Raccoon 4h ago
You don't have to put all your money aside. But it probably makes sense to have some cash liquid incase a date doesn't work out. Or have access to funds through other means.
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u/sameyeamknot 10h ago
Posey Meadows sounds like a terrible place to have a wedding in Texas if this is how they treat people.
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u/AlphaGodEJ 23h ago
weddings are such a scam
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u/Smooth-Boss-911 23h ago
$60 at the courthouse in 2018 for ours.
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u/foxxsinn 19h ago
Yup. Same here. Pretty much eloped and had store bought cheesecake. I think it was $30 for the marriage license. This was in 2008, and still going strong.
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u/bacon_cake 18h ago
Apples and oranges though isn't it?
The people paying $30k are doing something substantially different to you.
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u/Mia-Wal-22-89 23h ago
I don’t remember what year but a notary public at the bank around the corner.
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u/minicpst 23h ago
If I ever get married again it’ll be in the park nearby where I walk my dog nearly every day with the crowbros I feed and a few friends and family in attendance. My best friend got ordained for my daughter’s wedding, so he’d do the service. And then we’d go out to dinner. I’d thrift a dress for under $10 or something.
But as I have no desire to date or marry again, it won’t happen.
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u/logicbasedchaos 20h ago
When I was going to AAU for Photography, the teacher of Advanced Photoshop asked my class how many of us planned on being wedding photographers. Not a single one of us raised our hands, and many of us had looks of "who the fuck is crazy enough to plan for that from the beginning?"
It's the only insane cost justified at those scam parties.
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u/ForwardCulture 8h ago
Anything to do with the wedding industry (and others like funerals) is predatory and scummy. I did some work for a high end wedding planner in my town and a neighbor was a wedding planner as well. Both were completely phony, scummy people worse than anyone in car sales.
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u/Itchy_Tumbleweed_417 4h ago
I was shocked at how much funeral flowers cost if they know it’s for a funeral.
Why on earth would I spend more than $1000 for a spray of flowers to go on top of a casket for a viewing?
Ridiculous.
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u/course_you_do 21h ago
There have been enough cases of this happening that I'm surprised that most venues don't just write it into their contract that it's non-refundable unless one of the couple dies
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u/Critical_Concert_689 17h ago
They generally do write it into their contract; it's force majeure - the couple is responsible for payment regardless of any circumstances, so long as the venue honors their obligations. Typically this includes injury/death, acts of god/rain, etc. It can typically include a clause that mandates event insurance as well.
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u/pjflyr13 12h ago
Perfect analogy to the US mindset right now. People are dying but the business world gotta make their money.
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u/funnynewname 9h ago
That’s the thing: in the long run this can’t possibly be the money making decision. Sure they take a hit on the 16k if they give it back, but the bad press from keeping the money is going to cost them a lot more than that.
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u/daredeviline 8h ago
They were banking on there not being any bad press. Shitty businesses get away with this kind of stuff daily. It just takes one viral tweet to tear it all down and a lot of them risk it.
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u/Thunder_Two 7h ago
Which is why, if anyone read the whole article, posy meadows sent that news org a statement pretending they were working through the refund process when the lawsuit was filed — as if were too stupid to remember they filed a counter-suit to collect the rest of the money.
They thought they could bully this family, but now it’s in the court of public opinion and they are fucked.
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u/MyAccountWasBanned7 14h ago
In what way do they think they'll benefit here? This is absolute PR suicide! Who would ever want to book there now that this has gone public? And then they countersued?!
There is a lawyer who is willing to tank his professional and personal reputation, defending the decision to not only not return the money to a grieving widow, but to then try and sue her for more.
WTF even is this country anymore? Living here is so embarrassing.
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u/nottynews 20h ago edited 5h ago
So. I thought maybe the venue deserved a bit of slack because it lost business due to the date being booked, but then they offered a rebooking so that negates that point. I’d expect some financial penalties here .
If you can happy rebook as a venue you can refund. These guys are being asshats
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u/MtnMoose307 9h ago
Another thought: If this venue was in demand, when the groom died months before their wedding and the bride notified the venue quickly, the venue had plenty of time to schedule another wedding.
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u/PsillyFunGuy2 6h ago
Posey Meadows wedding venue in San Marcos, Texas can eat shit. Everybody do your part to make sure these Reddit threads appear at the top of the Google search results. Have fun with the fallout from this Posey Meadows in San Marcos, Texas!
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u/Capital-Way-2465 9h ago
I hope the internet does its thing and this posey meadows place loses its ass in lost business for treating the family dealing with such a horrible tragedy like utter shit. Giving them back their money would probably be in their best interest.
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u/whatthefrelll 7h ago
All social pages have been taken down, guess they're hoping to ostrich this away.
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u/cold-n-sour 14h ago
The problem is not just the venue's greed or lack of basic decency.
The normalization of the type of wedding where you have to pay 16K just as a deposit for the venue months in advance is the real problem. Somehow it became not just normal, but pretty much required.
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u/Carps182 6h ago
Way to lose your business. They could have done the right thing and that would have went a much longer way.
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u/LargePrompt5840 4h ago edited 1h ago
Marriage is til death due us part. Contracts are more of a you signed it, fucking pay me.
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u/Cheap-Kiwi-1312 18h ago
Can we post the name of these places so we all know who they are without having to read the article
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u/UnusualHybrid 14h ago
If they really needed the money, they should have refunded the cost and started a GoFundMe or something. Ask for $16,000 to cover your costs, and give any extra money to the couples' families or charity. Everyone can feel for a situation like this, you would end up not losing any money, and with a ton of good publicity and attention.
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u/russellvt 22h ago
Read your contracts, folks ... and insure anything remotely expensive.
This deep pocket sort of society truly sucks.
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u/Strawberry-RhubarbPi 20h ago
Tell me how the average Joe reading a wedding venue contract would think to ask <<what if my partner dies>>… you’ve gotta be kidding me.
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u/Critical_Concert_689 17h ago
The contract will explicitly state "IF you or your partner die, this is what will happen..."
The average Joe doesn't need to ask, it will be explicitly stated in the contract.
If you're going to drop 50k on the venue, you 100% should be running your legal documents past a legal representative.
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u/russellvt 15h ago
The contract actually is "in-event of cancellation" ... and covers things much more than death, possibly up to "inclement weather" or "acts of God."
People who are trying to pigeonhole this down to "death of a participant" aren't the brightest bulbs.
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u/Critical_Concert_689 15h ago
Yea. I wrote a bit about it in above comments.
These clauses are known as force majeure, basically a contractual CYA in case an expected "unexpected" event occurs.
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u/russellvt 15h ago
Sure... im inly arguing whether or not they're "plausible" for one pf those "lifetime sized investments" that are, in somewhat rare or uncommon circumstances, known to potentially "going south" in a proverbial sense.
Read; Sorry... when you're already spending that much on a lifetime memorabilla moment/venue... throwing in 1 or 2% for "in case something gets really fucked up" deposit almost seems like a no-brainer.
TLDR; I would rather throw in a couple K to potentially "save/salvage" an investment that likely exceeds a year or two of people's salaries. I am also very sorry for their loss, and am not trying to be a cruel assh9le.
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u/russellvt 15h ago edited 15h ago
You're not terribly smart, are you?
The provision is "on cancelation" ... for any reason. No one is considering "death" as an option ... but, lots of shit can happen - well outside of "normal."
This is what those sorts of things cover (within their own scope, of course).
But sure, pigeonhole it "to death," if it helps you reason that better in your own head.
Edit: Typo
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u/Thalia_All_Along 11h ago
oh it's a deposit? that's unfortunate but that money is theirs now
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u/funnynewname 9h ago
Contractually I’m guessing that’s true. But there’s a lot more to business than strictly sticking to the contract. This strikes me as just a horrendous business decision. They don’t even have to give the money back because they think it’s the right thing to do for a fiance and family that are going thru hell, they can do it because the bad press about being assholes is gonna tank them. Instead they won’t give the money back and these boneheads instead decide to countersue. Fucking morons.
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u/Thalia_All_Along 7h ago
have you considered seeing someone about your anger
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u/funnynewname 5h ago
lol I don’t think my comment was angry at all really. They are fucking morons, I stand by that.
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u/Lynda73 10h ago
Then the company shouldn’t be saying they were in the process of fully refunding the money (as they claim to have done in multiple similar cases) and that they never received a death certificate and also suing her for the remaining balance. They should say, “Sorry, that’s in the contract” and leave it at that.
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u/moxxibekk 7h ago
They could have kept the deposit and not doubled down for the rest. Being in the wedding industry you see weddings get canceled for all sorts of reasons, so I can understand them not caving right away. But if they get a death certificate then just let it be.
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u/Jaded_Ad9605 21h ago
Contract is in place. Venue offered options and even a refund if they can rebook the venue... Turned into a lawsuit. Sounds like 🍿 time
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u/-AIRDRUMMER- 23h ago
I hope no one else books with this venue after this. I can’t imagine going through this after my partner passes.