I agree with my colleagues. The contract controls so be familiar with it and have an attorney review the entire thing (if you cannot work it out directly with the venue). You may also want to file a dispute with your credit card company, especially if the wedding was scheduled for April 1, 2020 and the venue refuses to refund the money. If the wedding was scheduled for April 30, 2020, on the other hand; you may need to determine what the COVID-19 situation is closer to that time. All the best.

1- Sorry for your issues especially at this what should be such a fine time in your lives.
2- You have gotten excellent and accurate input so far.
3- You are almost certainly correct and the venue (they are acting scared not wise) is almost assuredly inncorrect, as it's pretty clear (give or take what day this is) no gatherings on "non essential" issues for more than 10 folks?
4- You should do as suggested by counsel above, ie, have independent counsel review for you the contract(s) and go from there, and do not wait, as the sooner you act, the better chance you have of getting some money returned, as opposed to others they may be doing this to...

As an aside, your life (wedding) stories will always be memorable!

This question cannot be answered here. Have the contract reviewed by a lawyer and go into detail with him/her concerning all surrounding details. Remember that governmental recommendations concerning the virus are different in force and effect from governmental orders.

As you can imagine this is a very popular question. Everyone wants out of their contracts. At this time, however, it seems a little premature. I am sorry, but you and thousands of others aren't going to get a yes/no response. This new to attorneys and the courts too. Obviously, the terms of your contract will be important. Perhaps a agreement can obtained.

You do realize that everyone that must return all deposits in the wedding industry will very likely go out of business.