I have been planning a wedding that is impacted by COVID-19. The county where our wedding is located just announced a mandated shelter-in-place that bans all nonessential gatherings & nonessential travel through the wedding date. Therefore, the wedding can not legally go on, per county mandate.
We have paid for the venue in full per our contract. The contract does NOT have a force majeure clause or state anything about "acts of God," etc. The contract simply states that the payments are "nonrefundable". The contract has no language regarding cancellations or postponements.
What are our rights? Does the venue owe us a refund because they are unable to provide their services, by being located in a county that has banned gatherings and travel? Does this make them in breach of contract? Do they owe a refund on grounds of "impossibility?" Is our right to a refund impacted if the venue offers postponement as an option?
We do not want to postpone, given the ongoing threat of uncertainty due to COVID-19. I also purchased an event cancellation insurance policy prior to the pandemic in 2019.
it's arguable who owes who what, given there's no case law I know of dealing with global pandemics, thouse there are many cases about what constitutes a force majeure event, and this is clear one of them, whether it's been contracted for or not. So request a refund of your payment, attaching the governmental "shelter in place" order.
If the venue refuses to issue a refund and argues that you bore the risk of a force majeure event (or doesn't argue anything but the contract language), then tender the claim to your event cancellation insurer. That's why you got that policy, and good for you for thinking ahead and getting it to minimize or eliminate your risk.
