Planning a wedding? What to do if a vendor backs out before your big day

globalnews.ca:

It’s supposed to be the happiest day of your life, but when one of the vendors you had booked for your wedding closes due to an issue such as bankruptcy or completely disappears without notice, that special day can turn into a nightmare.

It’s a story that Emma Rockburn and her fiance Phil Dallimore are experiencing firsthand in Toronto after Berkeley Events — which operates several venues in the city — abruptly shut its doors with many couples saying they only found out the company was in receivership through a post on Facebook.

“I immediately started crying, of course,” Rockburn told Global News, “and panicking and going to a very dark place of, ‘this is a bad omen for my marriage. Is this why is this happening to me and my partner?’ And ‘oh my gosh, we’ve just lost so much money and what are we going to do?'”

Rockburn and her fiancé were set to have their wedding at Berkeley Church in September. They’re now trying to find a new venue for the same date while dealing with the stress of trying to recoup their losses.

Rockburn said the response she’s gotten from the wedding community has been a big help.

While many of the couples who had booked that venue found out about the closure through Facebook, many have also received advice on replacement venues with some businesses even reaching out to brides and grooms to offer their locations for the weddings.

Alison McGill, host of Aisle Seat Podcast and former editor-in-chief of Weddingbells magazine, says while social media is one way to find assistance, some couples may want to hire a wedding planner, who can help in many ways, including rebooking vendors if things go south.

“If things do happen and the bottom falls out of the bucket in one or more ways during the course of