Honestly - even with what your contract says (which are all good things) - I still wouldn't do it.
I know I was on the whole 'bad economy' bandwagon before (and still am) but another bride mentioned before - there could be some other circumstances that pop up that would cause you to push the wedding back or make changes that could affect $$. Granted - we don't forsee those things happening and NEVER want them to mess up our planning but they could happen.
For me - w/ something THIS big, I try to be over careful - and something about paying everything upfront way before things just makes me twitch lol.
jmgoncal
Posted:
Member since
Re: If you could... UPDATED
I would definitely NOT pay it off in advance. Even if you have a clause saying you would get your money back, you would definitely have to fight for it - look at what's happening with all the Atlantica girls - do you really want to go through that for tens of thousands of dollars. Not to mention the fact that I'd rather keep the money in my bank account earning ME interest - why would you let the RH earn interest off of your money?? Every little bit helps!
dCa51899
Posted:
Member since
Re: If you could... UPDATED
Posted by JessNicole7EM
A few things.
1. There is a clause saying if I need to reschedule the event - as long as my catering hall is available for the date I want - I can.
2. There is also a clause in my contract saying if they go under or close or whatever - I will get back every penny.
3. My minimum is 125 guests - I would JUST be paying off the 125. I'll still owe them money down the road for my other guests - My guest list is at 219.
I'm not sure if that makes a difference to some of the answers but please let me know.
to me, honestly, it doesn't make a difference - ur money is safer with you than with the RH...I just remember reading about atlantica and all the hardships it was giving those girls, i mean, its the LASSTTTTT thing you want to be worrying about if God-forbid something terrible happens. Its awesome that you do have those clauses, but what if you had to go to court to get ur money back? For me, the risk isn't worth it. I like to think that we picked these RHs for a reason and even if they're really popular & you hope nothing will happen to them, you just never know, so I feel that its better to be safe than sorry.....I understand that paying them off would be a huge weight off ur shoulders, so what if you just opened a separate bank a/c just for the RH and put all the money in that a/c so that when its time to pay them off, its all right there, not mixed in with ur other savings. At least this way, all the money is there in one place and you can 'pretend its paid off', but its safe with u
Joeswifey2B
Posted:
Member since
Re: If you could... UPDATED
I Would loveee to pay it all off or as much as possible! FH and i picked 2011 not only because it land son a sat but also because we figured we can have the wedding stuff paid off in one year and the next year is all savings toward where we will live!
I think if you can pay off as much as possible now so that your last payment is not so crazy it pays off.. even though we are all hoping to be sane the last few months i have a feeling stress might kick in double time around then.
Joeswifey2B
Posted:
Member since
Re: If you could... UPDATED
i forgot to write that also.. the con is def if something happens at least u have that money to say im not giving it to you until you work something out.. GOD FORBID! im hoping we all have a beautiful and smooth wedding day as well as planning!
justnicethings
Posted:
Member since
Re: If you could... UPDATED
I think that you should take that money and put it into an ING Direct savings account and let it earn you some money. You need to tell yourself that the money is not yours to spend, but once you actually DO need it for RH payments, you'll have it and then some.
MrsandMrFuller
Posted:
Member since
Re: If you could... UPDATED
I WOULD DEF DO IT GIRL!!! If you pay in cash they might break a deal with you and discount 5% to the whole bill...I know 5% is not much but you can use that 5% towards something else you need...GO FOR IT!!!
LauraluvsSean
Posted:
Member since
Re: If you could... UPDATED
I would definitely NOT pay the RH in advance!! For all the reasons cited above:
1- you just can't predict the future and the $$ you pre-paid will be lost forever (see Atlantica) or god forbid you are forced to cancel the wedding for whatever reason
and
2- you are better off putting that $$ in a savings account earning interest for YOU.
EDITED to add - I have the $$ already saved up for my RH and almost 90% of the vendors but right not it's sitting in an ING accumulating interest.
mrsq2be
Posted:
Member since
Re: If you could... UPDATED
Posted by dCa51899
nooooooooo i would never!!!! our RH told me that if they go under or if anything happens, we lose all the money that we paid them. I'd rather have the money sitting safely in my bank account. Plus, at least when u hold onto it, you're earning a lil interest. If you're able to recoup some of the money if God forbid anything happens to ur RH, I'd *think* about it, but probably still wouldn't
good point - scratch what i said too! lol I can start a new ING Account for it or something...
Summertimegal424
Posted:
Member since
Re: If you could... UPDATED
if i had the $ to do so, i would of, but we did a payment plan and it helped.
Bride2011
Posted:
Member since
Re: If you could... UPDATED
Posted by dCa51899
nooooooooo i would never!!!! our RH told me that if they go under or if anything happens, we lose all the money that we paid them. I'd rather have the money sitting safely in my bank account. Plus, at least when u hold onto it, you're earning a lil interest. If you're able to recoup some of the money if God forbid anything happens to ur RH, I'd *think* about it, but probably still wouldn't
totally agree. The FH and I were ready to pay off a lot of it until my father (the pessimistic realist) brought up the same point. At the time I asked him if he was crazy and told him that would never happen, but the more I thought about it the more he had a point.
My friend actually cancelled her wedding a couple of years ago, and never got a large deposit back!
Jna2010
Posted:
Member since
Re: If you could... UPDATED
i WOULDNT!!!!! i repeat do NOT do this!!! you never know what can happen with your RH. Take Atlantica for example, which recently closed and had to canceld booked weddings. If you had given them all payments up front good luck trying to get your money back!
not only that, but you wanna keep a good level of customer service... if an rh has all your money, you have no leverage with anything!
