Venue lost Liquor License! Need Plan B!

I found out a little while ago that the restaurant/hall I'm having the wedding banquet at lost their license to serve liquor.

Is anyone familiar with how Beverage C a t e r e r s work? Are they allowed to service on a premise without a license? Anyone know how to figure out the language for obtaining a 24-hr caterer permit, if necessary--and whether this will solve my problems? In addition to alcohol, will a food item need to be served by the off premise bartender?

Anyone have Plan B suggestions? It's a bit too late to jump ship on the reception hall... I've already spent over $10k on deposits and so forth for this place. They promised that if they can't get their license back in time for the wedding, they'd make the non-alcoholic bar very nice... but it's not exactly the same thing!

I desperately need some suggestions and/or advice. Thanks in advance...

Venue lost Liquor License! Need Plan B!

Wow. That sucks. I would be super pissed off. No idea what you should do. But I do think if they can't get their liquor license back you should get some sort of discount. Because regardless of if they make the non liquor bar nice, it's not the same. Plus doesn't it say open bar in your contract?

Re: Venue lost Liquor License! Need Plan B!

I believe when a restaurant doesn’t have a liquor license the customers can bring in their own liquor. Can you do the same buy bottles of liquor and whatever cost you bought it for get reimbursed or discounted from the total cost of the venue plus some more?

Venue lost Liquor License! Need Plan B!

I would contact a lawyer. When you booked you venue you contracted for a package with liquor? If now your not getting that, the venue needs to compensate you for that.

Re: Venue lost Liquor License! Need Plan B!

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Posted by jordana

I believe when a restaurant doesn’t have a liquor license the customers can bring in their own liquor. Can you do the same buy bottles of liquor and whatever cost you bought it for get reimbursed or discounted from the total cost of the venue plus some more?

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thats a good point...i would look into that

Venue lost Liquor License! Need Plan B!

I would be demanding a bit more than a really nice looking non alcoholic bar. I would def push this issue!!

Venue lost Liquor License! Need Plan B!

If contract says open bar and then they dont have an open bar then that is a breech of contract and you can actually take them to court. I would point it out to them and make a big fuss.

Venue lost Liquor License! Need Plan B!

http://ny-liquor-license.com/3.html

Like many others stated if open bar is in your contract and they can't provide that they need to compensate you because a 'dry' wedding is much cheaper. Also you should be able to estimate how long it will take them to get their liquor license if you know why they lost it. If they lost do to certain violations etc it may be more difficult for them (if at all) to get it back..however if they missed a filing deadline or something along those lines their review would be simple and their permit could be filed and accepted rather quickly.

Venue lost Liquor License! Need Plan B!

As a person who works in the industry, I just want to say I'd be extremely wary of a place that lost their license. They're not easy to get in NY to begin with. So a place that managed to lose it, well.

Venue lost Liquor License! Need Plan B!

if it's in suffolk county, can't you get almost the whole deposit back?

Re: Venue lost Liquor License! Need Plan B!

Thanks for all of the replies.

Here is the back story regarding how they lost their license: a party that was held there got too rowdy about a month or so ago, and some guests at the party got into a physical fight. Police was called, and complaints were made, resulting in the hall in temporarily losing their license until things can be settled in court. They're hoping it'll be settled within the next month, but being that timelines are unpredictable and we don't even know if they'll retain their license at the end of it all, I really don't want to take that chance of having nothing in the end.

As for the contract issue, yes--the contract said I would have a full bar at a specified rate. That being said, there is language within the contract that prevents the venue from being in the fault when it is something out of their current control. They will not be charging me in full and they are giving me a discount.

That still does not solve my main problem. At this point, I've made a big enough fuss as I want to with them, because push comes to shove, I'm having my wedding there and the last thing I want to do is to take them to court or to piss them off to the extent that everything else will be horrible. It's a picky place (e.g. if you don't tip the waitstaff enough, don't expect good service at all of your tables; if you tip the head chef, you can expect much better food than if you don't).

Other brides that have had their wedding there in the past few weeks, I feel sorry for--because they didn't have as much time as me to find alternatives.

So, why do we still bother staying at this place, despite all the negatives? When you have 400+ guests, it is really difficult to find an affordable hall that is absolutely gorgeous, in a location that is convenient to people throughout the whole tri-state area, and is within walking distance of every public transportation imaginable.

At this point, I'm leaning towards just having them serve seasonal non-alcoholic drinks, such as spiced apple cider or pumpkin juice. The majority of my guests won't drink anyway, but I just hate not having the chance for a guest to choose.

In wedding planning, nothing has gone right at any step despite all of my extensive research and backup plans. I'm waving my white flag, and am just going to deal with what I get. So, if anyone has good suggestions, please feel free to still pass on info--or let me know if you have any delicious sounding mocktails I can add to the menu.