what to do when a fire burns your venue…

This week we had a horrible fire at First Christian Church Disciples of Christ Church in Owensboro, Kentucky. Make no mistake, I’m not comparing this home of faith to a “venue”. It’s a place of worship and a community landmark. My heart goes out to the congregation and their loss.

Like with all things in wedding planning, there are always situations that you cannot plan for. Unforeseen expenses, family members who get ill, bad weather, natural disasters and unfortunately, fire. One wedding we planned years ago, the DJ lost their building the night before the wedding. I’ll never forget that phone call at 9pm on that Friday night. All ended well. Everyone was safe and their equipment had already been loaded in their trailer so they were able to perform as planned.

If you have lost your ceremony location or reception venue before your wedding, here are a few tips to consider:

1. Do not panic. Everything is doable.

2. If it is a church, most likely, other churches may be able to accommodate you. Contact your parish and see if they have had time to make any arrangements in their community.

3. Wedding Insurance. This is why many people are now looking into investing into wedding insurance. This will help you recoup costs for site rental fee, rentals, decor, and any other expenses. Consider if it was your reception? That is where 50% of your budget is invested!

4. Send out change of venue cards to your guests. If there is enough time between the disaster and your wedding date, send out updated information as soon as you have a new place selected. This is especially important for out of town guests and even local guests.

5. Often in communities, people will pull together to make this happen. We’ve seen a lot of wedding mishaps in the past 10 years. One thing we know that most often, vendors and community pull together to help each other. There is something about a “wedding” that makes people happy and want to help.

Again, our thoughts and prayers for the people in Owensboro who have lost their place of worship. We’re confident that you will be able to rebuild your beautiful church to be even bigger and better. Keep the faith.

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