Our Cabo Wedding Venue Shut Down Months Before OuR Wedding

YES, YOU READ THAT CORRECTLY. OUR CABO WEDDING VENUE SHUT DOWN MONTHS BEFORE OUT WEDDING.

A LITTLE BACKSTORY BEFORE OUR CABO WEDDING VENUE SHUT DOWN

IF YOU’VE BEEN FOLLOWING ME FOR A WHILE, YOU MIGHT REMEMBER THE STORY OF OUR ENGAGEMENT IN CABO. AND THEN ALL OF THE FUN UPDATES WHILE WE WERE PLANNING OUR 2020 WEDDING IN CABO.

I SHARED ALL OF THE DETAILS ON THE HOTELS WE LOOKED AT AND FINALLY NARROWED DOWN. BUT WAS HOLDING OFF ON LETTING EVERYONE KNOW WHICH VENUE WE CHOSE UNTIL AFTER THE WEDDING.

FAST FORWARD, COVID HAPPENED. AND WE DECIDED TO POSTPONE OUR NOVEMBER 2021 WEDDING FOR A YEAR. NEEDLESS TO SAY, HAVING TO POSTPONE OUR WEDDING WAS EMOTIONAL. BUT WE’VE BEEN TOGETHER FOR ALMOST A DECADE AND HAD ALWAYS WANTED A DESTINATION WEDDING IN MEXICO WITH OUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY.

AT THE TIME, WE FELT “LUCKY” THAT THE RESORT WAS ABLE TO ACCOMODATE OUR WEDDING ON THE SAME WEEKEND (JUST A DAY EARLY). SO WE WERE GOING TO BE GETTING MARRIED ON A FRIDAY INSTEAD OF A SATURDAY. SO WE LOCKED IT IN.

A FEW MONTHS LATER WHEN IT SEEMED A LITTLE SAFER AND MORE COMFORTABLE TO TRAVEL TO cabo san lucas, TONY, MY DAD & I WENT BACK TO CABO TO FINALLY PLAN OUR WEDDING.

WE HAD ALREADY LOCKED IN A WEDDING PLANNER (DEL CABO WEDDINGS). PUT DOWN OUR DEPOSIT AT THE HOTEL. SENT OUT SAVE THE DATES, ETC.

SO WHEN WE FINALLY GOT TO VISIT CABO, IT FELT LIKE THE STARS WERE ALIGNING. WE DID AN ENTIRE MENU TASTING, A WALKTHROUGH OF THE RESORT, HIRED A DJ, FIGURED OUT OUR DECOR & EVEN PUT DOWN A SECOND DEPOSIT. EVERYTHING WAS PERFECT AGAIN AND WE COULD BARELY REMEMBER THE STRESS OF POSTPONING.

FAST FORWARD TO JULY 2021. RESERVATIONS WERE CONFIRMED. FLIGHTS WERE BOOKED. DECOR PLANS WERE CONFIRMED. LITERALLY, EVERYTHING WAS READY. WE WERE 2 1/2 MONTHS AWAY FROM THE WEDDING AND MY BIGGEST CONCERN WAS GETTING MY WEDDING DRESS ALTERED.

SHIT HITS THE FAN…

I GET A CALL MID JULY FROM OUR WEDDING PLANNER LETTING US KNOW SHE HAD JUST BEEN TO RESORT FOR A SITE VISIT WITH ANOTHER COUPLE, ONLY TO REALIZE THE RESORT WAS COMPLETELY VACANT.

SAY WHAT?

THAT’S RIGHT, THE RESORT WAS EMPTY.

APPARENTLY, THE RESORT EVACUATED EVERY SINGLE GUEST WITHOUT ANY NOTICE. FROM WHAT I UNDERSTAND, THERE WAS A GAP BETWEEN THEM SHUTTING DOWN & WHEN THEY STARTED ALERTING GUESTS NOT TO SHOW UP. SO FOR A FEW DAYS, PEOPLE WERE FLYING IN AND DRIVING UP TO THE RESORT…WONDERING WTF WAS GOING ON. ONLY TO GET TRANSFERRED TO OTHER (NOT SO NICE) RESORTS THAT HAD LAST MINUTE AVAILABILITY.

SO, WE SCHEDULED A CALL WITH OUR PLANNER & THE RESORT.

I CRIED. A LOT. I DIDN’T EVEN KNOW WHAT WAS GOING ON AND I WAS ALREADY OVERWHELMED.

OUR FIRST CALL WAS DECENT. I LEFT THE MEETING OPTIMISTIC. THEY SAID THAT THEY WERE GOING TO WORK OVER THE WEEKEND TO FIND US A NEW VENUE FOR THE WEDDING – AND ENSURED IT WOULD BE OF EQUAL OR BETTER “VALUE”. MEANING, THEY WERE GOING TO MAKE SURE WE DIDN’T GET OUR WEDDING MOVED TO A SHIT HOLE.

THE WEEKEND WENT BY & WE DIDN’T HEAR BACK. I CALLED AND EMAILED MULTIPLE TIMES & DIDN’T HEAR BACK. THEN FINALLY GOT A VAGUE RESPONSE. BY THE END OF THE WEEK, WE FINALLY HEARD BACK.

WHICH IS WHEN MY STOMACH LITERALLY EXITED MY BODY.

THEY TOLD US THEY WOULD NOT BE FINDING A NEW VENUE FOR US. AND WE WOULD NOT BE GETTING A FULL REFUND.

A LITTLE FURTHER EXPLANATION

THE RESORT WE WERE SUPPOSED TO GET MARRIED AT WAS CALLED “Solaz Residences, a Luxury Collection Resort, Los Cabos”. I’M NOT HYPERLINKING IT BECAUSE THEY SUCK AND I DON’T WANT TO GIVE THEM ANY WEB TRAFFIC. BUT YOU CAN READ THE POINTS GUY’S ARTICLE ABOUT THE HOTEL CLOSING.

ALL WEDDING VENUES WORK DIFFERENTLY. BUT IN GENERAL, A DEPOSIT IS REQUIRED. FOR THE RESORT WE CHOSE, THERE WAS NO VENUE FEE. BASICALLY, YOU’RE REQUIRED TO SPEND AT LEAST A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF MONEY ON FOOD & DRINKS. AND YOU’RE REQUIRED TO HAVE AT LEAST A CERTAIN NUMBER OF GUESTS BOOK 3 NIGHTS STAYS (WHICH DETERMINES THE OVERALL PRICE).

SO, THE DEPOSIT AT SOLAZ WAS TO PREPAY EVERY ROOM IN OUR ROOM BLOCK. SO, LET’S SAY WE HAD 15 ROOMS BOOKED AT THEIR DISCOUNTED RATE FOR 3 DAYS… WE HAD TO PREPAY THAT AMOUNT. AS LONG AS PEOPLE BOOKED THOSE ROOMS, THAT AMOUNT OF MONEY WE DEPOSITED WENT TOWARDS THE FOOD & DRINKS AT THE WEDDING.

BECAUSE WE HAD BOOKED OUR WEDDING A FEW YEARS IN ADVANCE, WE WERE ALSO ABLE TO GET A REALLY GREAT ROOM BLOCK RATE. MAKING THE RATE PER NIGHT MORE REASONABLE FOR OUR GUESTS.

SO, IF WE WEREN’T GOING TO GET OUR DEPOSIT BACK… THAT MEANT, WE WERE BASICALLY LOSING THE ENTIRE AMOUNT OF OUR BUDGET THAT WAS GOING TO PAY FOR FOOD & DRINKS. WHICH IS HUGE.

PLUS, A LOT OF VENUES HAVE ACTUAL VENUE FEES.

NOT TO MENTION, WE WERE LESS THAN 3 MONTHS AWAY FROM OUR WEDDING WEEKEND AND HOTEL ROOM RATES WERE THROUGH THE ROOF.

1. IF WE DIDN’T GET OUR MONEY BACK, WE WOULDN’T HAVE THE MONEY TO PUT DOWN A NEW DEPOSIT.
2. IF SOLAZ WASN’T GOING TO HELP US PAY THE DIFFERENCE IN RESORT FEES & ROOM RATES, WE WERE SCREWED. WE DIDN’T FEEL COMFORTABLE MAKING OUR GUESTS PAY 4X THE AMOUNT PER NIGHT FOR A ROOM.

BACK TO THE SOLAZ SAGA

FROM WHAT I UNDERSTAND, THE RESORT (WHICH IS A MARRIOTT BONVOY PROPERTY), HAD STRUCTURAL ISSUES. TO THE POINT THAT THEY HAD TO EVACUATE EVERYONE ON SITE, INCLUDING STAFF.

THE RESORT WAS BRAND NEW, WHICH MEANS… THERE HAD TO BE SOME SERIOUS ISSUES WITH THE ARCHITECTURE.

SO BASICALLY THIS WAS OUR SITUATION:

• SOLAZ WAS COMPLETELY SHUTTING DOWN AND NOT GOING TO BE OPENING UP AGAIN IN THE NEAR FUTURE.
• DURING THE PROCESS OF TRYING TO GET OUR MONEY BACK AND HOLD THEM ACCOUNTABLE, THEY BASICALLY GOT RID OF ALL OF THEIR STAFF (NOT SURE IF FIRED IS THE RIGHT WORD HERE). BUT WE WERE TOLD IF WE DIDN’T SIGN A RELEASE FROM THE CONTRACT, WE WOULDN’T GET ANY MONEY BACK BECAUSE THE ENTIRE EVENTS DEPARTMENT WOULDN’T BE WORKING THE FOLLOWING WEEK.
• SOLAZ INITIALLY TOLD US THEY WOULD FIND US A NEW WEDDING VENUE & PAY THE DIFFERENCE IN RATE. THAT WAY, WE WOULDN’T HAVE TO PAY WHATEVER THE DIFFERENCE WAS FOR THE LAST MINUTE CHANGE. HOWEVER THEY QUICKLY CHANGED THEIR MIND.
• THERE WERE NO RESORTS WITH AVAILABILITY. I LITERALLY USED EVERY LIFE LINE I HAVE & TURNED IT INTO MY FULL TIME JOB. I CALLED AND EMAILED EVERY POSSIBLE VENUE & RESORT. I EMAILED EVERY PR COMPANY, EVERY MARKETING DEPARTMENT, YOU NAME IT.

AS I REALIZED THERE WERE BARELY ANY OPTIONS FOR US & THOSE THAT MIGHT BE AN OPTION WERE EXPONENTIALLY MORE EXPENSIVE. WHICH IS SOMETHING WE DIDN’T FEEL COMFORTABLE WITH AND ALSO DIDN’T WANT TO ASK OUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS TO SPEND ANY MORE.

SO I DID SOMETHING I DON’T NORMALLY DO…

I GOT ON TWITTER. AND INSTAGRAM.

I POSTED EVERY FEW DAYS, TAGGING MARRIOTT & MARRIOTT BONVOY. ASKING WHY NO ONE FROM THEIR COMPANIES WOULD RETURN MY CALLS. ASKING IF THAT’S HOW THEY NORMALLY CONDUCTED BUSINESS? STEALING MONEY FROM NOT ON US, BUT EVERY OTHER WEDDING WHO WASN’T REBOOKED & EVERY GUEST WHO WASN’T ACCOMODATED.

I NEVER HEARD BACK FROM THEM DIRECTLY – I CALLED THEIR CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS MAYBE 20 TIMES. I SENT THEIR INSTAGRAM ACCOUNTS MESSAGES EVERY FEW DAYS. NOTHING.

BUT, BY SOME DIVINE MIRACLE…

OK I DON’T THINK IT WAS A MIRACLE. I KNOW IF I HADN’T BEEN ON THEIR ASSES EVERY DAY. REFUSING TO SIGN ANYTHING. THREATENING LEGAL ACTION… WE PROBABLY WOULDN’T HAVE HAD A WEDDING.

WE DID END UP GETTING OUR MONEY BACK LUCKILY. AND WERE ABLE TO MOVE FORWARD INTO THE NEXT ADVENTURE… PICKING A WEDDING VENUE WITHOUT SEEING IT 2 MONTHS BEFORE THE BIG DAY!

MORE STORIES TO COME!

What Happened Before Our Cabo Wedding Venue Shut Down

HOW TO FIGURE OUT YOUR WEDDING VISION

THE ULTIMATE WEDDING VENUE CHECKLIST!

WEDDING PLANNING: THE ULTIMATE DESTINATION WEDDING VENUE SPREADSHEET