Wedding bell blues

[samhexum]

Couples slated to tie the knot at a popular New Jersey wedding venue are getting cold feet after sneaking a peek at the venue’s drastic renovation on social media. 

The Madison Hotel in Morristown has long charmed locals with its enchanting gold and beige-hued ballroom, resplendent with shimmering chandeliers. Now, management is receiving fierce blowback from booked-in brides-to-be after swapping the classic look for a more modern, funereal black-and-navy blue scheme, revealed in a surprise announcement on the venue’s Instagram feed last week.

Betrotheds who’ve shelled out thousands on the venue appear to be less than thrilled, with some livid over what they see as an unforgivable deception, NJ.com reported.

“Please say this is a joke. No one mentioned black walls when I booked my wedding,” one bride commented on the Instagram post. 

Another scoffed: “These colors are [not] for a wedding venue. I cannot comprehend how ownership would think this is a good move or look. I feel for all the brides that are already booked.” 

Others inquired about whether or not the venue would refund brides and grooms who secured the space before the reviled renovation, to be completed early next year. 

The Madison Hotel’s previous ballroom was light and bright with gold and neutral hues. The Madison Hotel Morristown, NJ

One bride, Victoria Tow, expressed how “extremely disappointing” it was to see the venue change from its gold and neutral hues to a midnight color scheme, taking to the venue’s Instagram to lash out. 

“We booked the ballroom for its gorgeous gold accents … and loved the aesthetic when we saw it in person. We do not understand the move towards black, especially for weddings nor do we like the blue carpeting that will clash with our theme,” Tow said. 

Jon Kline, the CEO of Clearview Hotel Capital, LLC, which purchased the hotel six months ago, told The Post that management has been in touch with the scheduled parties and is negotiating with them privately.

“We’re trying to make everyone happy. Not everybody loves everything. The majority of people we’ve shown the design, including people who are having events in the future, are hugely positive,” said Kline, “We bought this hotel in June from a family who built it and owned it for multiple generations.”

“We saw an exciting opportunity to honor and respect the tradition of the hotel and make it way nicer,” Kline said of the planned renovations.

The ballroom’s new, darker interior is slated to debut in 2023, to the dismay of many unhappy brides who booked the venue on the basis of its previous décor. The Madison Hotel Morristown, NJ

The new ownership will have their work cut out for them, judging by the number of miffed commenters expressing their feelings publicly.

One bride, Bethany Hanna, made the point that wedding parties had planned their wedding party color schemes around the ballroom’s previous colors and will now be left scrambling at the last minute to make it work. 

“This is absolutely absurd,” Hanna wrote on the venue’s Instagram page. 

Another bride who reportedly toured the venue earlier this year before signing a $30,000 contract said she felt deceived by the renovation, noting that a hotel staffer did mention changes to guest rooms but said there was no mention of the ballroom’s redesign, NJ.com reported. 

“It’s super frustrating because it feels like I was fooled. I feel deceived. They are just literally ripping the carpet out from under us,” she complained.

Similarly, another bride-to-be reportedly shelled out $25,000 for a contract with the venue for her wedding that will occur after the renovations are complete, according to NJ.com.

The bride reached out to staffers, voicing her concerns about her décor clashing with the new room, but it’s unclear if she will be offered a refund. 

“I have everything — the decorations, the colors — the new ballroom clashes completely with my theme,” she said, according to NJ.com. “We have been in contact with the managers the whole time. They could have let us know in enough time that I could have changed the colors of my wedding, but they didn’t.”

https://nypost.com/2022/12/21/wedding-venues-absurd-goth-makeover-has-couples-freaking-out/

Why not have the decor black and depressing?  It prepares the newlyweds for the reality of married life.

[Luv2play]

The old decor looks so '70's. The ceiling beams are actually darker. The new look is more elegant IMO and once the lights are turned down and the candles lit up, it will look terrific. 

One wonders what sort of wedding outfits the brides had planned. If the groom is in black and white, the bride in white, they will look great in the new colour scheme. 

If the bridesmaids had planned on orange, well even that looks good against black and blue. Maybe not dungy brown or avocado green.

[+ Charlie]

The old decor looks very dated. I wouldn't have booked the old place.

[+ purplekow]

I also prefer the new decor but they definitely could have done better than the blue rug.   When booking the venue, they definitely should have mentioned the change in color scheme and perhaps a computerized version of the new look could have been used.  If I order a gold care and got a black one I would not be happy, no difference here.  The old looks looks old and tired but if that is what the brides were looking for, they should have been told that the new look is a drastic change.  

 

[Guest]

I think they're both tacky...but it's Jersey....they like glitz

 

 

 

Edited December 22, 2022 by BnaC

[+ Charlie]

13 minutes ago, BnaC said:

I think they're both tacky...but it's Jersey....they like glitz

 

 

 

😒

[samhexum]

48 minutes ago, BnaC said:

I think they're both tacky...but it's Jersey....they like glitz

 

31 minutes ago, Charlie said:

😒

Methinks he resembles that remark.

 😇😁😇 

[+ Vegas_Millennial]

When described, the redecoration sounded horrible.  When looking at the pictures, it doesn't look that bad. There is still the signature gold in the room, and the blue and black actually make the gold pop.   Lesson learned, disclose new color scheme for bookings booked after *** date

Edited December 22, 2022 by Vegas_nw1982

[spider]

The ceiling is a huge upgrade from the old dropped ceiling tiles, the tables can be covered with many variety of cloths, the carpet is ugly, and I agree the walls will be fine with the proper lighting levels. It will do, and as people say, It is Jersey.

[+ Charlie]

2 hours ago, spider said:

The ceiling is a huge upgrade from the old dropped ceiling tiles, the tables can be covered with many variety of cloths, the carpet is ugly, and I agree the walls will be fine with the proper lighting levels. It will do, and as people say, It is Jersey.

As a native of New Jersey, I resent such aspersions on my taste.

[MscleLovr]

This is a groundbreaking thread. Gay men argue about decor 😎

[Bucky]

25 minutes ago, MscleLovr said:

This is a groundbreaking thread. 

One must consider the source.  😏

[CuriousByNature]

I think the new decor makes the place look more intimate and upscale.  I like the rug because the components of the pattern are not too large, and give balance to the large white coffers of the ceiling.  

[+ nycman]

Yes, the old space needed updating…but it didn’t need to be turned into a Goth Funeral Parlor.

If I were a bride who had pre-booked…I’d be pissed too. 

Then again, if you’re getting married in New Jersey, you kind of asked for it. 

[BSR]

2 hours ago, nycman said:

Yes, the old space needed updating…but it didn’t need to be turned into a Goth Funeral Parlor.

If I were a bride who had pre-booked…I’d be pissed too. 

Then again, if you’re getting married in New Jersey, you kind of asked for it. 

Sobre el gusto no hay nada escrito (there's no accounting for taste) ... I think the old room looked dated & cheap whereas I quite like the new decor.  Honestly, I don't understand the meltdown some brides-to-be are having over it. 

Then again, I don't understand the all the obsessing over wedding details in general.  The two poshest weddings I've ever attended (both must have had budgets waaaaaay into the 6 figures), the couples were divorced within 3 years. 

Both divorces you could see coming from a country mile.  Engaged couples should think a whole lot more about the marriage itself than the wall color of their wedding venue.

[robberbaron4u]

Cafeteria Luxe.