Wedding Called Off At The Rehearsal Dinner After Holiday Inn shutdown In Pittsfield

Joey and Sean booked the Holiday Inn on West Street in Pittsfield back in March. Ballroom, a runner for the aisle, five or six rooms for the wedding party, and their own rooms the day before, the day of, and the day after.

Joey was nice enough to call into the radio show today when he heard Marjo and I talking about a wedding that was rumored to have been canceled due to the hotel shutdown. It was his wedding!

Here's the deal...

Joey's sister sees the article in The Berkshire Eagle about the hotel's shutdown last week prompting him to send an email to the sale's director demanding the status of he and his future husband's special day.

The sales director told them the rooms were out.

The venue, she said, was still a go. "So at that point, we just decided we were gonna get married, go home," Joey said. Sean put it simpler. "We took the blow at that point. We just said we're still gonna do it."

Friday, Oct. 2, they did the walkthrough, set the tables, laid the aisle runner, ran the rehearsal, and went to Zucco's. They stepped outside after dinner. "I'm standing there talking to Sean, and the sales director comes walking up behind him, and my stomach dropped," Joey said. She could have called. She showed up in person. "I believe she said the commissioner said that the venue is non-usable at this point. So the wedding was off at our rehearsal dinner." Two days out. Elevators were the only explanation they got. "That was the only explanation we were given, was elevators were the cause of all of it."

The Holiday Inn has been shut since September 25, when the last working elevator quit and guests had to be walked out of the old Crowne Plaza. Two of the three had already been down. One has since been fixed, but it still cannot carry anybody until the state inspects it. The only money back is the ballroom rental. "It's pending."

The McNinch's come up with a plan

John McNinch was already catering. The sales director had already called him. "John said he wasn't going to let that happen to us two days before our wedding, and moved it to Bousquet and Drifters." Saturday they packed the centerpieces they made and undecorated the hotel. The sales director's team moved the rest. Sunday, wedding day, they were in at 8 because Drifters had Oktoberfest the day before. "Thanks to John and Tucker, the day went off without a hitch after we got everything set up." They set the first table. The hotel crew copied the other 16.

Sean said it plain. "Weddings are stressful to begin with, but then to find out that your whole venue is being changed. And then you have to notify all your guests that they have to go to a different location."

That is what this shutdown looks like. A couple outside a restaurant, stomach dropped, and a local caterer who already had the food saying no, not to these two. If you have a room, a hall, a Saturday, or a pair of hands, this is the week to offer them.