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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Your sister needs to contact the B&B and read the fine print of the contract.  She should pay whatever needs to be paid to cancel the event, but depending on how far in the future the event is, it may just be a matter of forfeiting the deposit.

And then I think you need to stay out of it, unless your niece comes to you directly to complain.  In that case, you should say that you understand that she is upset and angry, and that your sister should not have made a promise she couldn't keep.  However, the best thing she can do is let that go and work on planning a wedding that she can afford.  Offer to help, if you can--researching new venues, offering whatever DIY skills you have, etc.  [/quote]

Bingo. Great post.

OP, as others have asked, when is this wedding? If it's far enough off, there may be loopholes to get out of it that the bride just doesn't see (or doesn't want to see). If your sister contacts the B&B she may find that she only owes a deposit. Is sister letting daughter be the sole go-between and source of information about these contractual details like "the B&B forces us to use these vendors" etc.? Your sister should have a copy of all contracts etc. already and should know for herself what is or is not covered, how deposit refunds work, deadlines for cancellations, etc. I'd really pick up the phone ASAP if I were sister. Maybe you can simply suggest that sister find out what the deal is. I'm not saying niece is lying, but niece sounds so young that she likely hasn't ever asked about "What if things go wrong and we have to cancel?"

I like the response above that you can use if your niece vents to you about this. You don't want to badmouth your sister, who after all has admitted she was wrong to over-promise. The response above acknowledges niece's emotions but focuses on moving on and not making this about her mother/your sister.

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It turns out that basically my BIL did this over the weekend.  He contacted the B&B himself because my niece nor my sister would actually let him see the contract.  My sister feels very guilty about the situation and really is still pushing to get a loan. She waffles depending on the day - one day she feels guilty the next she feels her daughter is being entitled and immature.  So BIL stepped in and just called the place.  The wedding is scheduled for the fall of 2016.

The B&B does say they have to use vendors on their approved list and yes, they had to rent out the entire thing.  Apparently, in the contract, they already specified which vendors from the approved list my niece agreed to use and I think my niece may have mistakenly believed that this was then a contract with those vendors and didn't realize that she actually had to approach those vendors and get a contract with them.  The contract with the B&B can be cancelled but they would have to then forfeit the deposit which turned out to be 50%.  Both my sister and niece are venting and asking me for advice along with my other niece (the younger sister of the bride) who is now worried about how her college tuition is going to be paid for since she feels all the money is going to her older sisters wedding.  My BIL told the B&B they were cancelling and this caused a huge fight over the weekend between everyone and I received a lot of tearful phone calls and too many texts.

The situation also caused a big fight between my niece and her fiancee and I am actually wondering if the will even make it to the wedding.  Fiancee was actually pretty reasonable about the whole thing and just suggested that he and my niece pay for something small they could afford.  My niece then went ballistic claiming he didn't understand her and didn't want her to be happy.  and it just apparently went on from there but the worst part was this all took place as a screaming match right outside my sister's house on the front porch and it was from what I heard quite a spectacle with neighbors watching and everything. :-(

Anyway, yes, going forward I am going to now just mind my own business and let them vent away but not offer any advice.

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