Wedding Venue Rejects Couple Because They're Gay And It Horribly Backfires On Them

It's 2022 and we still have these, sadly.

Liezel

• Published in Interesting
• April 6, 2022

Searching for a wedding venue is not an easy task. First, you have to narrow down the specific details of what you're looking for in a place and then actually find a place among hundreds if not thousands of wedding venues.

After that, you have to visit the venues, talk with the owners of the venues, figure out how it will fit into logistics, and make a decision. It's actually one of the biggest factors of a wedding.

That's why it can be pretty heartbreaking to be rejected by the venue of your dreams which is exactly what happened to the couple, Mike Gill and Coty Heaton.

After getting engaged on July 10, the Nashville couple spent the next few months planning their wedding. After a few weeks of looking for venues where they can celebrate their big day, they found one in August and they thought it was the perfect one.

This was the Barn in the Bend, a rustic cozy-looking place in Nashville.

“We were searching for a venue that had indoor/outdoor space for our wedding, it had to be in the Nashville area and within our budget,” Mike said. “After going through tons of venues, this one hit all the marks and was on our list of places to tour.”

Unfortunately, not everything went according to plan. When Mike got in touch with Jackie Daniel, the owner, things got pretty weird, fast.

The couple was rejected by a wedding venue just because of their sexual orientation

Everything seemed fine at first, however, at some point, Jackie, the owner, figured out that her venue was going to be used for a same-sex marriage. This got her including a signature in her email to Mike.

For whatever reason though, what came out in her first email was the opposite of what was inside her head. It clearly read, "We offer same-sex marriage ceremonies only."

Jackie eventually figured out her mistake and set off to correct it an hour later with a different signature. This time, it read, "We do not offer same-sex marriage ceremonies.”

In response to this, Mike then told Jackie that he'd do her the courtesy of letting everyone in the area know that the Barn in the Bend was bigoted to which Jackie stood her ground reasoning that it was because of her religious beliefs.

After the couple shared their conversation with the owner, the public was furious

“People’s reactions have been overwhelmingly positive and supportive,” Mike said. “Once things really blew up we stopped reading the comments because there are trolls on the internet you can’t avoid. But so many people we know and don’t know reached out through social media and it’s been incredible.”

Fortunately, the couple did find another venue that is more wonderful. “It’s called The Grove at Williamson Family Farm.

"Our focus now is to start planning a really great wedding and party for our friends and family to be a part of. This was an unfortunate start to the process but it’s helped us to find so many more options we didn’t know about!” they said.

Michelle Lew, the owner of Lavender Crown Events, a wedding planning company servicing San Jose, Silicon Valley and surrounding areas also thought the decision of the venue was ridiculous.

“When people decide to get married, they usually have a vision of the type of backdrop they want for their ceremony and reception,” she said. “It may be in the forest, overlooking city lights, a luscious garden, a historic estate, or a golf club. Some couples choose venues that are special to their relationship, such as a brewery or winery they frequent or a restaurant they had a significant date in. Using these themes and ideas helps narrow down the options of which venues to tour. The next step is often how inclusive the venue is towards providing services for the couple’s needs whether it may be including rentals and catering/bar service or if it is just the most budget-friendly.”

She also mentioned that venues, in fact, can refuse to host a wedding but usually for legitimate reasons.

“Commonly, it’s due to capacity or other restrictions. Many properties, for example, do not allow open flames,” she explained. “With many traditional Indian weddings, fire is necessary during the ceremony, so venue options are limited. Venues can also have strict catering and bar requirements due to food handling and liquor licenses so some places may turn away couples that are adamant about outside catering. It is not often that a venue may refuse to host a wedding unless something central to the event violates the venue’s rules. However, even when an idea might violate the regulations, the venues (and myself as a planner) always have other suggestions to substitute!”

Personally, however, she thinks that it's just ridiculous for a venue to turn down a couple just because of their sexual orientation.

“I have never experienced a venue or vendor that would turn away a client due to orientation, race, religion, etc. The only times these may occur are in churches that have very strict religions. However, the couple will most likely not be a part of that church in the beginning!” Lew said.

People who also saw the couple's post jumped to their defense

"Jackie was awful."

"Inclusion and love as it was intended."

Mike made it clear to everyone though that his purpose for his original post wasn't to get press or likes.

“It was just to let the people in our friend circle and the Nashville area know about this venue and their unfortunate business practices,” he said. “It’s frustrating that just because we are a same-sex couple we don’t have the same options as any other couple.”

The decision of the venue's owner may have seriously backfired on her but people think it's well-deserved

Next Stop: The Middle Ages

"A thought"

"We all have our prejudices."

"I don't get it."

"Who is going to deny you because your LGBTQ."

"Money is money." (Unless you're a bigot, apparently.)

"Just a thought."

Moo

"A marriage is a declaration of love between two people."

Love is love.

"In this day and age..."

WHY, indeed?

Seriously, we're already in 2022 and what's weirder is that they're a business so why would they care what their customers are into? Shouldn't it be kept professional?

Unless they're some kind of criminals or people who might be looking to burn down the venue, we don't think we'd bat an eye if it were us. Someone should really give this business owner a lesson in inclusion if not business management at least.

Liezel