Reading Terminal Market Temporarily Waives Its Wedding Venue Fee Due to Coronavirus
The move comes as couples scramble to reschedule and is available through March 2021.
Reading Terminal Market is waiving its venue fee for weddings booked through March 2021 in response to the coronavirus crisis. Photo by Sharyn Frenkel Photography
Postpone, don’t cancel: It’s become the mantra of the wedding world in the wake of the coronavirus crisis, as couples hurry to reschedule spring weddings and fill quickly disappearing slots at their venues for summer, fall, winter and early 2021. And the Philly wedding community has been wildly supportive (cheers!) to clients and even couples who simply need assistance by introducing new initiatives to help you still achieve the Big Day of your dreams. Among the latest efforts comes by way of Reading Terminal Market. The popular historic food hall and wedding locale for culinary couples is waiving its venue fee (that’s $5,000, folks) through March 2021.
“We are taking this step so that we can be accommodating to those couples who are struggling with finding a new date, stressed because their venue has been booked up for the rest of the year or for the simple fact that finding the appropriate funds is becoming difficult as a result of the economy at this time,” says Hailey Lawler of All About Events, which plans private occasions at the venue.
A couple is captured underneath the iconic sign. Photo by Melissa Kelly
The market typically hosts around 20 weddings per year. Five weddings and rehearsal dinners originally scheduled between March and May had to be postponed because of the quarantine. “Our wedding clients in May have decided to postpone based on the current restrictions put into place by the CDC,” says Lawler. “Our weddings June to September are still feeling confident that their [events] will be taking place. However, we’ve let them know about the processes we are taking in the event their [celebrations] cannot take place.”
The $5,000 flat-rate fee is for a full buyout of the venue. Only one event is held per evening, typically with about 150 guests (the number fluctuates between 120 and 200). The price tag is usually between $35,000 and $55,000.
A wedding setting at Reading Terminal Market. Photo by Landon Wise Photography
For those seeking available wedding dates, the venue still has openings into early next year. As of April 8th, there were 16 Saturdays available: 4 in July, 3 in August, 1 in November, 3 in December, 2 in both January and February, and 1 in March. Lawler notes that her team is available to chat about Friday availability as well. “We hope that this can relieve some pressure and stress from couples in the Philadelphia area,” she says.
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