After online outrage, a Bucks County estate is fast-tracking a new wedding venue to keep up with coronavirus-related rescheduling

The coronavirus has caused many engaged couples to change their wedding plans and push back celebrations. For wedding venues, that has meant frantically working with customers to reschedule ceremonies and receptions, which can be booked years in advance.

As Pen Ryn Estate’s staff began to do so last month, they were hit with a deluge of online outrage, as couples complained the Bensalem venue was keeping their deposits and leaving them no choice but to reschedule their spring weddings at off-peak times (read: a Saturday night wedding in May becomes a Friday wedding in November).

“Pen Ryn Estate is treating all of their brides and grooms horribly during this time,” one woman wrote on Facebook. “Refusing to reschedule and refusing refunds. Brides to be DO NOT use this venue!”

“No compassion and completely unprofessional,” wrote another woman, who said she was supposed to get married there in May.

Last week, one Facebook video, in which a man detailed the difficulties of his friend’s daughter who was to get married there, was viewed thousands of times and received hundreds of comments and shares.

“Don’t ever use them," he said of Pen Ryn. “Post a comment on their site.”

The estate has since shut down its Facebook page.

In response, Pen Ryn is trying to fast-track a new venue, which it said could help accommodate couples who have had to reschedule their celebrations.

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“As you know, this is an unprecedented situation, and we’re doing everything possible to orchestrate the affairs that our brides and grooms have dreamt about much of their lives,” the estate said in a statement. “With every wedding affected by the shutdown, we have worked nonstop to offer multiple future desirable dates and applied all deposits toward the rescheduled affairs.”

Across the region, many couples have seen their wedding plans suddenly upended. Some have opted to get married on their original day, with just an officiant present and relatives “attending” virtually.

Generally, venues and photographers have been flexible, rescheduling at no additional cost due to the crisis.

At Pen Ryn, the coronavirus shutdown has affected more than 50 couples who were supposed to get married at the mansion property in April and May, the estate said, and all but one of those couples have rescheduled their celebrations to “desirable peak dates” that work for their families.

Several couples who had publicly complained about the situation either could not be reached or declined to comment because they were now working with the venue to change their plans.

The last few weeks have been chaotic for places like Pen Ryn. As soon as the ban on public gatherings went into effect, the estate said, its staff began contacting couples to talk about rescheduling.

Pen Ryn said it offered future dates to each host, but “as an extremely popular venue we didn’t have many weekend openings on our calendar for later this year."

» READ MORE: Can I get married during the coronavirus? Here's what you need to know

So in between these conversations and frenzied phone calls, staff at Pen Ryn reached out to government officials and sought approval to expedite the building of a 10,000-square-foot riverfront structure on their 100 acres, which are already home to two venues, Pen Ryn Mansion and Belle Voir Manor.

When asked to clarify whether it had received a waiver to do “essential” construction, the estate said it was only working on “preliminary landscaping" at this time. But when the shutdown is lifted, “elaborately professional tenting and ancillary facilities” will be constructed, a spokesperson said.

Pen Ryn said it expects the space, called River’s Edge, to be ready in less than two months, but it was unclear whether that timeline would change if the state extended its order closing all nonessential businesses past April 30.

Pen Ryn said it had begun reaching out to “displaced brides” to offer them the option of having their weddings there.