Wedding venue wont transfer £3k deposit paid - any legal bods wit advice?

Kavanne

I had a medical issue that forced us to cancel our wedding. My venue said they would transfer but wouldn't even give a partial refund (even though I am depressed and can prove it) because it's in the t&cs and said they were being generous in offering a date later in the year... I'm depressed I just need it cancelled and out of the way I can't be thinking 'oh no it's going to be next june...' it'll just make me worse!!!

Yeah so, it was in the contract she signed so not a lot they can do really...

lkk88

Thanks for your responses.

Dont think she wants to get married at 7months, think thats been ruled out now as shes worried about her size etc. Think she may be considering taking the earlier date so they dont lose all that money....I just think its awful that they would just pocket someones money like that espesh as the T&C's just state a cancellation is non refundable not a change of date!

Will try and find out from her today what theyve decided to do.....

floss2

Maybe a letter asking the venue to reconsider, and advising them that legal advice is being sought with regard to the contract.......

Also, does either of the couple of their parents have legal advice on their home insurance that may be used to check the strength of the contract?

MrsTinks

lkk88 wrote: »

Thanks for your responses.

Dont think she wants to get married at 7months, think thats been ruled out now as shes worried about her size etc. Think she may be considering taking the earlier date so they dont lose all that money....I just think its awful that they would just pocket someones money like that espesh as the T&C's just state a cancellation is non refundable not a change of date!

Will try and find out from her today what theyve decided to do.....

She might not want to get married at 7 months... but it's perfectly possible. We're going to a wedding where the bride will be 5-6 months pregnant (they managed to move theirs forward as it turns out she will be due the same week as the original wedding date!) and I know someone who were married last week and she is VERY pregnant too - so it IS possible - whether she wants her wedding pictures to show a very pregnant bride is an entirely different matter and probably more a matter of vanity than practicality.

I've had a look at LOTS of contracts from venues from when we got married and were looking at venues - I even decided against one gorgeous venue on the grounds I felt their contract terms were HIGHLY questionable.
Can they do this? Probably The only possible alternative is that you friends loose a small part of the deposit only but that is IF the hotel/venue manage to re-sell the date for an equivalent "package" so they do not loose money for that quarter/financial year. And yes it can make a HUGE difference to a financial year if your friend moves her wedding so I can understand the venues reluctance... However I think they should be doing more to try and come to an arrangement acceptable to both parties

lkk88

Thanks for all your advice, have passed them all on to my friend.

shelovestobuystuff

whowants2brich wrote: »

Silly question, I know - but does the prospective bride and groom have wedding insurance? I know that some may regard it as pointless, but if when you booked the wedding and took out the insurance, the bride wasn't pregnant (and wasn't intending on getting pregant - which bride would intend??), then the insurance should help/pay out.

I agree, the hotel shouldn't be like this - if they're willing to bring the date forward then that's good for you. It means that they're varying the terms to their advantage. Or at least trying to. Which means that the contract is effectively null and void and you are entitled to cancel and get a refund. This goes against the unfair terms in contracts thing which I've read about so much on here.

A company cannot vary a contract, or have a clause to allow them to vary a contract, if it is unfairly affecting the other party, unless the affected party has the right to cancel the contract without penalty.

(or something like that, I'm no lawyer but my OH is, though not in this field...)

Wedding insurance has pretty narrow windows for this kind of thing,mine is from M&S and they only pay out of the babies due date is 5 days either side of the wedding day.

ClareEmily

karen_newcastle wrote: »

She should just get married with bump and all. Life is about surprises and this couple have been lucky enough to become pregnant and should just take what life throws at them. There are worse things than getting married with a bump!!

This is all well and good if she is a glowing mum to be, but what if she has a bad pregnancy, piles, puffy ankles, if really unlucky she may be bed bound like my mum was at 7 months etc. Organising a wedding is really stressful, I wouldn't have wanted to do it if I was pregnant.

Also she would not be able to drink on her hen night or wedding day, and every girl wants to look slim and beautiful on their wedding day.

So I don't blame her for wanting to get married when the baby is here, also she will have a cute flower boy/girl

ria.pulls

I know i'll probably get shot for this but....

I worked in a country house hotel for a few years and we would never of given the deposit back. Worked on the principle that we really didn't need or want wedding business in the summer (april to october) due to holiday makers (i'm based in tourist area of west wales). Weddings always ended up more hassle for less money than normal holiday trade, ok for the winter to tick over but never if you could get anything else!! So I can see why they would encourage someone to bring a wedding forward to before march as no one wants to go on holiday when its cold and wet!!

Have they possibily requested that they pospone a whole 12 months. That way the baby will be a bit bigger and the wedding will still be in a quiet period for the hotel. Might not work but worth a go.xx

joeyb13

Hi,
Please can any one help me, especially with some legal advice. We booked our wedding venue in July 08 for Dec 09- holding a civil ceremony, breakfast and evening reception there. The ceremony was being held in a room where the hotel were providing 80 seats- now only 20 seats will be provided and 60 people will have to stand- this has completely ruined it for me. Also the driks package was bucks fizz on arrival, free flow house wine and sparkling wine for toast at £16.50 per head. Now it's all charged by the glass and bottle- £16 per house wine bottle, £5.50 for bucks fizz and same for toast. Again I booked it because of the free flow because nearly all our guests are big wine drinkers so it will cost a fortune now to provide them with drinks. We paid £1k deposit back in July 08 and signed a slip which said it was non refundable. Can they change the format so much that we want to cancel and still retain our deposit? Is there no protection at all to the bride and grooms for such changes? Please can someone help, I don't know what to do and can't afford to lose that kind of money.thanks. Hope I've posted this correctly- I'm new to the site.thanks

Horace

Hi and welcome.

I am afraid that you will have to seek legal advice from the CAB or if you have contents insurance you may have legal advice attached to that.

The way I see it, you have paid a deposit for your ceremony but the venue has changed the contract which could be reasoned that they have broken the contract they made with you. Do you have a copy of the contract that was signed when the deposit was paid? You will need to read the small print because it may say that they can change things without notice. Personally, I would be speaking to them to find out why they have changed their terms - I can see why they have disposed of the free-flowing drinks because these need to be paid for and the hotel cannot expect to fund them. It would be more reasonable to have say an arrival drink and some wine with dinner but anything else will have to be purchased by the guests.

You will need to read the contract that was signed and query it with the venue. Seek legal advice from the CAB.

HTH