Wedding cancellation. Urgent advice needed please :D

ellas9602

Hello

My DSD has called her wedding off with only three weeks to go. These are probably the first of many questions I need to ask as I have been asked to make all the cancellations. I’m awaiting a list of all purchases and bookings so I can make a start but I don’t have this yet.

Me and OH were responsible for paying for the bridesmaid dresses. The adult bridesmaids were high street dresses so these still have the tags on and I have the receipts but they were bought well over 28 days ago, where will I stand?

The toddler dress was made to measure and I paid half deposit (£75) 2 weeks ago. I have called the shop and they say they have already cut the material so say they require the balance to be paid, is this correct? I was hoping they would say that I would lose the deposit but they could place it in the sale. Is this unrealistic? I don’t want to pay another £75 if I can help it.

Thanks for helping

sooz

Poor you.
I'd try to take the high street dresses back. As for the made to measure one, it would depend on what contract you signed with the dressmaker, but if the material has been cut, I'd expect you to have to buy it now. If you can't get the shops to take the high street ones back, try selling them all on ebay.

TBH with 3 weeks to go, I think the dresses will be the least of your problems. Start with the hotel, then caterers, florist, band etc, all of whom will be unlikely to be able to get another booking with such short notice.

ellas9602

Thanks Sooz

You’re quite right there are much bigger things to cancel and much more money at stake. I am, however being a little selfish as the bridesmaid things were my contribution. We really could not afford to help out in the first place, we’ve been hit quite badly by the credit crunch and I am absolutely dreading Xmas (we have 3 younger kids) and I was hoping some of the refunds would solve my worries.
I have some paperwork for the toddler dress which I’ll dig out tonight see if there are any T&C loopholes.

I couldn’t even tell you how much the bride and groom stand to lose :eek:

sooz

Just remember it would have cost a LOT more if they had got married, & then divorced! Atleast you are not having to cover the other costs, just the bridesmaid dresses.

Try taking them back to the shop. The worst they can say is no.

fernliebee

I agree with the above post about selling the dresses elsewhere if you have to. The 3 high street ones shouldn't be a problem, but if you have to buy the toddler dress then you would easily get at least half the money back on ebay I'm sure.

Good luck with it all.

Mutter_2

From experience ellas, the high st shop is likely to offer you gift vouchers, as you are over the 28 days.

All is not lost though, vouchers make good money on Ebay.

As for the custom made dress. With only 3 weeks to go it's reasonable that the material is already cut. You could always ring trading standards and ask whether you stand to lose your deposit or the full amount. Link here;

http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/

findingmyownway

I agree - the high street shop will probably give you vouchers instead of refund as its over the 28 day limit. Could you use them for Xmas? Or sell on Ebay?

As for the other dress and venues etc - check what contracts have been signed. The venue probably has a cancellation policy which will have been in the small print. Less 'formal' bookings such as the band etc probably have no legal basis so you may want to offer half the cost etc, or just lose the deposits.

Good luck

flea72

just checking, incase someone has forgot in all the mess that going on right now, no-one bought wedding insurance did they?

Flea

got-it-spend-it

I would have expected that you'd lose all the money on the made to measure dress, but if you are very polite and apologetic when you take the High St ones back they may well just refund in cash/ onto card. Failing that are they shops where you can buy Xmas pressies?

Good luck with it- booking it all is a nightmare in itself so I don't imagine cancelling it will be much fun but as others have said, better now than in a years time.

lizziebell*80

flea72 wrote: »

just checking, incase someone has forgot in all the mess that going on right now, no-one bought wedding insurance did they?

Flea

FYI:

I had wedding insurance however, depending on why this particular one was cancelled, my policy did not cover the situation where you just decided to call it off, it was more for if there was a problem with the photographer not turning up or the venue cancelling and things like that and probably the death of someone etc but not a change of mind unfortunately (if this was the case) so might not have helped even if there was some in place.

ellas9602

Thanks for all your replies so far.

I doubt very much that there was insurance but this was just a change of mind so it wouldn't be covered anyway. I'd be more than happy with vouchers, the main stores are debenhams and oasis so perfect for our 3 teenage girls for christmas. I think I'll ask for the dressmaking to go ahead and then sell on ebay. But I will check the T&Cs I've signed tonihgt , just in case!

Any other wedding cancellation tips gratefully received