Wedding deposit witheld

ekkygirl

My friends son and G/F excitedly booked a posh wedding venue for their wedding next year, They paid a deposit of £1800 :eek: When the parents of the bride went to view the place everyone realised it would not be big enough and the venue could not provide a marquee.
The couple decided to book somewhere bigger and asked for some of the deposit back as they had only booked it a couple of weeks previously. The venue have witheld all of the deposit and state "Its in the contract" which it is, However, given the short time of the booking and the oportuinity for the venue to be relet for the dates it seems a bit harsh.
They have spoken to a solicitor who states that a deposit shoud be a reasonable amount i.e 15% which seems a lot fairer, Does anyone have any idea how this could be handled?

I realise some of the replies will be "They shouldn't have booked it" or "Its their own fault" but I already know that so does my friend but I would still like to hear any suggetions

thanks

nadnad

well you're right - they shouldnt have booked it until they did their research. and a deposit is to protect both parties interests and if its in the contract they have no legal right to get it back.

however maybe a very polite word in the ear of the manager, - and if that didnt work then i dont know whether the threat of negative publicity would work - ie local papers etc. - dont know if this would work because it isnt exactly the venues fault is it!

maybe tell the management they keep the money unless someone books that date - and if its rebooked well then the hotel isnt out of pocket.

AnnieM_3

Can they negotiate that if the venue manage to find someone else to book that date, they will give them their money back (minus admin costs)?

I hope they manage to find the right venue in the end - it is difficult to stick to your guns and be objective when places are piling on the pressure to leave a deposit to secure a booking.

My advice to anyone sitting at their computer thinking they need to start looking for a venue is to set yourselves a top limit for numbers and find a venue that can fit that many people in - nobody will mind having a bit more elbow room if you don't end up with the room packed to the rafters!

AnnieM x

mountainofdebt

assuming that they haven't been silly enough to book another place yet, have they considered having a smaller weddding in this place?

Is the £1800 more than the minimum amount required by the hotel? Usually this will be about £400-£500 so if this is the case could the couple not argue for a refund of the difference?

Savvy_Sue

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aimee21j

How many people is it suitable for? I do think it is a huge deposit though.

LinzisMummy

If i listened to others when planning my guest list, i'd have over 400 people that 'had to be there in the evening', which would have meant we couldnt have the venue we wanted.
But i havent, and so have we all mine and OH's friends/relatives that we actually want to be there, we put our foot down at relatives we never see or get on with well and so were able to book the place we wanted.

These 70 people which have to be there, do the bride and groom think that too, or is it just the views of the parents?

Maybe they should think about who theyd really like to be there and then maybe the venue would be suitable?

Horace

It is a huge deposit and rather than losing the money, maybe it would be better to cut the guest list down considerably? Do all friends, work colleagues and relatives really need to be invited? Limit it to immediate family only, they can still have a lovely wedding on a smaller scale. Eveyone has a 'fantasy' guest list but it is unrealistic to invite everybody on that list. Trim the list by inviting say close family (parents, grandparents maybe aunts/uncles), cut out family friends, work colleagues, small children and partners of family friends and work colleagues. As echoed by others on here - the bride and groom should have input as to whom they invite.

A venue can ask for whatever deposit they want and will clearly say that this is non-refundable in their small print. Will the venue only allow one room to be used or do they have another space that could be used too?

kayleigh_b69

ekkygirl - i dont think people were having a go just offering advice its a very sad thing thats happened i feel for the couple getting married x

nadnad

ekkygirl wrote: »

. They are ok with the cancellation loss of deposit thing Bride and Groom happy to change to a similar venue that can have marquee.

you know what - if they're ok with losing that amount of money, and are foolish enough to make a mistake like that i wouldnt even be on here asking for help or advice for them. the daft beggars obviously have more money than sense.

SugarSpun

They could attempt to sell their date on ebay - one of the hotels did that recently. They probably wouldn't get the full amount back, but they might get something at least.

Will the hotel not refund them if someone else books the date?