!!!Help needed regarding wedding reception!!!

andyred03

Hi all,
I need some advice and hope you can help. On 6th september my wife and i got married. We had the reception at a pub and hired the family room as a private function room. T o cut the story short, we paid £800 for the hire of the room, dj and catering. We paid for 67 adults for the buffet but only 39 turned up due to a family funeral the same day. There was only just enough to feed the guests that were there nevermind the ones that didnt make it. We were charged £8.00 per head but it was more like a £4.00 per head buffet. The quality was poor and the quantity even worse. As ive said we paid for the hire of the room but there were peole coming in and out all night and even eating the food! The dj was a joke with every other song scratched and nothing after 1986. Basically it ruined a brilliant day and i feel we are owed some money back. The person that took our money has not replied to any emails, phone calls or texts. I just want to know what legal avanues i could take to get some money back.

Thanks In advance

Andy

fluffnutter

I'm sorry to hear that your reception wasn't up to scratch. I'm not an expert but I would suggest the following: How much do you want back? Calculate how much you're willing to pay, e.g. £4 per head for 67 people (you can't blame the caterers for fewer guests turning up and they're entitled to charge for the original numbers), plus whatever you think the DJ and room were worth. Send a recorded delivery letter to whomever you dealt with before asking that they refund you the difference for the reasons you've stated above. Give them a reasonable amount of time to reply. If they don't reply or you don't get any money back, you'll need to pursue a claim through the small claims court.

Or you could chalk it up to experience and try to forget about it. I assume it's a one-off

andyred03

With regard to the number of guests. My point is that i had paid for 67 but only 39 turned up and the food only just went round. Had all the guests that were paid for actually been there then the food would not of gone round. Thanks for the advice. My head is saying put it down to 'one of those things', but my heart is saying make a stand.

Thanks again

Torby

most wedding web sites give information like:

Check/see your entertainment before you book...
If having a buffet, check prices and find out what that will buy you per head

if you don't do either you run the risk of not getting what you wanted or paying substantially more for what you got.

check here and see if this helps determine your buffet cost http://www.orh.org.uk/catering-drinks.html

even allowing 67 @ £8 per head they still took an extra £230 odd for the room and DJ. you can get a poor dj for £80, so I think they wiped your eye, you may also find that complaing after the event will not get very far....if you thought it was bad on the night, you should have complained on the night, then when the guests have all starte drifting away settle the bill paying what you thought it was worth, and suggest the pub pursue in a civil case for the balance, making sure you have loads of evidence...you're not doing a runner, they have your contact details and the police will not get involved....

but all you can hope for now is the pub showing a bit of common sense and giving a part refund before you name and shame on here....sometimes that gets quite good results, see the thread about a dodgy wedding band on MSE....

maggie111

I would worry that you more you try and fight this the more you might taint your wedding day. Sorry I can't offer any legal advice but I do know emotionally how things can snowball if you get worked up about it.