Can’t afford wedding following coronavirus

Jmr141512

Hi, where do I stand as I was supposed to be getting married next month. The venue are chasing for the payment but due to reduction in wage following coronavirus we can’t afford it but they won’t let us cancel without paying 75% of the final costs. We just don’t have it. Please help!

visidigi

Have you checked what the contract says which you signed?
Have you got insurance in place?

Aylesbury_Duck

Jmr141512 said:

Hi, where do I stand as I was supposed to be getting married next month. The venue are chasing for the payment but due to reduction in wage following coronavirus we can’t afford it but they won’t let us cancel without paying 75% of the final costs. We just don’t have it. Please help!

With only a month to go, you're on sticky ground because they're unlikely to be able to get a replacement booking at such short notice.  I'd negotiate with them to see if you can carry your deposit over to a new date in the future, or suggest a different figure, e.g. 50% and see if they'll negotiate.  Otherwise, they're entitled to charge you 75% if that's what you agreed to.  Why didn't you cancel much earlier when the amount owed might have been less or they had a better chance of getting a replacement booking?

Jmr141512

With everything going on we had hoped things would improve but they got worse! We were speaking to the venue but if I’m honest we had so much going on. We have pretty much begged them to see if we can move the date but they said we’re being unreasonable! My partner being made redundant wasn’t really something we could see coming. We just can’t afford to pay anything to them, our essential bills need covering as our priority and we don’t have anything left.

Jmr141512

We didn’t get round to insurance before the pandemic kicked off due to booking early this year. 

I’ve checked the contract but it’s all a bit vague so I’m waiting on a response from them with some clarity on it however they have already said they will charge us 75% cancellation.
I assume this is in addition to the deposit I’ve paid?! 

Aylesbury_Duck

You need to understand that contract or post it here (redacted where necessary), otherwise we're all guessing what rights and obligations exist. 

elsien

You may need to agree a repayment plan with them if you can’t pay it in one go. Is that doable? If they take you to court then they’d still have to accept what was affordable so compromise may be the way forwards. 

[Deleted User]

I remember years ago when I was a conference & wedding co ordinator taking £500 non refundable deposit for wedding bookings, a couple of couples managed to throw my boss by saying they were just simply going to CAB for advice. Instead of buying wedding presents can your friends and family chip in and help with hard cash towards the venue and day?

Aylesbury_Duck

At the very least, I expect your deposit is forfeited.  As to what else they can charge, that's down to the contract.

I'm sorry to say that ignoring the problem and not getting round to sorting either this or the insurance out is entirely your fault.  It sounds as if you've had months to sort something out but it sounds like you've just hoped the problem would go away.

Post or type out the contract terms and people will be able to advise.

mattyprice4004

Unfortunately if the contract says you’re liable then that’s the case - you’ll have to either agree a payment plan with them or risk them taking you to court. 

Look at it from their point of view - through no fault of their own they’re potentially going to be out thousands of pounds. I get it’s not your fault, but it’s not theirs either and you signed a contract to pay X amount to them. 

This is why the first thing you buy is insurance! 

Jmr141512

It looks a mess -