Wedding day disaster

k3ster

On our wedding day nothing the venue had control of went well. They provided the incorrect food throughout the day of what was agreed, charged quests for drinks during a free bar we had paid for, gave gluten meals to guests who where allergic, served cold and undercooked food. Didn't have enough dinners to provided to all my guests. Where 3 hours late with serving the food. Where giving alcohol free beer to guests who had asked and paid for alcohol beer. I could go on that's just the highlight of it. 
The venue have not engaged with me following my requests to speak to them to make a complaint. Can anyone help us understand what are rights are and how we should proceed, we are at our wits ends. 

The_Unready

If they're as bad as you suggest, I'd start by naming and shaming them!

tacpot12

If you own your own home, or are living with someone who owns their own home, check the home insurance policy to see if you/they have legal expenses cover. If you do, you should be  able to get legal advice from this cover. 

If you don't have access to this cover, give the Consumer Rights Helpline at Citizens Advice on 0808 223 1133. They should be able to tell you your rights and how to go about exercising them. 

Given your experience with the venue's customer service to date, you need to consider taking this matter to court, and then you will have to prove everything. You need to start gathering your evidence. You will need to show that the venue was provided with the details of the dietary requirements in good time (usually the venue would have told you how much notice they need). 

You need evidence that alcohol-free drinks were served to guests who had ordered/paid for alcoholic drinks. You probably need witness statements from guests.  

You also need to record what you were told when you challenged the fact that the bar was charging when you had in fact paid for a free bar, and that the food was cold/undercooked. You should make notes about what you can remember being told at the time. It would have been better to make notes on the night; this is the sort of job that the Father of the Bride (or Groom) could have been assigned in order to allow the couple to try to make the best of their night. I only mention this now in case the problem happens to someone else - the courts like cotemporaneous notes, and you can fairly sure the venue will not have made such notes, which will weaken their case.

You also need to work out what you and your guests have lost from the venue's actions. Legally, you can't claim for loses that your guests have sustained, but I don't see why they shouldn't be a party to the claim. This is an area where you do need legal advice from a solicitor - if someone joins your claim, they are also liable to have to pay any counter-claim.

Have a think about whether there is any chance of a counter-claim by the venue, e.g. for damage.