Wedding Venue hell

007man · 18 April 2019 at 10:30AM

Any advice:
We booked our wedding for Christmas last year, a year in advance.
Due to an illness in the family, we enquired about bringing the date forward to summer last year.
The venue sent a new contract, automatically cancelling the old one, without our permission, and without the new contract being signed Demanding £2000 more to bring it back to its original date.
We refused and wanted to stick to the only contractually signed date which was last Christmas.
They refused to give us our original date and have ignored letters and emails from us and a solicitor claiming a refund, and compensation.

Katapolt · 18 April 2019 at 10:36AM

It all depends on the terms in the original contract i'm afraid. While i agree they shouldn't necessarily have cancelled the original date, it does also depend how this was put to them and phrased.
If it was a mere enquiry as to whether the date could be brought forward then i think they jumped the gun a bit and you're correct in chasing them, but if you gave a date and said you wanted to move it to that, then i don't think they acted out of place at all.

My own venue contract states if we move the date then the value of the difference must be paid in full - and summer is ALWAYS going to be more expensive than a winter wedding.

The issue is where do you stand now? Do you have a date at all? Did you pay a deposit and does the time frame fall within the T&Cs of a refund or not? I would find the highest point of contact of the venue or its owners and go to them, and failing that the next time they have an open evening you could turn up, but personally there's no way id want to get married in a venue that had already caused this much hassle.

Work on getting your money back if you're entitled to it, but look elsewhere and plan your day somewhere new.

007man · 18 April 2019 at 10:55AM

Thanks, yes a date was mentioned, but we were simply making an enquiry, so we could see the price difference, we have not signed a new contract, we have only the first contract signed, they cancelled our original date. we paid £3k for the original date.
I have spoken to the highest person there I can, she seems not to care, and is sticking to her guns, even though we have paid for a service we did not receive

Katapolt · 18 April 2019 at 11:42AM

Well, ask them what the £3,000 you have paid is now covering as you dont have a date?

It seems tricky but i cant see a way they're going to make it easy for you, so move on and fight it in the background.
Did you have wedding insurance?

74jax · 19 April 2019 at 8:16PM

Are you now married. Did you move it forward or keep it for last Christmas.

PrettyKittyKat · 22 April 2019 at 1:25PM

Gosh how awful! I would presume your solicitor would be the best person to advise you on how to move forward. Presumably taking them to court would be the next step, but as I say the solicitor is best placed. Reviews on all social media and maybe contacting local press would also be a good step.

Wedding Venue hell

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