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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

eek I caused a 150 corkage fee last night wwyd

362 replies

alittlethyme · 18/01/2015 10:16

Was at a wedding last night. Each of the tables we're named after a spirit and they had a bottle of whatever on the table. I was a bit tipsy and didn't know many people, so cracked open some whisky without noticing that it had a label on the other side saying drinking this would be a 150 fee. I only had a few mm and screwed the lid back on tightly after I realise d the fee.

One aibu to think 150 a bottle is a stupid amount?

Two should I go back to the hotel today sober to try and get a reduction in the fee as was barely touched?

Three should I pay whatever the charge is?

OP posts:

Theveryhungrycaterpillar123 · 18/01/2015 13:36

It's the B&G fault for having such a daft idea. There are loads of ways they could have prevented it.

backwardpossom · 18/01/2015 13:37

I'm a bit about the comments about naming tables after alcohol being tacky. I live by Speyside, and it's quite normal to name tables after whisky here. It's not tacky in the slightest although I draw the line at Grouse ffs

SantanaLopez · 18/01/2015 13:38

I did once go to a wedding where the best man was steamboats and ate one of the floral displays.

RandomNPC · 18/01/2015 13:38

Bride and Groom's fault, not yours. Let them pay, if anyone.

GraysAnalogy · 18/01/2015 13:40

Who in gods name would assume that a bottle of whiskey was a decoration in the first place

FightOrFlight · 18/01/2015 13:40

Santana I think we were at the same wedding it was my Uncle. he was throwing up carnation petals half the night

squoosh · 18/01/2015 13:44

Bloody stupid idea. I wouldn't pay.

Food and drink aren't decorations, they're food and drink. Y'know for eating and drinking.

afterthought · 18/01/2015 13:46

Wow. Up to people what they call their tables, but I have never ever checked the label on a bottle of alcohol left on a table. I have always assumed it was there to be drunk if a wedding, or included in the cost if we have pre-paid for a meal somewhere. I may start checking just in case!

soverylucky · 18/01/2015 13:48

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

BigChocFrenzy · 18/01/2015 13:49

Don't pay.
At any boozy event, the hosts should make it extra clear if anything incurs charges.
Especially drinkable / edible centrepieces, e.g. might be deluxe jars of caviar, say £100s for Beluga
So don't eat or drink until you've checked every item for price labels ?

JugglingFromHereToThere · 18/01/2015 13:51

Also re- reading OP I think you'll get away with it as did put lid back on tightly (after only having a drop) So, let the hotel contact you if they're cheeky enough (I don't think they will)

FightOrFlight · 18/01/2015 13:57

I might do this with Pot Noodles if I ever get married. We can have the Doner Kebab table, the Original Curry table etc.

Of course they will just be decorations so I'll tell the venue to hide the kettle and charge £1.50 corkage if anyone sucks them to soften them up

HarveySchlumpfenburger · 18/01/2015 13:59

The b&g should pay, unless the label was huge and totally unmissable by everyone on the table. Alcohol on the table is always paid for by the hosts so people aren't going to check meticulously because the assumption is that it would be included.

I think I'd have budgeted for the £1500 as host and been grateful I only had to shell out £150. Or not put alcohol I didn't want to pay for on the table.

ToBeeOrNot · 18/01/2015 14:02

Ridiculous corkage fees only make sense if the venue is practically free and so the only way the place makes money is on the bar. When you consider the markup they charge for hiring places out as soon as they hear 'wedding' it's hard to argue that the venue needs to charge those fees to make a profit.

Back on topic, I don't think yabu to not offer to pay. I would hope that it went unnoticed that the bottle had been opened, I wouldn't try and negotiate in case it bring their attention to the fact it had been.

SallySolomon · 18/01/2015 14:05

Absolutely bloody ridiculous idea (the bride and groom that is.) Who the hell puts unopened bottles of drink on the tables as a decoration and expects people to know it's a £150 charge if you open it?!
I'm usually the most honest person ever but there's no way I'd be owning up to that, they could get stuffed and suck up the mistake, sorry!

NotDavidTennant · 18/01/2015 14:06

If you only took a tiny amount and screwed the back on so it looked unopened then I reckon the venue wouldn't have noticed and you probably got away with it.

Trills · 18/01/2015 14:11

Since it's not the hotel's booze, they probably won't be checking too hard.

I can't think of an original way to say what's already been said - that was a ridiculous idea for a decoration.

I want a friend who drinks the table decorations.

Me too!

HelloItsStillMeFell · 18/01/2015 14:23

So the B&G spent god knows how much of their own money (or maybe got it on sale or return) to buy different bottles of spirit to decorate the table and the venue didn't want to lose out on bar revenue if it all got drunk, hence the corkage? Well I can understand that but £150 sounds excessive, and it was still the daftest idea EVER. Apart from the risk that it would be opened accidentally, it's not exactly a fabulously witty and inventive way of identifying tables, is it?

When I (and all my friends) got married the tables just had a number. That should tell you something about how old I am.

SauvignonBlanche · 18/01/2015 14:35

It sounds as if you got away with it if nothing was said.

willowisp · 18/01/2015 14:42

alittlethyme why did you open the bottle ?

Why would you drink whisky before a meal ?

I think a little entitled of you actually & you should pay.

I get the idea behind the naming of the tables & the 'labels' of the bottles of alcohol. Perhaps a daft idea but really do think you were being greedy, helping yourself.

squoosh · 18/01/2015 14:47

Greedy for helping herself to alcohol at a wedding? Alcohol that was placed on the table at which they were seated? Weddings are celebrations, food and drink is a feature of the day.

GraysAnalogy · 18/01/2015 14:48

She opened the bottle presumably because she wanted a drink

And trying to make her out as some raging alcoholic because she dared to want a drink before her meal..

It might be because me and my friends are in our 20's but every wedding ive been to we've been given quite a few drinks before the meal and some of us have been well on our way before eating. Nothing wrong with that, it's one day.

And how is helping yourself to alcohol put on the table 'greedy'? You wouldn't say the same about the bottles of water given would you.

NorbertDentressangle · 18/01/2015 14:51

willowisp I don't think the OP was being greedy or entitled.

If you go to a wedding and there are bottles of wine on the table then they are obviously there for the guests (ditto bread rolls, party favours etc).

If you go to a wedding and there are bottles of spirits on the table you don't automatically think "what a pretty table decoration" because bottles of whiskey are not your run of the mill wedding decorations!

It's like decorating the table at a children's birthday party with Fruit Shoots and Haribo and expecting the kids to appreciate their aesthetic beauty but not to eat or drink them!

CatsClaus · 18/01/2015 14:51

I just came back to this to say....what relation are you to the B&G that they sat you at the GROUSE table....did you not sign up for one of the more generous gifts on the wedding list :o

HelloItsStillMeFell · 18/01/2015 14:53

I one went to a Serbian Orthodox wedding and we were positively encouraged to drink Plum Brandy on the steps of the church as soon as the service was over.

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