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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think my wedding caterers should let me taste wines for free?

25 replies

BackAche21 · 14/07/2015 21:10

I have been in contact with our caterers for months and they are great in many ways but now we are one week away and for various reasons we haven't had a chance to taste the wines yet. That's mainly my fault as I haven't asked to until now, but we are spending a small fortune with them and they are saying they will courier the wines (at my expense) and charge us full price for each bottle. There haven't been other quibbles about costs so there's no history of that, but I feel I would like to ask them to at least split the cost with me. For what it's worth they have introduced loads of delays e.g. Not getting back to me for days or weeks so the reason it's all so late is largely down to them although I definitely should have raised this earlier.

OP posts:
Oakmaiden · 14/07/2015 21:12

Um... so how many free bottles of wine are you expecting them to provide?

TravellingToad · 14/07/2015 21:18

It would be nice if they could let you have the wines for cost price (plus postage)

Blowingoffsteam · 14/07/2015 21:20

They are a business Hmm.

PigPlopper · 14/07/2015 21:20

Surely if your wedding is only a week away, then trying the wine is possibly a bit late now. Seems reasonable they should charge you the whole bottle if that's what they are sending. Seems reasonable they would charge you the courier costs too. If you don't like the wine then will there be time for them to send you another bottle to test? To be honest, no one cares that much about wine at weddings, most people will drink whatever they are given. If YOU cared that much you would have sorted this out ages ago.

cuntycowfacemonkey · 14/07/2015 21:23

Well they are a business so I ultimately I think it really depends on exactly how much you are spending with them as to whether or not I would say they should send you free wine.

Original poster
BackAche21 · 14/07/2015 21:24

Have asked for 6 bottles - the 3 they have suggested (I asked them for this info weeks ago but it never came) and 3 pricier alternatives.

OP posts:
OurDearLeader · 14/07/2015 21:25

I think they're totally in the right. Tasting wine is done so you can select what you want or confirm that what you have requested is okay and doesn't need changing. It's a week away, you're not going to be able to change them now. Free tastings are offered when it makes business sense, not just 'because'. If you really were bothered about approving the wine you would have done it before now. Because you haven't I think they would quite fairly surmise you're just looking for a freebie.

OurDearLeader · 14/07/2015 21:25

I don't think cost price is a viable option as they won't want to disclose their margins to customers.

esiotrot2015 · 14/07/2015 21:25

Wine tasting is surely going to them & trying their wines not getting whole bottles delivered to you for free !
We didn't bother though how the other half live

DadfromUncle · 14/07/2015 21:25

If I was them, I'd probably agree to let you have all the free wine and courier costs, then recoup the costs by scrimping something out of what I provided on the day.

Looseleaf · 14/07/2015 21:26

It would seem odd to me that they'd send 6 free bottles of wine tbh

Original poster
BackAche21 · 14/07/2015 21:27

Spending more than £7k. Value of the samples is probably just over £100.

OP posts:
CasperGutman · 14/07/2015 21:33

If the wedding was in a hotel and they sold the wines in the bar by the glass, offering you free tastes would be a nice gesture, but you can't expect half a case of wine to be delivered to your house for free.

That said, the hotel where we had our wedding gave us a free dinner where we could sample two starters, two mains and two puds plus canapes, wines etc. They ran it as an evening event for all the couples who'd booked over the summer, so that kept costs down, but it was still a nice gesture!

Ladymuck · 14/07/2015 21:36

Wouldn't you have tasted it at the same time as the food? After all the wine could be great by themselves but not match the dishes being served, especially if there is a sauce.

TheoriginalLEM · 14/07/2015 21:36

£100 for three bottles of wine??? ffs - stop being a bridezilla and get some blossom hill. red white and pink. sorted.

Ktay · 14/07/2015 21:40

How obscure are the wines? If you know the grape variety and vineyard is there any way you can find them elsewhere?

OurDearLeader · 14/07/2015 21:41

If you're spending 7k their margins are not going to be massive. £100 is to big a hit to be absorbed when it doesn't really serve a business need.

Original poster
BackAche21 · 14/07/2015 21:46

Cool, thx for your comments. Turns out IABU. Fab.

OP posts:
cuntycowfacemonkey · 14/07/2015 21:50

I think it's 6 bottles for £100 not 3. I think expecting 6 bottles of wine for free is possibly a push to far tbh.

TendonQueen · 14/07/2015 21:53

I'm with Caspar: tasting at the hotel is what we did (got a test wedding breakfast too). Ring and say you'd like to come in and taste so you can make a final decision between most expensive ones and the others, so what evening's best?

FurtherSupport · 14/07/2015 22:02

I might expect them to offer a sip, if you were at their premises booking the do, but to courier half a case of wine? I don't think so.

UngratefulMoo · 14/07/2015 22:05

Well, our wedding venue let us taste the wines for free, but we had to travel to them and we only got a small taster glass of each one. I wouldn't have expected them to send the whole bottle! Agree with a PP - cost price would be nice, but free is asking a bit much, I think.

TheoriginalLEM · 14/07/2015 22:09

unless your guests are connoisseurs id go for cheap and cheerful. honestly.

i don't know much about wine really but i know that if ive not had wine for ages i prefer cheaper , easier to drink wine. it actually takes me awhile to warm up to the more complex expensive wine. if that makes any sense.

are you being charged restaurant prices? so then £20 a bottle is average i guess. from the merchant then its ££££.

lavenderhoney · 14/07/2015 22:13

Why didn't you have a wine tasting when you tasted the food? Seems a bit odd to me, tbh.

It's a bit late now, and you're going to be tied to what they have or the venue have. Call the venue direct and fuss about wine/ champagne. They might help.

shadowfax07 · 14/07/2015 22:16

I agree with Ladymuck, the wine should have been matched to the food at the food tasting, and the caterers should have known and done this.

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