am I being thick or is the wedding venue taking the piss?!

[Floss881]

So we've booked one of the top venues in the UK for our wedding. Today we received the dreaded payment reminder we'd been waiting for:
"This is just a quick reminder email to say that your venue hire fee payment of £4250 is due on or before the end of November.
The original £1500 booking deposit is deducted from the final food / drink / accommodation balance payable 6 weeks prior, NOT the venue hire fee at this stage."

"I was like whaaaaaat, since when couldn't you use the "venue" deposit against the venue fee?!". Their response was that it was in the t&c's. However, I dug out the t&c's and the only mention of the deposit was in the payment schedule:
Deposit.... £1500
6 months before... Full venue fee (£tbc)
6 weeks before... Final balance (£tbc)
I think that's pretty ambiguous... There is no other mention of the deposit in the t&c's but the booking form describes it as "venue deposit". The venue director also claims that he sent me a confirmation letter on receipt of deposit with the policy indicated, which I swear I've never seen!

It's not the end of the world, just annoying before Christmas. I've asked the venue if they would accept Full and complete payment in January- 5 months before the wedding, so waaaay before the 6 weeks required (for food and drink) in exchange for using the deposit against the venue fee, which they have so far refused. Has anyone else had this? Are they just being dicks?!

I just googled 'top wedding venues in the UK'. There are some stunners on the Harpers Bazaar page.

Is yours one of those OP?

(Nosy)

Think some posters are being a bit mean to just pick up that bit of the OP!

But I too want to know where it is you're getting married....?

I'd like to know where the list is for top venues please 😊

All that "Top wedding venue" means is that they pop a tag line in the corner of an advert saying something along the lines of:
"Voted top wedding venue beginning with the letter C, and a pink emblem, with three peacocks and a boating lake, in the mid south west corner of Essex by readers of a not very widely circulated magazine"

OP you need to cancel the cheque.

some people on here have nothing better to do than be so bitchy and nasty would you really say that shite in rl ? i doubt it, i feel sorry for op, she only asked a question ffs. what ever happens i hope she and her future husband have a great day !

£4250 is just standard and far from a top uk venue. haha

I read the top venue reference as meaning to indicate it was a well known and reputable venue. Can't understand why people are so scathing
Good luck OP, hope you enjoy your day

Why don't you check with your local CAB or Trading Standards to see whether it's legitimate?
Full Venue Fee could be interpreted as the OP having sole use of the venue , as some venues are large enough to cater for more than one wedding simultaneously.

The venue fee may be a fraction of the cost due to the price of the minimum food packages. A wealthy relative paid £5000 venue hire but the catering was £20,000 plus for a smallish number. Not that I think it matters as for the terms I can see the confusion but it is stated full venue hire.