To be annoyed at wedding venue?

[LolaDo]

I’m getting married in 3 weeks at an English country house hotel type venue.

They have called me today to advise that there will be roof works going on on my wedding day complete with the usual scaffolding etc. Fine. However, this goes round the perimeter of the whole venue so will be at the entrance. This means no pictures outside or under the beautiful archway. There’s a huge path leading up to the entrance with gardens either side so I won’t be able to have pictures here either as the scaffolding will be in the background.

They have also “advised” that the main bar and sitting lounge (it’s like a cigar lounge type thing where guests would have waited when they arrived) will be boarded off for refurbishment and they will be putting a temporary bar/ lounge round the back of the hotel.

I have guests coming from all over and the first thing they are going to see it bloody great scaffolding/ tarpaulin and builders.

I am so upset. What would you do?

We have spent a huge amount of money on this venue because it was “perfect” and now I just feel like the whole day will not be as I imagined. Am I being over dramatic?

TBH, if you do still want to have your wedding there I would ALSO be insistent that they cease work while your wedding is under way, or you'll be hearing banging/drilling/god knows what else in the middle of your vows!

Really wrong of the hotel.
Are they part of a hotel group so they could offer you another location near by that is equally as appealing(bar the scaffolding)?
At the very least they should give you a massive refund and offer free overnight stays.
I hope it gets sorted and you have a wonderful day

Absolutely they owe you a massive discount. Is the whole day there or is the ceremony in a church with this just for the reception? Is there space in the day for a photoshoot somewhere that isn't a building site? If that can be squeezed in they should certainly pay for it - and give complimentary drinks and canapés to the guests who will need to wait patiently while that happens. Also agree that they owe you a massive discount - they must have known these works were due months ago if not years and they deliberately missold you a wedding package they knew they could not deliver.

I would definitely complain but you need first to work out what you want to do. Do you want to go ahead anyway, or cancel and find somewhere else.

If you are going to go ahead, you will have to actually make sure you are properly ok with it. I was really laid back about our wedding and the arrangements and stuff, but the one thing I was keen on was the impressive building and the rooms we had available for the wedding. If those had been boarded and hoarded, I would have been really angry and it would have properly pissed me off. A massive discount might have helped but I don't know. It would have to be substantial.

The local press would like this story if you were so inclined...

That’s disgraceful.

I wouldn’t mind telling them that you’ve a few media outlets interested in your story, tbh...

Similar thing happened to me - the rooms in the hotel’s new extension weren’t ready - they told me 2 weeks before!! So about 30 of us (including me and my new husband) had to stay at another local hotel instead of the one the reception was in. For months they kept saying they would be fine, and every time I phoned they said ‘yes they will be ready’ until 2 weeks before. I was really upset at the time, but actually on the day it genuinely didn’t matter that half of us got shipped off elsewhere at midnight (to another hotel, where there was another wedding who had already taken all the good rooms, so ours were pretty crap. No wedding suite for us!) I really couldn’t have cared less when it came down to it - we had such a wonderful day regardless. I can’t even remember if we got any money back! In fact, I had forgotten all about it until I read your post... so yes, get some money back 100%, it what I am trying to say is your wedding will still be brilliant, and none of the guests will care, and have a wonderful day. The most important thing is you two, not the roof and bar!

If a registrar has been booked for this specific venue it's not so easy to just change location.

That is dreadful. It is not what you booked. I would at the very least want a big discount.

I always think of how when Charles and Diana got married St Pauls was covered in scaffolding. I found it odd they went with it.

Agree with your local paper....

Whereabouts (roughly) are you? England, Scotland, Wales, NI....(alternatives do exist )

Most of the people working on the day won't have a clue about any disagreements so don't worry about awkward.

Check your contract with them. There's probably something that says "we can change the availability if we need to" but that could be deemed as not a fair clause, particularly for planned works.

Decide what you want to happen now - do you want to cancel and book elsewhere? Do you want a massive discount? Do you want to force them to delay the building works? Are you willing to go to court to recover the costs?

Then put in writing that a) you would never have booked had you known this, b) telling you so late is deliberately deceptive, c) they are not providing the service you have paid for and have therefore broken their contract with you.

Then ask them what they intend to do to make amends as currently you are expecting that a full refund is available, should you request it. Don't say you're willing to go to court unless you really mean it, but maybe say that you are seeking legal advice about their breach of contract and the impact of ruining your entire wedding, including associated costs such as travel for guests, and emotional upset at cancelling your wedding.

My mother got infuriated by my laid-backedness with regards to my wedding and took great joy in telling EVERYONE I was too laissez faire about the whole thing but I would have been livid about this.

Blaze away OP, we're right behind you.

I think this is the one instance where a Daily Mail sad face exposé is actually called for.

Yanbu! I'd be ducking furious with them.

I'm fairly laid back and would be absolutely furious. If this has not been mentioned to you before and not what you signed up then you are well within your rights to cancel/ask for a discount. They don't have to give you a discount but you can cancel. Wish would you prefer postpone or as a pp said forever hold a grudge?

Also, knowing what I do about construction works, this was at least 3 or 4 months in the planning. Full scaffolding of the whole building isn't something they do for an emergency roof repair. The current H&E rules say you are supposed to give a contractor 4 weeks notice before they start. Throw in a month in getting costs and quotes, another to get the works all scoped out and any permissions, there's three months and that is assuming the timeline goes smoothly (which almost never every happens) You need to ask them why they waited so long to tell you this was going to happen.

If they start getting arsey, did you pay any of it by credit card? Even if you ahven't paid the full amount, you could go to your credit card company and argue they haven't given you what you paid for under section 75. Even if you pay £100 deposit on a 20k wedding, credit card is liable for the whole shooting match.

If it is an emergency repair they won't have know in advance.

Tbh if there has been an issue with the roof, this could have damaged the bar hence the repairs.

They should have come back to you with some form of compensation, if they haven't they will be able to offer this, theyre just hoping you won't ask.

It's not just the local press that would be interested. Just saying ...

I'd check to see if any other venues have availability.

I was away on business and got back four weeks before my wedding. DH nipped to the shops while I checked my emails - found one from the venue saying they'd gone bankrupt and our wedding was cancelled. I was absolutely hysterical, not to mention the money they had and we weren't sure we would get it back.

I contacted every venue in the area, not expecting much as it was an August Saturday in a very popular county for weddings. Amazingly, a beautiful place was available and they were so appalled by what happened they massively helped us out with all sorts of things.

Ended up being all for the best but it was so stressful.

Scaffolding can be taken down. It will cost them as they’ll need to pay for the time to make safe, remove the scaffolding and then erect it again but if you want the photos that’s an easy request. No building work to be happening on the day and the scaffolding removed for the duration of the wedding. Then ask how they are going to compensate you for the change of rooms available to you.

I had a similar thing happen, not only was the beautiful Victorian themed venue covered in scaffolding a week befor the wedding but they had gutted most of the rooms and were in the process of making it a Bollywood restaurant! I cancelled and after a lot of hassle got a refund. Two weeks later or however long it took to get a new marriage license I got married somewhere else, which actually turned out to be much better and they matched the budget I had agreed with the first venue despite them usually being a lot pricier. Of course things like the invitations had to be redone, first lot I had handmade, second lot were a printed out word document. Couldn't get a photographer so asked all guests to take lots of photos and send them to me. It all worked out absolutely fine. I hope you can find a solution to your situation.

That's well shit.

But it has reminded me to check with our historic wedding venue are not going to do anything similar before we have over the deposit.

Sorry OP. I'd be really upset too

Nothing much bothers me OP but this is terrible. You are spending a lot of money and not getting what you paid for. I would kick up a stink.

I'd expect a full refund plus compensation. They obviously knew this was planned and failed to inform you in time for you to make alternative arrangements. Contact a solicitor!

This is awful and completely unacceptable. I seriously would be looking elsewhere even with this short notice. Of course it wont be the wedding you originally planned but at least the photos wont be dominated by scaffolding!

Name and shame on social media to, I would be expecting a full refund.