I get married in just over two months, and the venue has undergone a massive change. We were not told that this would be happening when we booked it.
Picture the main hall of a country house - it had a beautiful wood-panelled room with a large window looking out over the grounds, and a waterfall. At the back; stairs come down into the room from a balcony above. We were going to get married in front of the window, I’d come down the stairs onto the aisle, reception is in the same place but a different room.
There is now a large fixed bar on a wooden island right in front of the window. It can be somewhat covered by a large, ugly screen with a zig-zag pattern, but it’s still clear that everyone will be sat looking at a bar, and you can no longer see out of the window. It can’t be moved. The screen still leaves the top of the bar exposed.
The venue has offered us nothing yet, except that we can have the ceremony outside or in a smaller room which, to my mind, isn’t worth what we paid. Not even close. It’s got no windows, no wood panelling, no stairs... it’s a small restaurant room, however they dress it up. We’re going to see them in a few days...
What would you ask for? We were due to pay £5k, we’ve got about £800 left to pay. If I’m honest, I don’t really want to get married there at all now; but our invites have gone out and there’s so little time to find somewhere else... and it’s making me feel sick that we’ll have paid so much to get married somewhere that now looks like it should be a grand or two at most. That does include food/alcohol/etc, but we chose the venue for the room. It feels stupid but I’m so upset.