Christening venue mix up

[AandWsMum]

So a few weeks ago it was my nieces christening- we helped my sister arrange it and my mum and I went to set up the decorations for her at the venue we hired.

The church service was at 12 and we had the venue hired from 2 until an indefinite time

When we got there my friends sister was coincidentally there. It turned out she had the venue hired from 5 for her baby shower/gender reveal and was setting up her own decorations at 8am

She had a massive strop about the fact we were putting up our stuff and that she had decorations being delivered in the morning for her event.

In the end we agreed to just let her put her stuff up at one end and we’d work round it but it confused everyone when they came in! They thought that there was another baby announcement at first.

So now many of my nieces christening pictures have someone else’s baby shower in the background.

AIBU to feel bad for my sister about it? Should we ask the venue to refund part of the money as they didn’t make this clear? Or should we have stood our ground & just offered to exit at a certain time/help them set up? (Which I wouldn’t have minded doing if she wasn’t being such a princess)

I'd be getting onto the venue.

Either they have double booked you which means they need to sort out a better system and refund you for the bit of the day you didn't have.

Or they have been really really unclear with one or other or both of you about when your slot is.

or one of you booked the wrong date/ made arrangements for the wrong day in which case they need to tighten up on who is able to access the place when as anyone could let themselves .

I'm guessing it's a village hall type place?

I'd be surprised if your friends sister really had permission to be there from 8am in the morning... so i suspect she's the one most likely to be in the wrong.

Unsure what you're asking here. You booked a venue, they double booked you. Ofc they should refund you some of the money? I would have been on to the venue on the day...

Obviously you ask for a refund or something that's terrible as clearly both parties were unaware the space was going to be shared.

Just seen this was a few weeks ago I doubt the venue will have a lot to say after all this time. I would have phoned them the same/next day.

What did the venue say when you raised the issue of the double booking? I'd be asking for at least 50% refund, although that might be too late now as the event is over and they have your money.

Bit u clear... Was your booking from 2pm to 5pm and her booking was 5pm onwards, but they just hadn't told you that you only had the hall until 5pm so you all assumed you had it 2pm for the rest of the day?

I would check all correspondence from the hall in case it was mentioned that you'd have to be out by 5pm.

As to the photos having baby shower decs in, if it bothers you that much see if you can hire someone to photo shop them out?

The venue is at fault. They shouldn't have accepted a booking for the same afternoon that also required decoration. They certainly shouldn't have let the other party decorate from 8am if they knew they had another event first! I wonder if the venue thought the baby shower and christening were the same event? They should compensate your sister for not being able to stage her event exactly as she wanted – but equally on the day you shouldn't have just rolled over for the other party and got someone official to intervene and sort it out.

You've left it too long, by far.

I don't see how you could have booked for an unspecified amount of time. There must have been an end time mentioned. Even if it was for a whole day, you would have been told what time the place needs locking up at night. I suspect the breakdown in communication was at your end.

Maybe you only had it booked from 2-5 and your friends sister from 5 onwards.
She still shouldn’t have been allowed to put her decorations up before your booking was finished.

So you need to take this up with the venue but there would be no chance in hell that I would allow someone to decorate or even leave their decorations in the hall where I am hosting a party. You should of refused them access and got them to take it up with the venue people. They may very well tell you that it was your fault for letting them set up

Eh? This happened a few weeks ago and you're only thinking about what action to take now? Why have you left it so long?

Clearly there was a double booking or a misunderstanding on timings. This should have been clarified on the day. I don't see how you can expect recourse weeks later. Sorry.

I suspect your friends sister is in the wrong, she booked from 5 so would have access from 5, not 8am! I personally wouldn't blame the venue if a village/church hall because I suspect that they had no idea she would presume she had it all day. I've had this issue at work and usually it's someone whose a keyholder making presumptions without checking first