Can our wedding venue do this??? Any lawyers?!

[RedWineRage]

Posting here for traffic....and also some perspective/help/ideas!

Getting married this summer. Reception venue is stately home-type place which is open to the public but also does weddings, has done successfully for years. Top listed wedding venue in various magazines etc and very good reviews. So - not some shady outfit.

Email out of the blue this week - all rather breezy - due to several incidents at recent events, just to let you know we will no longer be serving red wine at all, with immediate effect.

But don't worry, we'll just swap that out for rosé in your drinks package.

What???

My mum only drinks red wine. Several family members prefer red wine. We planned to have beef as a main.

Totally unacceptable, right? They appear to be relying on some woolly clause in the contract around "it's a historic building, changes may need to be made to your wedding plan that are out of our control due to operational reasons" etc.

We're genuinely considering trying at short notice to get another venue, and trying to claim money back through small claims. Has anyone done this? Any ideas on how likely we are to be successful?

My mum can't not have an alcoholic drink at my wedding. Sorry I'm ranting and probably not being very rational.

Perspective and advice welcome!!

Except for this:

"it's a historic building, changes may need to be made to your wedding plan that are out of our control due to operational reasons"

@TeaKlaxon - I was paraphrasing but: "They appear to be relying on some woolly clause in the contract around "it's a historic building, changes may need to be made to your wedding plan that are out of our control due to operational reasons" etc."

That only applies to changes out of their control.

Changing their policy on red wine is not out of their control.

out of our control is the key bit.

Well, someone does.

So red wine goes with beef

white wine with chicken and fish

what does rose go with

wHat happens to those who hate red wine (me) or are driving or don’t drink at all - what would go with beef ?

It’s irritating and by all means raise it but I’d also take a bit of a step back; it’s not the end of the world. I honestly can’t remember what wine I was served at any of the weddings I’ve been to.

My mum can't not have an alcoholic drink at my wedding.

🙄 🍷

In my experience, it is highly likely that the insurers have made it a condition of cover following a claim for damage caused by red wine. That makes it both outside their control and operational.

It is not a material change. Food and drink of an agreed standard is still being provided. No venue has ever been beholden to a specific list of drinks to be available and nor would this one.

It is possible that they could allow red wine to be served during the dinner only. Worth asking.

I'm pissing myself laughing at all the people insisting that you just cannot ever consume beef without red wine though.

Agree and some of the snobbery on this thread about wines is hilarious.

Lols at it being snobby to want a choice of red or white wine 😂.

Pretty sure most people wouldn’t chose a venue that didn’t offer red wine so not sure why people think the OP should put up with it.

What about Ribena?

I'm pissing myself laughing at all the people insisting that you just cannot ever consume beef without red wine though.

That's not what most people are saying though. The issue is there not being an option of red wine. And you only have to look at the wine consumed in a steak restaurant to know that red is the more popular choice with beef.

I prefer vimto with beef.

Wow, some really nasty messages on here. The OP clearly stated that the venue was a stately home thereby conveying the fact that this will be a formal wedding.

The nastiness seems to come from people who either don’t understand this concept or have not been to a formal wedding. It would be wrong not to serve red wine with the meal, probably the most popular drink by far and I would try to negotiate this for the meal when everyone will be sitting down.

Non formal weddings can be lots of different things and will vary according to hosts, some will want wine and some will not care as long as there is booze, as for the poster who thought that the kids would have Ribena….what sort of wedding does that?

There is some terrible "legal advice" on this thread. I am a lawyer and I specialise in consumer law. Firstly please do not rely on advice from randoms on the internet! Secondly - in slight contravention of what I've just said! - you may well have a good legal argument here, but if they hold firm it's going to be a battle to win and will put a sour note on your wedding plans. I would try to resolve it through discussion with them and not get all legal about it. Unfortunately the wedding industry is rife with consumer law non-compliance; I don't think that raising legal arguments is going to suddenly encourage them to comply with the law any time soon.

I agree that swapping red for rosé is savagery of the highest order and on that basis alone, if you were my client I would fight tooth and nail for you. Unfortunately I work for big businesses and not consumers so I won't be doing that!

People raising their eyebrows at "my mum cannot not have an alcoholic drink at my wedding"

Honestly, people are so self righteous about booze. Some people like wine and would expect to have a glass or four at a daughters wedding. If you enjoy wine and you were going to a fairly formal wedding you would expect a glass of red. Drinking ribeana all night sounds rubbish to me.

If you’d posted as the venue and asking if you were being unreasonable as the owner then you’d have also got totally slated, OP. It’s sport and also some people like to use the term bridezilla as they’re ten years late learning it.

This is common in listed buildings. I toured a beautiful historic house in Glasgow when I was getting married. They didn’t allow red wine or dancing

My cousin's wedding was dry - their choice. My mum and uncle didn't know that but both brought their own bottles of wine, and said to the waiters "when I ask for water, what I really mean is a sauvignon blanc".

I think a sneaky bottle will be fine for you mum.

I get why they are not allowing it, but it does suck.

😜😜😝

Tell them that none of your guests work at 10 Downing Street, and therefore are capable of drinking wine without throwing it up the walls.

A friend of mine was once invited to a party at Chris de Burgh’s house in south Dublin. Very fancy and nice with exquisite catering and live string quartet. Offered a drink, she asked for red wine and was told ‘Chris is offering white drinks only on account of the rugs.’

(this story was told to me first-hand two decades ago but it stayed with me!)

REALLY OP…. Grow up and stop acting like a pathetic privileged madam.

At least the photos will be nicer without the black teeth?