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!!

Amaretto and cheese.

Bless you child.

I feel your pain, if I had been told this before my wedding I would have wanted to change venue too and I wouldn’t have picked a venue that didn’t offer red wine as an option as it’s the only thing I like to drink.

Get her a sippy cup?

I think the real question here is what on earth happened with red wine at this venue to get it banned? 👀

Agree with this but I would also add, that I would just bring some of my own for my close family and suffer the consequence. It's a dick move on the venue's part as loads of drinks that they will serve could do just as much damage.

@RedWineRage you have my sympathy. Our wedding meal venue emailed at 9:40pm literally two nights before the wedding changing the terms of the contract and I was so stressed about it. My husband was so rational and asked what we'd lose if we pulled out and suggested that we get every one McDonald's 😂 I cringed at him for the suggestion of McDonald's but then I had a thought about the local pub near our McDonald's and suggested it to him. I sent them a Facebook message at 10pm expecting no reply and barely a few minutes later they messaged back saying yes they could fit us in and do all the things we'd requested except for maybe our budget (they had thought we had a budget of £5 per person for a meal and drink). In the end we all had a wonderful time at that pub, spent less than half we were originally going to be paying for the other venue (we were originally quoted £600) and technically only lost out on a £50 deposit. I hope that you find a solution but ultimately try not to let it ruin the day.

Ahh my dear, yes you’re completely overreacting. It’s there’s been damage, if it’s a historical property then they are obviously entitled to protect it as they see fit. Your mum will survive!! Sit back and breathe.

Imagine this being your biggest problem in life 🙄

Your mother only drinks red wine, I'm surprised she's still alive.

i think it would be more noticeable in winter, but people don’t really drink that much of it in the summer anyway, do they? Rose might be much more popular if the sun is shining (fingers crossed!)

Red wine miniature favours are def a good shout - and your mum can minesweep 87 of those to make up a glassful 😂

It’s a celebration not a booze up so it would be a tad off if anyone made it about them and their need for red wine 🤔

Only on mumsnet would it be considered weird to want red wine served at a social occasion

What in the alcoholism is this post lol.

I’m not a lawyer but I play one on tv.

No court in the country would take you seriously if you filed suit against a venue because you couldn’t drink red with your beef.

Unless you were Mr. Bean. Or Patsy.

Just ask can you change the menu for something that will go with the rose or just accept their decision but it’s not worth switching venue for one tiny detail.

It's not that drinking anything other than red wine is unthinkable, it's that it's her wedding day, it's her mum's favourite drink, and they'd picked it out and paired it with beef for the food and drink of the main meals.

Yes, it's a first world problem and yes, it might not be the biggest thing in the world but it is a problem considering they were not told about this when they entered the contract.

I really don't think it's unreasonable to be disappointed by this. It's her wedding day. Just like I'd be disappointed if I'd picked out salmon and then they said it was unavailable.

I don't like wine but I can see her point.

Also, I'd like to add that we have no idea whether this is her biggest problem in life or not. That's a massive assumption. The day after my dad died I went into school and I was talking with teachers about all kinds of rubbish. That doesn't mean that my history homework was my biggest problem at that point, and I hate it when people throw that kind of assumption around as you never know what people are going through and shouldn't assume.

It is one day, I am pretty sure people will be able to drink Rose without any I'll effects. As an avid red wine drinker on my wedding day I only drank prosecco or white wine as didn't want to spill red wine all down my pretty white dress, and I survived!

‘Survival’ and ‘no ill effects’ are a bit of a low bar for your wedding day in an expensive, already booked, venue.

Have you been able to speak to anyone at the venue to find out whether there is a way to work around this? Seems worth trying that approach first. There may be some wiggle room to maybe serve red when seated for dinner.

Is black current juice/ Ribena also banned?

Only posting to add a voice against all the people saying you are unreasonable. I’d be pretty pissed off too. There goes the cheese course 😩

But if the booze-hound NEEDS alcohol it's not relevant.
Unless diluted with gin and or vodka.

MN is fucking insane.

If I am spending thousands (possibly tens of) on an even then I want my guests to be able to eat and drink according to their preferences. Nobody in the real world thinks that this points to alcoholism.

*event

Would you really have chosen another venue if you'd known this at the start? For the sake of 1 glass of red wine?

If so maybe explain this and ask if one small glass of red wine could be provided for your mum and she can drink it outside the building in the smokers area.