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!!

[myyellowcar]

Ohhh OP this reminds me of my wedding venue, it’s not venue initials S P is it?

[Dietcokeaddiction]

I probably wouldn't book a venue that had this rule, just because a lot of people like a glass of red wine with a meal. But I'd suck it up at this stage. What I wouldn't do is accept rose 🤢 as an alternative. I would ask for a partial refund and a change to the menu.

[Thunderpunt]

Surely they have insurance to cover this kind of thing?

[LondonJax]

We had our heart set on a particular, very old, venue until we were being shown around and were told no red wine.

It turned out they'd had a spill on some of the flagstones in the main hall and it cost an arm and a leg to get it specialist cleaned (very old, very worn and very historic flagstones). Their insurers had said they wouldn't cover the building for damage if red wine was served from then on.

We ended up elsewhere as we wanted to be able to serve red and white but at least we knew in the early stages.

Could be a similar thing where they can't get insurance without that clause now.

[TargusEasting]

@Sexnotgender

Their gaff their rules.

Here we go. ^

Another poster just firing from the hip with 'thoughts and feelings', never even considering that something might exist in society such as the law of contract.

[SystemOverloadedNameChange]

No, insurance sometimes won't cover accidents with staining drinks like red wine on old flooring. It's too expensive to remedy.

[limitedperiodonly]

I have no idea what you can do but I'd be furious. I've never heard of such a thing in a restaurant or similar event venue which is what they are. I bet it's not cheap either. Ignore the bleating about why you can't have a wedding without an alcoholic drink. It's annoying but it's Mumsnet so these people come with the territory.

[Bayleaf25]

I agree with you OP, we have quite a few friends that don’t really drink white wine, just red, especially with beef, so yes I would be put out. I think I’d try to politely argue that they can’t change this now (obviously they can for new customers).

I’m not sure I’d cancel over it but I’d be miffed and try to argue my case.

[Aroundtheworldin80moves]

See if you can find a specific liability insurance for wine damage?

[LauraNicolaides]

Offer to provide a deposit to pay for any red-wine-related damage. I'm guessing they're worried about carpets. (Although any damage you do cause could well be extremely expensive for you to fix - I'm guessing that's why they've changed their policy.)

[ScottishBeeswax]

Beef needs red wine! I'd ask to change your menu if they'll only serve rose

[erinaceus]

In terms of perspective, this was a rule at our wedding venue due to the value of the artworks on the walls (! -- no idea what they thought our guests were going to get up to). We had beef as a main. I do not think that the wedding was affected in any way.

What I would do is consult a good sommelier or wine merchant around what suitable wine to choose as an alternative that will go with your, rather than be fobbed off with the red wine being swapped for a rose as if the choice is unimportant. See if you can negotiate on corkage if you want a wine that is not on their list. Your guests will then remember a delicious wine rather than the absence of red wine.

[veggiesupreme]

Change the main dish and don't worry about it. Most red wine drinkers I know are happy to drink rose instead.

If it is a dealbreaker then switch venues. YABU a little anyway!

[adlitem]

I'm a lawyer. You will get nowhere with this contractually. Even if you could show they were in breach (which I doubt) what foreseeble and direct damages have you incurred?

[KrisAkabusi]

Your guests will then remember a delicious wine rather than the absence of red wine.

I've been to dozens of weddings. I don't remember the wine from any of them it's really not that important a detail of the day.

[Vapeyvapevape]

They probably do have insurance but would maybe have to close rooms off and cancel other bookings while repairs to stained floors are made , meaning they lose income.

[CotswoldWoolly]

@LauraNicolaides I doubt it’s to protect the carpets! Given the venue the OP has described, any damage may run into tens of thousands. Items in stately homes are often irreplaceable, and so the offer of money may not be enough even if the OP can offer a sizeable deposit .

[DobbyTheHouseElk]

You will look back in this and laugh. You are over reacting.

Rose is horrible, but I’m sure your guests will be fine drinking white wine.
Suggest hip flasks for those who can’t cope.

I would definitely ask the venue what they can offer instead and ask for a reduction in the white wine costs.

[LauraNicolaides]

@TargusEasting

Here we go. ^

Another poster just firing from the hip with 'thoughts and feelings', never even considering that something might exist in society such as the law of contract.

It's likely though that under the contract @RedWineRage is liable to pay for damage caused. The venue has probably had trouble recovering the large bills for this sort of thing in the past. So I think "their gaff they rules" is not unreasonable in this case. Hence my suggestion of allaying their concerns with a deposit. If they still won't let it go ahead then yes, they are being unreasonable.

[GrumpyPanda]

The reverse snobbery on here is bizarre and frankly obnoxious. Of course it matters if the venue is swapping out your booked drinks for something totally unsuitable to your meal package - and their proposing rose would make me worry about getting served some godawful swill, since there's so little halfway decent rose around.

I'd go with what a pp said and see if you can't negotiate something around a raised security deposit. Failing that, make them upgrade to a different, white wine-compatible main dish free of charge. Maybe some nice veal? I definitely wouldn't accept their proposed changes without a massive discount at the very least.

[SausageAndCash]

OP, I would also be very disappointed in the venue over this. And let them know it.

No way would I serve beef as a main without the option to drink red wine with it. I wouldn't be bloody paying for my guests to eat beef with white or rose the only wine options.

I wonder if they would relent for red wine to be drunk seated at tables during the meal?

Otherwise at the very least I would demand that I can change the menu.

Have guests already been asked for menu choices?

Obviously don't take the suggestions for smuggling red wine in etc, as they would probably sue you for any stains.

Discuss the possibility of insurance with them?

Ask if it would be OK to discreetly explain to guests that as a historically sensitive venue they need to be extra careful with red wine and it will only be available for sit down drinking?

[Aop]

@saltinesandcoffeecups

Yeah OP they can do this based on that clause. Yes you are overreacting a bit. Yes, it sucks to have last minute wrench thrown into plans. No, don’t change your venue.

Step back, serve the Rose’ , this is a big deal to you right now, but you will honestly not give it a second thought down the road.

This. Very shortly after the wedding, no one will give two fucks about what wine was drunk.

[purplecorkheart]

There are some full bodied rose wine types out there. Not many admittedly but a few grape varieties are out there. That might be well worth researching.

[Mumdiva99]

This is also good advice
What I would do is consult a good sommelier or wine merchant around what suitable wine to choose as an alternative that will go with your, rather than be fobbed off with the red wine being swapped for a rose as if the choice is unimportant. See if you can negotiate on corkage if you want a wine that is not on their list. Your guests will then remember a delicious wine rather than the absence of red wine.

Your mum would probably rather a big gutsy bold white than the dry rose which is popular at the moment.(personally I love the fizzy rose - we had pink fizzy cava at our wedding, only around £15 bottle - we did our own bar so was the off licence price. Not a hotel price.) But we tried some great whites around a similar price point which were delicious. We went to majestic wine for our tasting and purchasing. They were really helpful.

[FlipFlopShopInHawaii]

It absolutely IS a big deal! I only drink red wine, and wanting to have a drink at my daughter's wedding does not make me an alcoholic.
I can't believe majority vote YABU 😟