Wedding venue cancelling my menu choices with three weeks to go - devastated

[Ilikegherkins]

I have just received an email from my wedding venue saying there has been a mid communication with my menu choices for my upcoming wedding. I have chosen a three course meal - with the help of the events planner at the venue, printed menus for 44 guests to choose and RSVP, spent hours with a spreadsheet to be able to get my pre order in - which was confirmed by the head chef in February (all choices with costings)

We have a three course set menu for 44 guests - we have also pro ordered lots of wine / beer and will be getting evening food for approx 60 people

I am in complete disbelief. The new set menu they have sent me bears no resemblance to my menu and is £20 per head more expensive

They have offered me a bottle of champagne to say sorry

Does anyone have any constructive advice - I'm a bit heartbroken

I hope you get it sorted, I would be pushing until they resolve it. Doesn’t sound fair one bit

sorry to people runing their own business i know its hard right now but we're all suffering the same

you cant start changing prices for every single thing now and claim well its cot of living crisis you just wont get any business

Have some free legal advice. It is accurate. Unless the contract gives the supplier the right to change the price, the price is fixed. The basic point is that a contract is an agreement. It does not allow one party to unilaterally change the terms of the contract, particularly when it is a consumer contract.

I presume you are dealing B2B, which means your buyers have less protection. However, the courts take a fairly uncompromising view. If you have entered into a contract and there is no clause in the contract allowing you to vary the price, you cannot change the price even if it means you are going to make a loss. A force majeure clause won't help in this situation, nor can you claim the contract has been frustrated. The fact that other buyers are willing to pay more than the client to whom you were contracted to deliver is not relevant. Tearing up the contract as you have done may mean that your client can take action for breach of contract and recover damages from you.

Basic UK contract law - a contract is an agreement between two parties. Once it is in place, both parties are bound by their obligations under the contract. Neither party can unilaterally vary the terms of the contract unless the contract itself gives them that ability.

I would speak with them face to face with a witness tell them fish, beef and chicken is not difficult to source. You want your original agreement to be adhered to including the price. If they refuse I would take them to court for breech of contract, the cost of your printed menus for guests and compensation for spoiling your wedding. I would be all over social media warning other people the type of establishment they are dealing with, sticking to factual information, including their emailed responses. I think if it was me I would rather sue this pub, postpone my wedding and find another venue rather than let them get away with this.

Maybe Daily Mail will pick this story up.

In my experience any written exchange of something like this is seen as an agreement. Put your response in writing and get legal advice.

Under no circumstances speak to them verbally.

Everything must be documented in writing so the papertrail remains in tact.

If you have legal cover on your home insurance it may be worth considering speaking to them at some point if needed.

Such a shame this issue has taken over. Wishing you the best, OP.

Food is scarcer and more expensive, chi ken beef and fish too. If you've not noticed that when doing your shopping then ...🙄

What a helpful contribution

Regardless they’ve been really shoddy with the paperwork if there was any space for a misunderstanding. Our wedding venue had an itemised line by line inventory for food and drink that was refined and confirmed closer to the time. That list included all the allergy substitutions, kids etc.

Why be so rude?
@Ilikegherkins has been nothing but polite
Totally unnecessary of you

Not exactly the point, is it? Prices etc have been pre agreed. Yes prices are going up everywhere, but that means the venue should be charging more for future weddings, not trying to break agreements made on existing ones. It's not like the current inflation, if not the extent of it wasn't predicted is it.

How much did it cost to print the menus?
Only email them and nothing discussed verbally. I would reluctantly accept new menu but not price increase. Do not accept the bottle of champagne as this will mean you accept all new terms. I got burned by something similar myself. A price has been agreed on both sides and you've paid in full. It is 3 weeks to the wedding and too late for asking for more money.

I’m going to put an email together this afternoon- like many of you have said - I think putting it all in writing at this stage is important.
I will be firm and refer to the email ‘contract’ from February and hopefully can get this sorted ASAP.
you have all been really helpful- Thankyou

I disagree with those saying you should only deal with it by email. A paper trail can be created simply by sending them an email after each discussion setting out what was agreed.

Think this is a good way forward. If they publish a menu online see what nearest equivalent of each dish is now and note any price changes (hopefully you have the one you selected from to compare). They need to come up with an alternative proposal at the same price you agreed. Who is paying the wedding planner, are they an employee of the pub?

Fully agree

Honestly OP, you will get much further with them having a conversation.

If you go for an officious MN route of "as per our agreement" etc you are a lot easier to be cast by them as a dickhead and it will become battle of who can create a more legal sounding email.

Call them. Tell them you're so disappointed such an important change was only emailed to you. Explain your sadness. Ask them what other solutions they have. Wait for them to propose something. This is all far better over the phone with a real human at the other end feeling massively awkward trying to appease a bride who they've let down.

You take copious note during the call and THEN you write an email with your notes so there is a written record of what was discussed - which hopefully you will never need because you will be able to resolve it amicably.

Good luck!

I think it's an issue between the pub manager and the head offce
Very unprofessional for them not to resolve it between them or come up with a similar menu

What a nightmare for you. Hope you get it sorted 🙂

I work in food procurement. This will be down to cost not availability of ingredients. If you agreed a price in February then I can understand why they are unwilling to honour the prices agreed. Costs have escalated hugely since then - I have contracts worth millions and, almost without exception, the suppliers have broken the agreement because of the unprecedented cost increases. If, by honouring a contract the supplier is putting their organisation in jeopardy, then it is impossible in the current climate to hold them to the original agreement. I have worked in the industry for over 20 years and have never had a supplier renege on a major contract before - but the increases and instability of supply are totally out of kilter with anything I have experienced . What they should have done way before this point it to come to you and openly and honestly explain the issue and work with you on options. They have handled this really badly.

As a business we have our own in house legal team and there's nothing we can do to enforce contractual pricing in the current climate.

IIRC emails do count as contractual.

This thread shows exactly why wedding prices are so much higher though. If this was OPs birthday party and the menu had changed they would probably just pick something else off the menu and all have a lovely time on the beers. It wouldn’t generate a mumsnet thread. Whereas as it’s a wedding it’s ruining the perfect day, money spent on printing cards/ RSVPs/ spreadsheets etc. so of course people charge more for the fact they have to have more in the fudge budget to put unforeseen things right as refunding a bit if the cake slipped into the side of the box during transport is unlikely to cut it with a Bridezilla. In the olden days pre covid this would allow them to get in some agency chefs or whatever but as mentioned upthread the skilled labour just doesn’t exist at the moment.

I’m absolutely not saying btw that the OP has gone Bridezilla in any way, in reality if the pub can’t get the original menu for whatever reason they should be working with the OP to get as close to it as they can with no additional costs to her, not merrily sending an email like they did, but for every reasonable discussion there will be another screaming crying ‘my life has been ruined’ overly emotional Bridezilla who’d want the whole venue for free because they can’t get cod but could they do haddock instead.

BE CAREFUL
Q. what happens when you threaten them then they "walk out on you"?, that is what they believe is their Trump Card. Personally I would ....
NAME & SHAME them, IF they still refuse to stick with your agreement, including every contact detail you can find, their home phone numbers, addresses AND Their NAMES. Get your local paper involved, local Radio Station, YES people still listen. Send them the "agreed" menu and the agreed price and let them know that the Press will be at both receptions.

I wouldnt email
I would call. The email might not be read in 3 days time..
Get thinfs sorted
Stick to your guns.
Tell them to honour your agreement.
Use firm terminology.

And if you can't convey that message than get someone on the phone that can do it on your behalf.

It's not something to be "heartbroken " over op. In the end it is just food.
You want the marriage not just the wedding right?.
But it is a pain in the arse. And a migraine to deal with for sure. Sorry for you.