To expect redress from wedding venue?

[Coffeeandgranola]

Last summer I booked the ceremony venue for my wedding this October. It's a university chapel within the wider campus grounds which have a very unique and atmospheric area for wedding photos. It's a really well-known wedding location in the area and I would say getting these photos is one of the top reasons couples choose it (including us).

When we had our viewing of the chapel ahead of booking we spoke about a range of things with the events coordinator which would have absolutely included at least a passing mention of our photography plans, and no concerns were raised.

I've now - 6 weeks out from the wedding - found out indirectly that this area of the grounds has been booked for 'filming'. From googling I have a good guess what for, and the university will be making £££ from it. I've spoken with the events team to understand the impact on our photos and they've confirmed the area will indeed be inaccessible to us.

I've pointed them to the booking T&C's which say that for photography, they do not guarantee 'exclusive' use of any area of the university grounds which I don't read as the same as having no access at all (when I read that at first I took it to mean there might be other people milling about, there might be belated graduation pictures being taken we would need to work around...). I've also reminded them how all their official social channels for the wedding venue use images of this specific part of the grounds as profile photos, cover photos, lead post images etc. They have offered a different part of the grounds as an alternative but it's in no way comparable.

We've spent a huge amount of effort and money planning our weddings around a specific theme/vibe (e.g. our wedding outfits were picked with this photo location in mind). We have no alternative options for sheltered wedding party photos (mindful of October weather).

AIBU to not let this go and push for some kind of redress? If so, what? The cost of the chapel itself is a drop in the ocean compared to the overall wedding cost.

Any famous stars in whatever‘s being filmed? Can you appeal to them? Tom Cruise/Cameron Diaz (for example) ruined my wedding day isn’t the best of headlines!

Good advice from @DoYouReally .

Good luck, OP! And congratulations on your upcoming nuptials!
I hope it will all work out.

Nope. It says they might not have exclusive use of some areas of the grounds. Which means they should have access to all areas, just not exclusively

They do not "guarantee 'exclusive' use of any area of the university grounds" Does it just say this? I can totally understand why you have interpreted this is "we guarantee 'non- exclusive' use of any area of the university grounds". I totally see why you have done that and I think it's a very very cheeky way of phrasing it. I would definately tell them you are very disappointed in the situation, and hopefully, if they value their customers, they will give you some compensation or make it possible for you to have a photo or two in the location you want. That being said, it is YOUR interpretation, "we don't guarantee exclusive use" certainly doesn't MEAN "we guarantee exclusive use". If they value your custom they will try to help, if not, then your mistake, not theirs, live and learn to clarify everything!

The amount of people who haven't read the contract confidently stating what the contract says isn't helping OP.

It sounds as if the contract at no point specifically includes access to the disputed area for photography, but that the OP assumed it. This is typical of how venues word contracts.

OP has my full sympathies but venues take great care to avoid specifics in contracts and it seems OP has fallen foul of this.

Please let's not advise OP on what her contract is for when we only have one paraphrased bit of text from what is likely to be a 12 to 17 page document.

It's a tough one. Our wedding venue had a very standout external feature which was one of the reasons we chose to get married there. 6 weeks before we were told it would be covered in scaffold and sheeting. I tried not to let it bother me tbh because the wedding was indoors but it did impact the photos.

I felt between a rock and a hard place really because they had all the bargaining power - I obviously wasn't going to cancel the wedding at such short notice! I didn't ask for anything but they offered some things out of good will (gave us some of the overnight accommodation for free etc). I think we saved about £2,000 because of it in the end (overall wedding cost about £40,000) but on the day I didn't give it a second thought!

@Coffeeandgranola I work at a place where something similar happened. A group of people were visiting my department, and travelling from quite far. It was all arranged well in advance. Then I was told that a film crew was booking the entire venue for the whole day, exclusively, so I'd have to tell my prior booked group that they couldn't come. Well, they kicked up a fuss and in the end a compromise had to be found as I pointed out it would be a reputational risk to not honour the first booking, and that just because the film crew were paying a lot more it didn't justify alienating our core audiences.

Presumably weddings bring in more money collectively than one or two film contracts?

In the end it was agreed with the film crew that my group would be in a certain part of the venue for the two hours they needed, and they would work their filming around it.

What time of day is your wedding? Film crews usually take ages to get set up, and they won't be continuously filming in the same space all day.

It sounds like it's money over integrity tbh. Sorry this is happening to you.

There's a lot of speculation going on about exactly what the contract says and how it can be interpreted etc but the reality is, the production company will be paying more, the venue aren't going to cancel that so OP can get photos.

The most you can hope for is that they ask the production company what their schedule is and if you can have some photos there.

If OP tries to enforce the contract according to her interpretation they may just offer to refund the cost of the venue and let her cancel it. They know they have all the power in the situation. They aren't going to cover the cost of the whole wedding (including providers) so it's realistically not an option.

Regardless of what is spelled out in the contract, any halfway competent events coordinator should have realized that using the grounds was a primary motivator for selecting that venue, and contacted you urgently when the filming was scheduled.

This is a longshot but how about trying to contact the production company? They must have a media or PR person who might be able to slip you inside the 'prohibited area' for an hour of photos. I'd try. Is the wedding on a weekend? Do film shoots typically take place on weekends?

Maybe they'd even see it as an opportunity for positive public relations, and have some cast members join you in a few group shots, or who knows what? I do marketing and comms, and would bite at that.

If they turn you down I'd tag them in a few sad-face social media posts. "We had been looking forward to our dream wedding at XXX but thanks to Harry Potter (or whatever) we had the rug pulled out from under us. So sad and disappointed!"

Not really. OP wasn't assuming anything, she said what she'd read in the T&Cs so obviously I was going by that

Im guessing it’s somewhere similar to university of Greenwich, I would ask for a walk around again, for confirmation of areas to use, ask if you want a specific spot/area for a photo and see if they can allow specific time for you? For said photo. What they are probably trying to achieve is to stop guests wandering into filming areas. I’m not sticking up for them, you have my sympathy

We need to see the T&Cs to be accurate
OP is quoting what she believed
And it does specify "some areas" which could be that you have non-exclusive access to some areas and no access to others (detailed in a different bit of the T&Cs)

So you wanted the chapel for purely Instagram style bragging photos, although you have no connection with the college or chapel or even religious connections? And you’re getting litigious because other people also want to film ther?

YABU

You're doing it entirely for prestige reasons.

So?

The chapel has no requirement that people renting it have religious affiliations.

Why are you speaking pejoratively of the OP and deeming her desire for nice photography to be nothing more than "bragging Instagram photos?" Many people choose venues in attractive settings for this momentous occasion in their lives, it doesn't make them shallow. Not everyone wants to live to the lowest common denominator.

What a bizarre take.

Most people want to have nice wedding photos!

There's always one 🤣

Our wedding venue had scaffolding put up a few weeks before our wedding. I think they knocked off about 2k without much effort. I think I was just lucky to ask first as it was then in a paper with lots of sad face brides and grooms saying their day had been ruined and no discount forthcoming.

Good luck. Hope you get a good resolution. Maybe you can go back at a later date for some more photos.

Unlikely to be Greenwich as the chapel and the grounds are owned by a charitable foundation not the university, they just rent the buildings.

If it is though you can generally get around the site when filming is happening and it's big enough that you should be able to get some good pictures from one direction or another.

Even when they have a massive production in and turn the streets into a Victorian cattle market they still have to let students access the buildings so there is always a route you can use.

While I can totally understand how disappointed you must be OP, as long as the alternative area they have offered is a nice spot, then I would certainly try not to get too hung up on this. For a lot of couples, once the ceremony has taken place the photos can actually feel like a bit of an intrusion into your special day, as everyone is itching to get to the reception, and chat to the newly weds. We all have them done, as we know it's the only actual record we'll have of the day, but I think you'll find that it doesn't seem such a big deal on the day, as it feels now.

It's really weird, but we all get so hung up about everything to do with our wedding day, wanting it all to be perfect, and don't realise at the time that it is literally just a few hours out of our life, and a teeny weeny part of married life. I've been married 25 years now, and rarely even think about our wedding day, let alone get the photos out, and I'm lucky enough to have been VERY happily married during that whole time. Sadly, for a lot of couples, the wedding photos end up in the bin within a few years!

With regard to making a claim, I would try and ascertain at what point the venue agreed to the filming, and assuming that it was AFTER you made your booking, use this as part of negotiations. Discuss with the person or people who will be paying for the venue, (it may just be you and your partner, although could be parents, etc.) what you feel is reasonable compensation, and then based on this, write / email the organisers stating how disappointed you are, that you were seduced into booking the venue by the photographs that they use in their own publicity shots, and have based your whole theme on being able to have photographs taken in this one particular spot. Point out that at no time were you made aware that there was ANY possibility that this area would be totally unavailable to you, even though you were aware that you would not be entitled to exclusive use of it, and had you been aware of a chance that you couldn't use this area, you would not have booked. Then clearly state what you want from them by way of compensation. Be prepared to haggle if you feel you stand a chance of getting a reasonable offer, even if it's not exactly what you would like, but as I said previously, don't let it spoil the day, as with hindsight, it really won't matter one bit in a few years time. Good luck with the wedding, and your future married life.

This. I would be arguing based on this. I also agree wit would be a good idea to get a solicitor to review the contract and draft them a letter. What fuckers. They will have completely known what they were doing and it’s incredibly unethical at the very least.

I'd try to get the venue to negotiate a time when you can have photos taken there or a discount. It really is damaging to their reputation to have done this.

It's not ideal for your photos, but the venue will be under a strict NDA within their location agreement for filming to not disclose any information, which unfortunately will mean no access for the general public to the area so there are no leaks to the press - the set could be a significant point in the story.

Usually when I've dealt with venues around issues like this, they've been negotiated into conttact to allow access etc.

Yes, the cloisters.

Op has every right to be hacked off. I'd email back and remind her of what she said on xth date (when you last spoke) and that she agreed, or inferred xxx, and that there's a huge difference between inaccessible and "No they said they might not get exclusive use which is different". I'd ask for a reduction in price. And one or all of DoYouReally's good list:

• an opportunity for you and you STBH to dress up in wedding outfits again and take some photos at a later date
• Access on your first anniversary to take some photos
• An opportunity to discuss with thr film crew what may be opposite on the day
• A discount on current costs (can't see it being much)

Also, on the actual day, the film crew might be pleasant (let's hope, rather than curt and nasty) and they've got to take a break some time? Could you negotiate with them and nip in for a few minutes.
Plus do film crews film 9-5pm? Couldn't you go early morning, or later and use it then? I bet something could be arranged. Wedding place just doesn't care enough to even bother.