Cancelling wedding venue - are we liable for costs?

[Cillian2013]

Hi we booked our wedding in Feb of this year to get married in Nov of next year, 2020. We paid a £500 deposit to secure the date.

We have since decided that it is going to be way too expensive for us to have it there because we’re going through the adoption process and it’s went alot quicker than planned. Therefore when Im off on one year leave I will go down to statutory pay and it won’t be affordable at that venue anymore. We aren’t willing to get into debt for it, so we want to be sensible and cut our cloth to measure.

I have let the venue know we need to cancel and explained the circumstances, however they have pointed out that as per the written contract we are liable to pay 50% of the costs of the wedding which is £3,000 (on top of the £500 deposit).

We are giving them sixteen months notice to cancel which we feel is ample time to seek alternative custom. It it is very unfair to expect £3,500 overall from customers who won’t actually be using the venue.

It was only an evening wedding so they are still open for lunch that day and if they don’t sell on the date they can still open for dinner. However Ill be surprised if the date isn’t snapped up.

They also haven't incurred any losses apart from some admin as it is so far away from the wedding date. We don’t expect the £500 deposit back, so that should cover the few back and forward emails.

Has anyone any legal advice or been in a similar situation where the contract was totally unreasonable? If we were cancelling close to the date I’d understand but sixteen months notice is alot. We only booked it five
months ago.

Thanks

Why did you sign such a restrictive contract?

If that is what the contract says, that's what you've agreed too. I believe that you can claim that the contract is unreasonable if they hold an alternative wedding on that date; and then argue for everything but your deposit to be returned, but you may struggle to find out if that is the case, and you'd have to wait quite a while to get a refund...

To be completely honest I was so caught up in the moment and the excitement of planning I didn’t read it properly before signing. Hindsight is a wonderful thing!

www.gov.uk/government/publications/cancelling-goods-or-services-guide-for-consumers/cancelling-goods-or-services

Read the link above and quote this to them. Ask them how they are meeting the legislation. You will end up paying them something, but you can argue a reduced amount.

We simply can’t afford to pay the £3,000.
I have read that if one or both parties deem the contract to be unreasonable there is grounds to challenge it. I’ve also read that the Competition & Marketing authority have put out a warning on venues to stop with hefty fines and penalties when peoples circumstances change and if they give reasonable notice. I do completely understand if it was last minute notice it would be very reasonable to incur such costs but not with sixteen months notice....

www.gov.uk/government/news/wedding-venues-advised-to-play-fair

www.guidesforbrides.co.uk/business-information/deposits-and-cancellation-fees-playing-fair

Name change fail OP!

Have you name changed OP?

This sounds really unfair. They should absolutely keep the deposit but 50% of the cost?!

That said this is a huge advert for reading contracts before signing them

Yes because I’ve just joined and put the wrong username on, what does that matter? Is it against the rules?

Thanks TinchyP that article is really helpful! I’ve told them we can’t afford to pay them 50% and Im waiting on their reply. I will quote them some of this information when they come back to me

Even if it’s the contract surely the deposit is part of the 50%?

Not against the rules. just confusing

You need to read the contract you signed down to the small print. At the moment it looks like you are liable. However if you can arrange for someone else to take the date you may be able to pass it on. Might be worth paying a Solicitor to advise.

I thought you were going to ask for your deposit back!

No way would I pay them £3.5k plus £500 deposit for an off peak, winter Nov 2020 date, they can fuck right off.

@Smiler2019 no just means your posts are highlighted so difficult for people to read updates. A lot of people name change to avoid links to other posts.

*aren't highlighters

*highlighted FFS!!

Why do people publicly point out name fail changes so everyone can see it?

Usually if someone has name changed it's because they don't want tcurrent threads linked to previous posts.

Just seems mean to me.

SagAloojah yes our thinking exactly. Happy for them to keep deposit in return for some admin spent back and forward emailing us about stuff but no way can we give them £3K just for nothing when we won’t be using the service. Totally unreasonable.

Windmillwhirl yeah it seemed a little mean to me aswell if I’m honest. Sorry for changing but I genuinely put the wrong username on as I’ve just signed up! Lol

@Windmillwhirl it's not mean at all. A name change mid thread is usually by error because it would be utterly pointless to do it deliberately given people can just search the user name a poster used to post an OP.

People point out a name change fail so that OP can change back to the username she originally posted with, so all her posts can be highlighted.

It's not mean at all- it would be to put someone who had just name changed but that's obviously not what happened. It means you show wrongly on for people following the thread.

It looks like an unfair contract term to me. Like you say they have SO long to fill the space.

If they took it to the small claims court they'd probably struggle to convince the judge and prove they had provided you with any sort of service. You've given them ample time to fill the date and they haven't lost anything eg bought in anything yet for your wedding specifically. Definitely fight it. The deposit is fair enough but just because it's in a contract doesn't necessarily mean it's enforceable. I work in the wedding industry and they're pushing their luck.

Can you be sneaky and get a friend to see if they're available on the date you had planned? Don't make it obvious but something like "we're planning our wedding in November 2020 on either a Friday or Saturday. We love your "celebration suite" function room and wondered what availability you had and if you could please send us a brochure?"

If they confirm in writing that the date is available then you are better armed to argue with them.

@diplodoco thanks for that advice! I feel abit reassured reading that as I’ve been quite anxious about it all day. I just told them this morning. I do think they’re pushing their luck we’re just worried will they take legal action against us or send a debt collection agency or something....