Wedding Forum - Events manager lying to make the costs...

so basically we booked our reception venue and was told a bunch of lies which I've just found out. these lies caused the contract to state a much higher price and not sure if there is anything we can od about it? the guy doesn't work there anymore and we have a new events manager. so this is going to be a long one as I explain the situation!

so we was told £37 per head for day & £14 per head for evening guests. I asked if children would be charged at the same price, I mean they are only having small meal probably chicken & chips or something. he told me yes everybody is charged the same price. later I had spoken to a family member who says this doesn't seem right and to double check. so I asked our new events manager who informed me under 16's are half price and under 5's are free!

we said we only wanted 46 day guests and the same in the evening. I was told this can't happen and that the minimum for evening guests is 70. this was before putting together a contract or signing anything so that was not the reason for stating we cant have less than 70 guests. the later on find out via their website that they actually have a room for 60 guests or less! im struggling to even find 70 guests we don't know that many people! im having to ask people to bring people that I don't even know to add the numbers up. I have to invite strangers to my wedding because I was lied to? I know I probably don't have to have 70 guests as long as I pay for that many, but why would I want to pay for people that won't even be there? why should I HAVE to just because I was told something that wasn't true? if I was told the truth I would of said 46 guests, and that's what would of been on the contract.

when we booked we was told about their package which includes a 3 course sit down meal. I asked if they have any other packages and he told me no they only offer a sit down meal. I didn't think anything of this I just thought ok that's fine I didn't know there was always usually a choice. but thinking about it now I know a bit more, that is strange!

now, at the time of booking I was fine with all this as I obviously thought its the truth and how it has to be. I thought I had no other choice as I couldn't find any other venues anyway and I decided to almost skint myself to try and pay for this as there was literally no other option for venues. everywhere local to me had packages starting from £3,000 which I don't have or too many guests as a minimum. so I signed the contracted and paid a £200 deposit.

recently I have been going through all my wedding plans and told my family what I was told that I cant have buffet, cant have a very small wedding with just 46 guests and I have to pay full price for the children. but now that I know all this was a lie, now that I know children are at a different price and I could of had fewer guests to save the pennies. that is the reason I wanted only 46 guests, i didn't want to spend much more than £2,000 as we wanted a really small budget wedding. but I was fine with this as this is what we wanted. I started to think maybe I got my expectations wrong and £2,000 is too low to expect as I really wanted a nice hotel reception. but now that I know I could of had what I wanted, cheaper, less people, I was told the wrong price for kids, I could of actually had a buffet to make the food cheaper. I don't feel like I should HAVE to pay the full price when if I was told all this in the first place my contract would of stated a different, and MUCH lower price. I feel silly as if I didn't know all this I wouldn't of minded, I wouldn't be complaining right now and would of got on with it knowing there was no other option - no cheaper option. but its really annoyed me that 1. I was told fibs and 2. I have to pay for things I really shouldn't anyway as that is not their prices and they DO infact offer other packages. its probably my fault for not looking it up on their website first. the price is £2710 on the contract because of him charging me wrong for kids and not letting me have less guests when I am actually allowed less guests. but if id of been told all this and been able to give the correct details it would of only been £1.759.50 on the contract!!! the money isn't even what bothers me. I mean, I booked it I knew what the price was. its the fact I was lied to my face when I could have booked it cheaper if hed told the truth! its not on at all so disrespectful & hurtful to lie to somebody like that ESPECIALLY a stranger, a customer!! not good for business!

anyway my question is, what would you do? is there even anything I can do now that I have a contract? my contract states the minimum guests (70) and minimum price I must pay (£2,710) but I don't feel comfortable with this now that I know that's not the correct price that should be on there. the problem is I cant prove any of it as it was face to face in a meeting with him that it was all discussed. I have a meeting with the new events manager on Friday I don't even know what to say. I just hope it goes well and she can do something about it so that I can get what I originally wanted.

I feel like cancelling this venue and just finding a room in a pub to hire & dress up and give up on the nice wedding I wanted in a hotel - not because of the price but for the fact I was lied to it has upset me a lot. I cant stand being lied to! if it wasn't for the cancellation fee & losing my deposit I wouldn't think twice about cancelling! am I right to feel this way? do you think im over reacting over the whole thing and I should just ignore it and get over it? I feel a bit silly that it has got to me so much and upset me in this way!

Did he give you a break down of the costs at all, or did he just give you a final lump sum? Our venue provided us with a spreadsheet which clearly includes all the costs, explaining what they are for and for how many people etc. If yours did provide you with this, then they can see for themselves that his calculations are incorrect, but if he didn't provide you with one, then they have no "proof" either - it's basically his word against anyone else's.

I would explain the situation to the new coordinator and see if they can come to some sort of compromise. It's not your fault that you signed the contract blind - you had no reason not to trust them in the first place, and you shouldn't have had to research before you were told the prices etc.

In the contract it just says what we have included so 3 course meal etc. Minimum numbers required and it the price just says £37pp day £14pp evening but doesn't say anything about children's costs and they should be half price. IF I cancel the contract states I must pay a percentage of the total cost so I don't think I can cancel as they will make me pay for it anyway. I have a meeting on Friday so fingers crossed she will sort it for me x

Fingers crossed she will be willing to come to a compromise. Surely if she does the maths herself based on the ACTUAL figures she will be able to see that the figure the old manager came to is incorrect? You may have signed the contract but it's something that was c0ck3d up by them, so they should be happy to sort it out whether there is a contract in place or not.

You don't think the previous events coordinator was fired for incompetency? You may find you're not the only one in this position, so I would fully explain everything when you go and meet with them on Friday. What a nightmare for you and so close to your wedding too. Hope it all works out.

I've worked out if I cancel it, and they charge me. they can only charge me £271 and I've already paid £200. so if it comes to it if they don't sort it out to the correct price im just going to cancel and hire out a room in a function room or at a pub or something

Hopefully they'll look at it all again and you can get the numbers and costs down.

Did you get it sorted?

Glad they sorted it for you Lorna. You can relax a little now.

Yay. Great news!!

Oh that's great news. Have they changed the number of guests that you need as well?

Great news! Glad they were happy to compromise when they knew the full story x

ahh yes there can be a big difference for day and evening numbers because of tables etc. Glad you are happy :)