Need some advice AGAIN lol!! Basically we have booked and paid part of the deposit to our venue but have realised we need to add a few things to our contract.
First thing is that we currently have 60 day guests and children are same price as adults!! We have redone our numbers and we need about 10 more guests. We only have 2 children coming at the minute but have another 5 adults and 1 child at least. Now when I spoke to venue they have said it will be £120 per head regardless of whether they are children or adults!! I want to add an additional 10 to our numbers but at £1200 I am not too happy to do this and surely there should be some sort of compromise.
Second issue is we have 120 at the night and was offered fish and chip cones and bacon sandwiches which thinking now isn't enough so I spoke to them again they advised £25pp for a hog roast supper but if I have it instead of fish and chips etc. she will do it at £20pp on top of the £15pp I am already paying so this works out at £35pp!! Does this make any sense to you girls. Getting a little fed up of it and now its like they know we are having our wedding there because we have paid the deposit and they can charge and do what they want.
I am actually thinking to lose my deposit and book elsewhere cheaper. Can anyone give me some advice on how to negotiate with the venue on this.
Apologies for the essay! Xxx
UPDATE: It didn't go as well as we hoped as she wouldn't budge on anything. The hog roast we have decided to scrap the idea as the wedding is expensive enough without adding more expense with this. The children issue she had excuses that are too long to put on here but basically if we have over 100 day guests the children would be half price. So we came away with the nothing more or less but after re-visiting the venue I do absolutely love the place so I am going to have accept it is what it is and maybe rethink my numbers etc. Disappointing slightly that their was no negotiations but never mind like I say the venue is amazing.
CommentAuthorMrsL2be
We have only paid part of our deposit and agreed to pay the remaining part beginning of January, do you think this gives us any bargaining power or are we going to have to smile and agree to pay the extra if we want the things mentioned above?
CommentAuthorBeckyU98
didnt you find this info out before you booked? if so then to be honest you have paid your deposit knowing these prices so you dont really have a leg to stand on really :( it really just depends on what the venue is like. we had a similar (but not quite so expensive) problem. we wanted a hog roast and made this very clear when we booked. only when we went for our first planning meeting at 6months before wedding did they tell us it would be an extra £400 to have the hog roast. we cant afford that the wedding is costing £15,000 as it is. so we are having the buffet that comes with the meal as its included in price. we had to make a compromise - at the end of the day people wont really remember your wedding for the evening food?
maybe you can cut a few day people out and only invite them to the evening to cut down costs - i doubt they will budge on the day price for that. but yes thats a ridiculous price for kids. ours is £70 a head for adults but under 5s are free and 5-12 year olds are £9.95. i would definitely ask if they can give a lower price for children as that is ridiculous.
as for advice for bargaining? if you dont ask...you dont get. but dont get your hopes up about it all. but definitely that child price is something to kick up a fuss about. good luck! xx
CommentAuthorMrsL2be
Basically most of it is our fault we got caught up in the whole sales pitch by the owner and didn't read our contract properly so feel like we have been had over on a few things that I haven't mentioned but as you soon realise it is all down to reading the contract thoroughly before signing which we didn't. The child price is ridiculous and we were told if we have 100 people in the day there would be a small reduction in price for children on the day.
The hog roast we never enquired about as at the time the bacon barms etc seemed adequate but after thinking about it I think people will be hungry so this is why I enquired and when I did the owner said yes it wont be enough and agreed and said to swap it for a hog roast for another £20 per head per person so this is £35pp in total for a hog roast.
I can't cut people out of the day as I am struggling with the numbers already and need to add more to the day if anything.
I am thinking to cut my losses and go elsewhere and be able the have the numbers and food I want. I am really annoyed at not finding these things out before paying a deposit but hey i'm human and never been married so it was all new to me and thought I had everything covered but obviously not.
CommentAuthorlala "mod" bunni
I would contact them first ..( via email so you have copy ) point out your concerns .. Ask to have the £35 for the hog roast explained , once you have the answers you can then make your decision .
I am emailing as I have a few concerns and it hope you can address them so that we can go forward with our wedding on a clear footing . Firstly can you explain why we are being charged the same price for children as adults, I could understand if they were eating the same food/size of meal but they won't be . My second point is the food that will be provided in the evening you originally agreed to fish n chips cones and bacon rolls for £15 per head , when we the discussed this we were told that it wouldn't be enough food and that you could do a hog roast instead but told us that this would be an additional £20 ph making the hog roast cost £35 per head .... How can a hog roast cost so much ? We are not looking at having this in addition to the fishn chips etc but instead of .
I would be grateful if you reply to me as a matter of urgency .
We had a similar issue with the first venue we went to view. Whilst we were looking round the coordinator said that we could have whatever we wanted and that one couple had a hog roast for 150 people and they charged the cost price of £300. When we sat down and spoke to her we said that we'd like to do the same, to keep costs down.
All that was fine, not a problem. Until she emailed us our quote and quoted us £1600 for a hog roast for 140 people. The whole quote was £5900. She also added in expenses such as her, the security staff etc, who have a paid salary anyway.
So we emailed her back asking to drop the numbers to 90 guests for the hog roast. She then told us that it would be the same price as the pig would be the same size. So I clearly asked her if she could get a smaller hog? She said no, that was the price and that's it. Considering the barn itself only cost £800, and the only other extras were welcome drinks. I told her where to shove it. Some people really overcharge!! If you look around for independent hog roast suppliers, they'll quote you around £600-£800 for 120 people, which works out at about £7p/h at most. So you should definitely find out why its so much!! X
CommentAuthorMrsL2be
Thanks for this Lala. I know I should have got all the info before booking but we were caught up in the moment of the whole thing. I will go down this route first and then wait to see what they reply before making a decision xxx
CommentAuthorstarbabe78
Gosh i thought the place we are getting married at was expensive at £99pp but that's for day and evening including a drinks package, then they also do half portions at £25pp for those with smaller appetites and kids are £22.00 day and evening and we get 8 kids free under 10, i would try contacting them with regards to prices and see if they are willing to negotiate seeing as you are going to be spending so much after all they can only say no... you also say you have only paid part deposit and have signed a contract they may make you pay the reminder of the deposit before they let you cancel if that's the route you want to take.Hope you manage to get sorted what ever you do
just out of curiosity where abouts is it your getting married? xx
CommentAuthorKirsty
How much deposit would you loose?
It will be interesting to see what they come back with. I think the kids price is ridiculous! We argued against paying £11 per child.for drinks and our venue were fine with us telling parents if they wanted anything other than squash to pay (they are actually getting froot shoots in an activity bag but shhhhhsh) our coordinator was fantastic (it was her idea). Have you chisen a separate kids menu?
CommentAuthorElinor Claire
Are you desperate for the hog roast? I think fish and chips in cones would actually be quite filling, particularly for those who have been at the whole day. I do think that they should charge less for the children. Our venue charges £65.50 per head for the day for adults, with children under 12 offered a more child-friendly menu for £12 each, and 12 to 17 year olds offered a smaller portion of the adult menu, again for a reduced cost but I can't remember what. As it happens, we have and 11 year old, a 12 year old, and two 16 year olds who we think will be quite happy with a full adult meal, so we're just using the children's menu for the very little ones.
30th August 2014 was the best birthday ever.
It was the day that I became Mrs. Dixon.
CommentAuthorMrsL2be
We get married in Hale Barns in Manchester or Cheshire as some would say. The £120 includes evening snack and drinks yet they haven't specified what drinks for children. The annoying thing is, the menu offered for kids I wouldn't even want to give them (chicken nuggets and chips or fish fingers) which I have told her and she said they can have a half portion of the adult meal for full price. I am so annoyed at myself though people have warned me about the venue and said they just rip you off no end and I thought people were being slightly dramatic but slowly I am seeing it. I am going to push the children issue as i could have adults in their place meaning I may just about squeeze everyone I need to into my numbers. We would be tied in to paying the full deposit at the moment we have paid £1000 and we have another 1500 to pay towards deposit which we are paying in Jan. The hog roast I could go without but I would hate to think people left our wedding hungry it is just the way I am (secret feeder) lol.
I am hoping to negotiate but after speaking with her I am not hopeful.
If it comes to it I will have to not invite people I want to be there to the day and not have the roast etc. And remember the most important thing is us getting married. Weddings are sooo stressful!! Xxx
CommentAuthorMrsL2be
Oh and as for them coming back with a response I don't holdout much hope as I emailed them twice first time was about 3 months ago and last was about 2 weeks ago about these things before and never got a reply so that is why I rang and spoke to her.
CommentAuthorlala "mod" bunni
Right. .... Send the email leave it 3/4 days then send this
Dear .....
I am a little upset that you have failed to reply to the email I sent you on ( insert date) I really need to hear from you by .....(3 or 4 days after this email) if I don't hear from you I will need to contact ( manager or owner ) to discuss wether we go ahead with our wedding as the lack of contract goes against the supply of goods and services act .
Ok thanks Lala I will give it a go and hope for the best. Its really frustrating as I love the actual venue which is why we have tied ourselves into such a huge amount. Believe it or not we intended to get married on a max budget of 10k for everything and because I fell in love with the place were now almost double that!! This is why I am tempted to look elsewhere and find a venue for hopefully a lot less than what we will be paying them. I will try what you said Lala and hopefully get somewhere. Do you think I should ask to meet her in person to discuss this or just do it over email? Xxx
CommentAuthoralmost a year wife!!
edited
We went to a wedding (day guests) who had bacon butties in the eve and it wasn't enough fr the amount of guests and they were stone cold as its hard to keep something like that hot I think...
£120 per head? Wow!!!!
Ill marry my hero
CommentAuthorlala "mod" bunni
You can put in your email that you would like to have a meeting that would be fine BUT make sure that 1, you have someone with you 2, you go with a list of the things you aren't happy with and the solution that you want .
That was my worry missweedles. They break it all down into smaller amounts so it doesn't sound so expensive but when you add it all up it works out £120pp for day guests and £15pp for night guests. I have priced up a similar (ish) venue which is slightly further out and it is around £6.5k which is brochure price too so probably some negotiating possible but even so this is a lot less than I am going pay and for more people and a hog roast is £8 per person!! They also throw in honeymoon suite too which my venue want another £250 for! This is my back up plan which I hopefully won't need to use. Xxx
CommentAuthorMrsL2be
UPDATE- spoke to owner today and we have a meeting tomorrow night about our concerns. I will let you all know what the outcome is. Xxx
CommentAuthorCarolineW10
When we first signed our contracts and paid the deposit we were promised so much- i stupidly didnt get it written down and then our wedding planner left. We have now had three different wedding palnners- luckily we got everything promised to us because i pushed for it. I would threaten to cancel the wedding with them- that will worry them. Rememeber your paying a hell of a lot money for this wedding, it has to be perfect! £35 is a stupid amount for a hog roast, surely that is wrong? and no where should charge the full amount for children!]
With only 18 days to go we are till fiddling with the touches to our wedding with the help from the hotel. I suppose ive been really lucky with my venue. Goodluck with your meeting and make sure you stand your ground! tell them that theyve priced you out of your budget and they have made your wedding unaffordable to you.
CommentAuthorMrsL2be
Hi Caroline,
I will do. I found something last night when I was searching online that will help me fight my corner but I won't mention it on here at the minute as my venue could be seeing this and don't want to jeopardise anything but I would say I will be ok so fingers crossed. We have decided against the hog roast unless it is at a much more reasonable price as even at an additional £5 per head ( this taking it to 20 per head if we include the 15 we are already paying) it works out at around £600 more so will probably stick to the snacks we already have in the contract but I will be pushing the number issue definitely. Xxx
CommentAuthorMrsL2be
Updated for all those who wanted to know how we got on at the meeting tonight xxx
CommentAuthorStephanieM71
How did you get on? Did you manage to get it at a more reasonable price?
CommentAuthorMrsL2be
Hi Stephanie,
It didn't go well really. I have put an update on the original post xxx
CommentAuthorMrsL2be
Post it at the bottom too - UPDATE: It didn't go as well as we hoped as she wouldn't budge on anything. The hog roast we have decided to scrap the idea as the wedding is expensive enough without adding more expense with this. The children issue she had excuses that are too long to put on here but basically if we have over 100 day guests the children would be half price. So we came away with the nothing more or less but after re-visiting the venue I do absolutely love the place so I am going to have accept it is what it is and maybe rethink my numbers etc. Disappointing slightly that their was no negotiations but never mind like I say the venue is amazing.
CommentAuthorStephanieM71
Sorry - teach me to read properly!!
It's such a shame there's no negotiation - mine is non-negotiable on everything too - not that my mother believes me on that, seems to think you can always haggle!
At least you absolutely love the venue, maybe you can cut back on other things? Our venue decorator is not from our area and is over half the price of the ones recommended - she popped up on the book of face, and I am having artificial flowers instead of real ones. Hoping there will be more ways as we go along :)
CommentAuthorMrsL2be
We are having artificial flowers from the bay of e as we aren't that fussed on flowers anyway and have managed to get the owner to agree to 1 child at half price which will be my flower girl. As for the other stuff in the grand scheme of things they are minor and like I keep saying the venue is amazing and every time I go I love it more and more, this is probably why she won't negotiate because she knows how I feel about the place. We are going to sit down and be really strict with our numbers and try to fit the most important people into the 60. I also told her my chair covers would be done by my venue dresser and not her which really didn't go down too well and we had a very long cringe moment but I explained my reasons and she unhappily accepted it which has saved us a few pennies. I am going to stop worrying about it all now and go with the flow if I can!!
My OH thought there was always room to haggle but sometimes it isnt possible. Xxx
CommentAuthorstarbabe78
sorry to hear things didn't go to plan, i understand where your coming from on that its a place you really love and want to get married so are prepared to pay the cost, its the same with my venue i originally thought we were gona book somewhere else that i liked but when i went to visit Wynyard Hall i fell in love instantly its costing a lot more than the original place i liked and you get a lot less for your money but i only plan on getting married the once and i want the best dont want to look back and think i wish i done this or the other, hopefully you can manage your numbers so it best suits you, good luck with all your wedding planning. xx
CommentAuthorMrsL2be
Well we emailed our venue after our meeting last week and received an email back from the owner today to say they will be providing us with 2 child places free of charge and agreed to all our other minor changes that we requested. We are definitely not going to bother with the hog roast but I am now more than happy with what we have agreed with the owner. Nice start to my Christmas break !! Xxx
CommentAuthorbrilly
Soo glad they managed to sort something out for you hun and im sure the bacon buns and chips is more then fine ive heard a few people say they went to weddings and actually preferred the bacon baps to a buffet as it made them feel more relaxed and because they were drinking it didnt over fill and bloat them so dont be dissapointed about the hog roast im sure everything will be absolutely perfect hun xxx
31st August 2013 I became Mrs Carrick
Cant wait to do it all over again in 2018
CommentAuthorStephanieM71
Fantastic - maybe you can always haggle hahaha
CommentAuthorMrsL2be
I am really happy now, the email was so unexpected so made my Friday!!! just wish 2015 would hurry up lol!! Thanks girls for all your advice and guidance. XXx
CommentAuthorStephanieM71
I know the feeling sometimes it seems to go so quick, others it seems so long away and I want to get married already x
CommentAuthorMrsL2be
edited
ANOTHER UPDATE - So after the last meeting with the venue and them agreeing to include 2 free child places, I have today received an email out of the blue from an event dresser I had requested a quote from a while back but had decided not to use to inform me about some things going on at my wedding venue. The owner is waiting to be sentenced for failure to comply with planning and has been taken to court by our local council and has been released on bail for sentencing end of Jan. Now don't get me wrong this is not the end of the world but looking into it further the courts could apparently place a confiscation order on the venue and demolish the building in question. This leaves me in a bit of a predicament as what happens if the court take possession of the venue and our wedding cant happen or if this demolish work is happening around the time of our wedding. All becoming a lot more stressful. We weren't using this actual building but obviously it still may cause issues for us. Where do I go from here? I know people are going to say speak with the venue but I dont think I will get an honest answer. The day it went in the papers was the day they agreed to let us have the 2 child places which makes me think they wanted to keep us sweet. Omg this is driving me mad!! Xxx
CommentAuthorStephanieM71
Have you got decent wedding insurance? I would be worried too last thing you want on your day is demotion crew all around - or a venue that looks awful. And yes it does sound like they were trying to keep you sweet!
CommentAuthorlala "mod" bunni
Firstly make sure you have insurance .. Then I would say talk to the courts , the court clerks can be really helpful in giving you information
id get out now and leg it as far away from the place as possible!!!
to me its really really not worth all the stress and worry of wondering if there will still be venue!
seriously. id find somewhere else x
Ill marry my hero
CommentAuthorMrsL2be
Hi Girls we haven't taken out insurance would it be too late now knowing what we know and with us paying part of the deposit. I am really worried. Could we get our part deposit back because of all this that is going on? Thanks for all your advice girls it is so appreciated. Xxx
CommentAuthorstarbabe78
I was going to suggest could you take out insurance now but after reading your last post you have said that it has already been in the papers the insurance company's may know this and refuse you insurance, if it is common knowledge that they are having problems i would seriously consider get some advice from a solicitor or citizens advice burea as to where you stand with your contract you have with them. x
CommentAuthorlala "mod" bunni
Trouble is at the moment all you have is speculation and conjecture .... He could be sentenced and no order placed on the building. Which is why I say firstly talk to the court after all IF an Oder is placed they may be able to tell you the time frame ..
You could also talk to the local council planning department , they are the ones who will have instigated the action in the first place.
You other option ( which mr lala said he would do) is to just take the hit and walk away
I would be going back to the venue and asking ALOT of questions. I would be tellin gthe owner that you arenot happy that they have taken your deposit knowing this could be happening in the future and if they couldn't be up front to begin with then what else can they be dishonest about. This is your special day and it should be as stress free as possible x
CommentAuthorCatherineR
I say get wedding insurance and run as FAR away as physically possible.... Regardless of what is going on, I would not want to be dealing with this sort of company or people! Clearly they don't keep you in the picture and couldn't care less about your wedding and until the day you are going to be constantly worried and stressed about what's going on! xx
Married my wife on 15.08.15
Honeymooned on the Isles of Scilly :)
CommentAuthorLauraY27
Like the others have said, I'd demand my money back and go elsewhere!
We were worried about a similar problem with our venue, the owner (Jools Holland, himself) lives in a house he built next door, he recently built castle walls around his swimming pool, which don't look too lovely. I know it's not the venue it's self as that's an ancient barn that'll never be demolished, but if the walls around the pool were to be knocked down we'd be able to see it as it's right next to the grounds of the venue! We were ensured though that this wouldn't be a problem x
CommentAuthorlala "mod" bunni
I'm worried about you going and demanding your money back ..... What would be your grounds ... That something MIGHT happen ? That is not a legal argument.
What does you contract say reguarding if they are unable to provide services/venue?
Met June 2009 on my Birthday,Met again July 2009 and got
together, May 2010 Moved in,Jan 2011 got pregnant,
August 2011 Got our own place, 2011 Had our Baby Girl,
Dec 2011 Got engaged, July 2015 Getting married! Yay!
CommentAuthorInDreamland
Oh goodness, just read this thread!
Sorry to hear about the stress. I'd ensure you have insurance then talk to the courts, I'm sure you're not the only wedding booked in so there are likely to be others asking questions too.
In relation to the hog roast, good job you decided against it, ours was £15 per head with lots of other dishes on the side for the evening buffet. Also, for the children, all weddings I've been involved in for our own wedding and as a bridesmaid, venues do a special children's menu at a fraction of the price of adults! Hopefully you can get out of the contract somehow and get your deposit back then find somewhere more accommodating and flexible which is just as pretty xxx
Married the love of my life on Saturday 11th May 2013 xxx
Had our dream perfect honeymoon in Hawaii!
CommentAuthorMrsL2be
Hi again girls,
We are going to wait until the owner receives the sentence at the end of Jan before we pay any more money and take it from there. I have no grounds as Lala said at the moment as nothing has changed other than the owner has been charged for building on green belt land. It is worrying but should know more by the end of the month. I don't want to go in all guns blazing without a valid reason as we may still have our wedding there. We are going to look at a some different venues as back up plans should we need them.
Our contract says we would be entitled to a full refund of all monies paid should the venue be unable to provide the services set out in the contract. It says they would offer us an equivalent first but if this wasn't acceptable then all money would be paid back in full.
I am going to try not to think about it for a couple of weeks and see what the outcome of the sentencing is. Xxx
CommentAuthorlala "mod" bunni
Best idea Hun ..... And as mr lala says
DONT WORRY UNTIL THE IS SOMETHING TO WORRY ABOUT ...
I took my insurance with a company who cover deposits already paid out. They didnt ask about details of the venue etc, so maybe worth a look. Will pop the link on my wall x
First met 01-08-1996
Together since 02-08-1996
Getting hitched 15-08-2015
CommentAuthorMarrying.Ryan
Oh my! What a terrible situation to be in. I hope everything gets sorted.
