wedding venue advice???!!

[tazmanian-devil]

:help:ok bit of a long one but this is as brief as i can get it!

The hotel we booked to get married at has [edit] form day one, we so badly wanted to get married outside and the hotels we viewed all had beautiful gardens etc, but we needed to be happy with the room if it happened to be bad weather! Ok so we finally found one that we fell in love with, it had been taken over by a company after the previous owners went into liquidation etc, we viewed it at the final stages of re decoration, literally the decorators were packing things up as we were shown around, we asked to see the place we could have the ceremony outside and they said they were due to meet with an interior designer in the week to draw plans etc but showed us where it would be built.

We had a year til our wedding so didnt think there would be any issues as were also told they were really making sure the whole hotel was completed in time for wedding season.

So we came away, discussed it and a week later put a £800 deposit to secure our date.

Ok so moving on a few weeks, we met with the registrar who said she'd seen the plans for the 'gazebo' and it looks stunning etc.

Emailed the hotel to discuss food etc and asked about 'gazebo' in a few emails. One of the emails i received stated that the chairman had given confirmation the 'gazebo' would be built in time for our wedding.

Ok moving on to about 6/7 weeks prior to wedding we receive another email stating they been having problems with planning so 'gazebo' wont be built in time so as a 'good will' we can have our drinks package for free.

Ok now if that had been genuine, i would of accepted the offer.

I went to the local planning office and checked............No planning application submitted....... at all!

They knew we were relying on the 'gazebo' for our wedding.

Ive tried questioning them just to be [edit] further to and finally got the response of 'Not to pursue the planning query any further'

Now i dont want to push it too far as we only have a few weeks to go and they know we wont find anywhere at such a late date!

What can we do legally?

Sorry its long but thats not even half of it!

thanks

Edited March 27, 2012 by honeybee13
Removing contentious words.

[stu007]

Hi taz

 

Do you have any written agreement at all or letters stating about the gazebo?

 

Also as the gazebo aint happening have you thought of suggesting an alternative os its outside like a Marquee. I know it aint the promised gazebo but may be a compromise. only a suggestion.

Edited March 25, 2012 by stu007

[tazmanian-devil]

hi stu,

Yes we do, various emails i have printed off, 1 stating that 'they are aware we are relying on the gazebo for our wedding'

another stating 'the chairman has confirmed the gazebo will be built in time for our wedding'

Also we have been passed around the staff and beginning to feel like guinea pigs, we were 1st assigned 'the events manager' now for some reason the 'food manager' has become our wedding planner??!!

They wont give us the information regarding the person in charge of things like planning!

Any help would be great as my partner, myself and my family have been through alot of traumatic times over the past year and although it may seem trivial about 'the gazebo' it meant alot to us personally

thank u

[stu007]

Hi

 

I really think you need to arrange a very polite face to face meeting with the "Wedding Planner" and the "Chairman" as a matter of urgency to try and resolve your concerns and worries as that is what a "wedding Planners" job is to resolve any concerns or worries you have before the big day. For basically a new business this isnt looking very good for them at present in there dealings with you.

 

I can fully understand your reason for the gazebo as this is what you wanted for your special day .

 

I would bullet point all your concerns and worries in fact anything you want to discuss in writing for the meeting with copies.

 

Yes they cant get the gazebo built as promised but I am surprised that they havent offered you an alternative as you can get Gazebo type Marquees for hire at there expense of course(I know it isnt the same but could be an alternative).

[tazmanian-devil]

Oh we had a meeting, with the events manager, who said she had put 2 nights at the hotel for free and the food manager had taken them off??!! We also met with one of the directors and an interior designer all of which said we could have a blessing type thing but our discount would then have to be re viewed if they were sourcing etc. When we questioned the director about the 'apparent planning' she looked flustered and claimed she knew nothing.

But they wont tell me who the chairman is and as for the discounts we are being made to wait another week for the 'food' manager to return from holiday???!!! Im so upset about the whole thing, but the worst bit is watching my parents and partner, obviously they all wanted to make the day as perfect as i did. Feels almost like they waited this long knowing we couldn't do anything about it.

Cant even feel excited about our wedding, which I never thought would happen.

Thank you stu, nice to know ppl DO try and help

[assisted blonde]

Just to say that a civil wedding can only take place in a fixed structure approved of by the local authority so you cannot get married in a marquee, gazebo, hot air balloon or the middle of a lake etc and only between the hours of 8am and 6pm, a religious ceremony must take place in a place of worship a jewish ceremony can however take place in a house or outside as long as it is conducted correctly.

[tazmanian-devil]

Just to say that a civil wedding can only take place in a fixed structure approved of by the local authority so you cannot get married in a marquee, gazebo, hot air balloon or the middle of a lake etc and only between the hours of 8am and 6pm, a religious ceremony must take place in a place of worship a jewish ceremony can however take place in a house or outside as long as it is conducted correctly.

 

Oh yes, I know otherwise I think we would of just picked a spot on a beach if that was allowed hehe.

But the gazebo was meant to be built as a permanent structure for our wedding and it now its not. Grrrr

[honeybee13]

Hello there. I'm sorry about the problems you're having, I know how important a wedding is to a couple.

 

Would you care to name the hotel here? We might be able to find the chairman's name for you if you haven't already done that.

 

My best, HB

[assisted blonde]

I really dont think there is a lot you can do the hotel probably intended building a gazebo but may have found it was too expensive or they may have approached the council to see if they would be granted a wedding licence should it have been built and recieved a negative response, wedding licences can take some while to be approved as can planning so they may have been hoping it would be done rtather than knowing it would be, no help to you now though. I would suggest that you visit the venue again let them know how upset you are (but dont loose yor temper) accept the drinks package and try and get a bit more out of them, free room for you on the wedding night/upgrade on food package/extra table decorations etc etc.

Please dont let this spoil your day as the most important thing is that you are getting married, not the reception or the trimmings. You could always have a blessing outside after the ceremony if not on the day at a later date.

[tazmanian-devil]

Yeh I know theres nothing I can do, but it just would of been nice to be kept informed, or at least warned a little earlier so that we could of had different options and choices available. Just feel very let down by the whole thing. One of the worst bits is that my parents knew how much this meant to myself and my partner and seeing my mum and dad upset that makes my disappointment worse than it already was, if that makes sense?

[assisted blonde]

Yes, but the upset will fade into insignificance when they see you on your wedding day, dont dwell on the negatives now just enjoy your day and if your parents see that you are accepting the situation then they will stop being so upset, I'm a mum and I know that what upsets me most is when my children are unhappy so if nothing else try and put a brave face on it.