Weddings: When it all Goes Wrong

It’s not just a tired cliché, your wedding day is a special day and if something goes horribly wrong then it can ruin all those precious memories. There are things that you can do to minimise the possibility of a wedding-related disaster, but some things are beyond your control and so you also need to know what to do about those...

Put it in Writing

There are likely to be several people involved in the wedding arrangements, so unless you’re doing the whole thing through one dedicated wedding planning service, there are going to be several different contracts to keep track of.

The most important piece of advice is to get everything up front in writing. This includes absolutely everything from the major issues like reception venue and honeymoon bookings to the fact that one of the guests has a nut allergy, or what’s included in the cost of the wedding dress, as sometimes there are extra charges for fittings and alterations.

When you’re paying for big expenses, this is the time to put the deposits on credit cards (if they are over £100). This is because the Consumer Credit Act 1974 gives you extra protection if something should go wrong – for example if one of the suppliers goes out of business before the wedding.

Wedding Photography

When you’re choosing your wedding photographer, always ask to see previous work, testimonials from satisfied clients and check to see if they are a member of the Master Photographers Association (MPA) or the British Institute of Professional Photography.

Again, you should always put things in writing. If there are any special pictures that you particularly want, tell the photographer in advance, in writing. If the pictures aren’t what you expected, it’s a difficult one because there’s no way a refund or part refund will go any way towards making things better. You do have exactly the same rights as you would have if you pay for any other service – that is the service must be carried out with reasonable skill and care – but there’s not much a photographer can do to rectify it after the event, sadly.

Wedding Gift Services.

Some high street retailers and department stores now provide wedding list services which are a great idea if you want to avoid being given three toasters when you already have one. There have been horror stories about some of the smaller services going out of business and taking people’s money with them, leaving guests and happy couples bereft. The best way to avoid this is to go for well known high street stores with good names because if it happens to you, the only way your guests will get their cash back is if they paid by credit card for over £100 – and even then it can be hard.

Wedding Insurance

As with anything, weddings are liable to not always go according to plan – so for a small cost it can be worth paying out for wedding insurance. If you’re marrying abroad, some package deals give you this as an option and it’s usually fairly inexpensive – but well worth it in the case of something like flight cancellation, wedding gear going missing en route or officials not turning up. Even if you're marrying in this country, insuring against cancellation and bad weather is a good start – most premiums start at around £40.

Wedding Cancellation

If you have to cancel the wedding for any reason it means that legally it’s you who is in breach of contract and the trader (reception venue, wedding planner, florist etc) is entitled to keep any deposit that you’ve paid them. Some will refund part of it but they don’t have to, and it tends to depend on how close to the big day you get, with some wedding venues having a tier system similar to holiday cancellations. They might also claim expenses – if a dressmaker has had to order special material or a venue hasn’t been able to re-book the reception room at short notice.