Thoughts on our nightmare reception!?

Question

We got married July 6, 2008. The wedding was beautiful, but we had hired a 1937 Cadillac and driver and he never showed up. Found out the next day that he had broken down and had tried to call us but wasn't able to reach us.The reception was at a nice country club. We went to the reception and within 20 minutes, the power went out. We had no lights, no A/C (had to be at least 110 degrees inside), there was no music, therefore no dancing. It was so dark that people couldn't see what they were eating. The cake was melting. DVD was not shown. I had asked for a lot of candles on each table but there were only a few. My best friend and I did all the flowers. They were wholesale and instead of sending blue hydrangeas, they sent turquoise. Had to have them flown in from Miami. We didn't get enough of the ones we needed and they all died in the heat. Weren't able to get the pics we wanted with our guests. We planned this wedding for 7 months. Checking into what to do. Suggestions?

Answer 1

You should have gotten wedding insurance. You could have gotten your money back from everything you put into your wedding. Personally, I would have rescheduled the reception.

Answer 2

Hi.  Sorry for all your troubles.

(1)  for the cadillac and driver.....did you have a contract?  If so, then you should be able to get your money back.

(2)  The power outage.  This is tricky.  Was it due to a storm?  Is the country club somehow at fault?  Were their circuits overloaded?  Why EXACTLY did the power go out?  Again, check your contract.  If the country club was at fault, then you should be able to get some of your money back.  If it was nature.....sorry, you will be out.

(3)  The flowers.....this maybe hard also.  Did you take a picture of the flowers?  If so, you may be able to dispute the color as not being the one you ordered.

Answer 3

Later on this story will be wonderful to tell your children, or anyone for that matter.

I would try and get your money back or at least some of it through the different vendors that made the mistakes. With your story it is hard to tell who may be at fault for some of this. Hopefully they will work with you, but if they don't you can always *TRY* to take then to small claims.

Read over your contracts carefully.

Answer 4

It all makes for a good story years from now! Things always go wrong at weddings, but you have to remember the reason for the reception, to celebrate your wedding. All those things that went wrong shouldn't take away from the happy commitment you and your spouse made.

Answer 5

well what CAN you do? the important thing is that you got married. at least this stuff didn't happen leading up to the ceremony. just make light of the situation. send that you cards to all the guests and just laugh it off. (it's really a funny situation when you think of it!) if it's pictures of the guests you want, have a party. send invitation to "the real wedding reception" and throw another party. congrats on your marriage!

Answer 6

whos fault is it the lights went out.  If it was due to weather you can't sue god, if it was due to an overloaded circuit, the blame would be on you, if it was the venues fault as they didn't pay their bill, then ask them to refund some of their money.  If the car didnt show up, all money should be refunded including deposit- the price of gas.  Flowers you really can't control the color you asked for blue, they probably sent the closest color they had. Who was responsible for the candles, usually you have to provide them as decor, unless you paid someone for decor, but you did your own flowers so I think the candles are usually provided by whoever did the cernterpieces.  So the only refund I see is for the car, and possibly the reception HALL (not everything else) depending on why the power went out.