Bride admits 'lying' to venue about wedding to avoid extra cost and owners fume
The anonymous bride explained she and her husband wanted something a "little different" to the traditional wedding.
A bride has come under-fire for 'lying' to her venue in order to cut costs - leaving the owners furious. Weddings will often be the most expensive event couples will plan in their life - and some people will do whatever it takes to try and save money.
In the UK, the average wedding costs £19,184 (as of 2023), including the ring and honeymoon. Many people go all out when it comes to their big day - from luxurious meals to eye-wateringly expensive flowers. But for some, they want to save money and have a smaller event, opting for less guests or DIY decorations.
As the Mirror reports, the anonymous bride explained she and her husband wanted something a "little different" to the traditional wedding, and decided on a "small, rustic type of resort," which she likened to "almost like an adult sleepaway camp in the mountains".
She explained the venue, was run by an older couple and their son, consisted of a small lodge where you could rent a cluster of three to six cabins were "semi private".
In a post on Reddit, the woman explained: "You bring your own food and drinks, there's a couple snack bars on premise but no real meals. We talked with our immediate families and closest friends and we booked six cabins for 18 people. We booked it as a 'family retreat'."
The newlywed did see on the website it said "contact us about wedding rates and packages" - but they "didn't need any kind of wedding package" for what they wanted. She continued: "It might've been a 'wedding' because we came out of it married, sure but I don't think we did or needed anything that merits the exorbitant wedding tax that gets slapped onto everything the moment you whisper 'engaged'. We didn't bring any outside guests or vendors or do anything that required extra cleanup so what exactly would I be paying for?"
The couple were really happy with their five day trip, but after slipping up in a Google review about it being an "amazing start" to their marriage, she got a "snarky email" saying "unapproved events on the property are a violation" of their policies.
She admitted she replied with a "lie" to say they had only been celebrating their engagement. The bride added: "This makes two times that I have lied to these people and I don't know if I should feel bad or not."
Many commenters didn't see the problem with not telling the venue, as "there's no reason why a wedding should cost more, but they mark it up to scam you". Another added: "It sounds like your party was respectful, very low-key, and simple. Simply implying a wedding will cause venues to bleed you of thousands you never needed to spend; eighteen people and a small party is very reasonable."
However, someone else pointed to the fact it could have to do with the venue's licence. They said: "It's also important to remember that in a lot of places, a venue has to have SPECIFIC licensing to be allowed to host weddings there legally. If a venue is caught hosting weddings without those rights, they can be in big trouble, even potentially losing their entire business and having insane fines."
It's not clear in this story which country the wedding took place, but in the UK there are specific rules about venue licence, which may affect what you're being charged. According to the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea: "In England and Wales, the law requires that for marriages and civil partnerships to be legally valid, they must take place at a location which has been duly licensed as an approved premises for marriages and civil partnerships and which is open to the general public."
The government website explained "approved premises" can only conduct civil marriage and civil partnership proceedings "in the room(s) within the built premises which are approved for those proceedings and also at locations outdoors within the boundary of the land on which the built premises stand," providing certain conditions are met.