It’s natural for brides and grooms to want everything to be perfect on their special day. The flower arrangements must be fresh, the DJ’s playlist needs to be full of bops, and the photographer better capture every single precious moment. But if something doesn’t turn out exactly how the couple imagined, are they entitled to a refund?
One artist recently reached out to the Bridezillas subreddit detailing how a client demanded a refund 2 months after her wedding because she suddenly decided that she wasn’t happy with her service. Below, you’ll find the full story, as well as some of the replies invested readers shared.
This artist was hired to make hand-painted wedding signs for a colleague’s daughter
Image credits: Antoni Shkraba / Pexels (not the actual photo)
But weeks after the wedding, the bride suddenly decided that she wasn’t happy with her services
Image credits: JESSICA TICOZZELLI / Pexels (not the actual photo)
Image credits: Nataliya Vaitkevich / Pexels (not the actual photo)
Image credits: S**tzme
Over half of newlyweds went into debt paying for their weddings in 2024
Planning a wedding can be stressful for a wide variety of reasons. You and your partner want to make sure that the day is exactly what you have in mind, but you’ll also want to keep your guests and families happy and ensure that you’re not paying the day off for years to come. According to The Knot, the average wedding nowadays costs a whopping $35,000.
And of course, the majority of that money is going straight to the wedding vendors. Venues typically charge the bride and groom around $12,800, and a great photographer will run you about $2,900.
A wedding planner’s fee could be over $2,000, and florists typically charge about $2,800 for their services. Alcohol for the reception usually costs $2,800, and if you want to hire a videographer, that’ll cost you about $2,300 as well.
Unsurprisingly, this means that the couple mentioned in this story is far from the first to go into debt by paying for their special day. In fact, a survey from U.S. News found that a whopping 56% of newlyweds went into debt while paying for their weddings last year.
This includes accumulating credit card debt, taking loans from banks, getting loans from family members or a combination of all of the above. Nearly half of these couples also admitted that they had no intention of going into debt when they started wedding planning, and 42% regretted their financial decisions that led them here.
As you’d probably expect, couples who had huge weddings, with 150 guests or more, were twice as likely to find themselves in debt than those who had small, modest weddings. And the average newlyweds spent $10,000 of their own money on their special day. But almost a third of all newlyweds, even those who didn’t end up in debt, regret spending so much on one day.
It’s extremely uncommon for wedding vendors to provide couples with refunds
So if a bride and groom find themselves having regrets weeks after the wedding, are they still allowed to ask for refunds from vendors? Well, most wedding vendors have a non-refundable retainer or a deposit that couples will pay for when they first book the service.
Then, they’ll usually pay the rest of the cost about a month or two weeks before the wedding date. And if the vendor shows up on the wedding day and provides their service, there’s probably not any chance that the couple will be able to get their money back.
However, if the couple realizes weeks or months prior that they won’t need the vendor anymore, Brides.com notes on their site that you can gracefully call it off. They recommend having this conversation over the phone and being polite but direct about why you won’t be needing their services any longer.
If there’s a chance you’ll get at least a partial refund, don’t be afraid to negotiate. But if you signed a contract stating that everything you’ve paid up until this point was non-refundable, it’s best to respect that.
We would love to hear your thoughts on this situation in the comments below, pandas. How would you have responded if a client asked for a refund in the same way this bride did? Feel free to weigh in. Then, you can check out another Bored Panda article discussing wedding vendor drama right here!
Later, the author answered a couple of questions from readers to provide more information
Many readers called out the bride for her entitled behavior and shared messages of support for the artist
The post Bridezilla Tries To Get Refunds For Everything Months After The Wedding: “It Didn’t Work Out” first appeared on Bored Panda.