You planned it for a year. Then the photographer delivered 40 blurry shots, or nothing at all. The caterer served the wrong menu, cold, two hours late. The venue double-booked the room. The celebrant didn’t show. The florist sent flowers that looked nothing like the brief. And now the vendor’s response is “these things happen” or, worse, silence.
You can’t get the day back. But you can get your money back, and compensation for what they cost you. Wedding vendors are not exempt from the law, and the “no refunds” line in their contract doesn’t override it.
Your rights
- Consumer guarantees (ss 60–62 ACL). Every wedding service (photography, catering, venue hire, entertainment, floristry, planning) must be delivered with due care and skill, be fit for the purpose you described, and be delivered within the agreed time. These guarantees can’t be excluded by contract (s 64).
- Major failure = refund plus damages (ss 267–268 ACL). Where the failure can’t be fixed (you can’t re-shoot a wedding) or is serious enough that you wouldn’t have booked if you’d known, it’s a major failure. You’re entitled to a refund of what you paid, plus reasonably foreseeable consequential loss. For weddings, courts and tribunals have awarded compensation for distress and disappointment, because the whole point of the contract was enjoyment (Baltic Shipping v Dillon, High Court 1993).
- Goods guarantees (ss 54–55 ACL). Cakes, flowers, dresses, printed materials must match the description and sample, and be of acceptable quality.
- Unfair contract terms (ss 23–28 ACL). “No refunds under any circumstances”, “vendor may substitute any element at its discretion”, and blanket liability caps are prime candidates for being declared void.
- Misleading conduct (s 18 ACL). Portfolios that weren’t their work, venues that showed you one room and delivered another, “award-winning” claims that aren’t true.
What to do right now
- Gather the evidence while people remember. Ask guests for photos and short written accounts of what went wrong (cold food, timing, no-shows). Screenshots of the contract, the brief, the sample images, the menu, and all messages with the vendor.
- Document your losses. What you paid the vendor. What you had to spend to fix things on the day (ordering pizza, hiring a replacement). What you’d need to spend to partly remedy (a post-wedding photo session, for example).
- Write to the vendor. Set out specifically what was promised, what was delivered, cite the ACL guarantees, and state what you want: refund, partial refund, and/or compensation. Give them a deadline.
- Send a Letter of Demand. Wedding vendors live on reviews and referrals. A formal, evidence-backed letter with a tribunal deadline gives them a clear reason to settle quietly. Include the guest statements and photos.
- Chargeback if you paid by card. For services not provided at all (a no-show), a chargeback for “services not rendered” is available through your bank, usually within 120 days.
- Escalate. State fair trading complaint, then tribunal. Distress damages in weddings cases have been awarded at NCAT and VCAT; you don’t need a lawyer for claims under the small claims limit.
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Vendor by vendor: what a claim looks like
- Photographer / videographer. No delivery, or delivery far below the portfolio standard. Claim: full refund plus the cost of a re-shoot session and compensation for distress. If they’re refusing to hand over the raw files, demand them: your contract usually gives you rights to the images, and a Letter of Demand can require delivery as well as refund.
- Venue. Wrong room, double-booking, broken air conditioning in February, bar closed early, staff shortages. Claim: partial or full refund proportional to the failure, plus any costs you incurred fixing it on the night.
- Caterer. Wrong menu, insufficient quantity, late service, food safety issues. Claim: refund of the affected portion, plus costs of emergency alternatives.
- Celebrant, DJ, band, MC. No-show or gross underperformance. Claim: full refund plus the cost of a replacement, and distress damages for a no-show.
- Dress, cake, flowers. Not as sampled or described. Claim: refund or difference in value, plus any rush replacement cost.
Distress damages are real. Australian courts have long recognised that where the object of a contract is enjoyment or freedom from distress (holidays, weddings), damages for disappointment are available. Amounts vary.
The “force majeure” clause. Vendors sometimes point to it for staff illness or weather. It only applies to events genuinely outside their control that made performance impossible, not to poor planning or a better-paying gig. And even where it applies, it usually entitles you to a refund, not to nothing.
Reviews. You’re entitled to leave an honest review. Stick to the facts; a truthful account isn’t defamation. But don’t let the review substitute for the claim: the money comes from the letter and the tribunal, not the stars.
Who to complain to
State fair trading (NSW Fair Trading, Consumer Affairs Victoria, Queensland OFT, Consumer Protection WA, CBS SA). ACCC for misleading conduct and unfair terms. Industry bodies: AIPP (photographers), Australian Bridal Industry Academy, Restaurant & Catering Australia. For a celebrant, the Attorney-General’s Department (Marriage Celebrants Section) handles conduct complaints.
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What happens when you send a Letter of Demand
Same problem. What a prepared case looks like.