Couples have accused a wedding firm of ruining their big day after items and food they paid thousands of pounds for never arrived.
One family had to drive around local takeaways on their wedding night when their hog roast did not turn up.
Another claimed they were owed £4,000 for equipment and services which the company - Style and Joy Events Ltd - were contracted to provide but didn't.
In response, the Fakenham-based company said its owner, Sandie Chivers had been ill. They denied many of the complaints made against them saying they were "shocked" and "disappointed" by them, but in private messages seen by this newspaper have apologised to some of the couples.
Stephanie and Andrew Jary booked Style and Joy Events for their wedding at Narborough Village Hall in August 2021.
The company, which changed its name from Masons Great Events Ltd last May, was meant to set up the venue, provide food, drink and decor all for £4,000.
But when the evening came the serving staff left at 5pm and the hog roast never appeared.
It meant the family spent the evening driving around local takeaways to find enough Chinese food and kebabs for their guests.
Mrs Jary, 28, said: “Come 5pm we had no staff and no food. We couldn't get hold of them.
“About 8pm a woman turned up with some pulled pork and 30 rolls for 100 people. We felt majorly let down.”
The day before the wedding, she said, her partner and father-in-law had to help set up the venue as the company hadn’t sent enough staff to do it.
She also claimed that some items they had paid for, including some of the flowers, were never provided.
“Our focus on the day was to be family oriented as we have three children,” Mrs Jary said. “We wanted to have fun, but we spent the day either trying to get hold of Sandie or trying to order takeaways. On my wedding day I was reading through our contract with them.”
The couple has asked for a refund but the company said in response: “There was enough food for the guest numbers.” They added that staff left at 5pm as that was what had been agreed. They admitted there were delays setting up but said this did not go against their contract.
In September the couple received an email from Style and Joy Events apologising and blaming the issues on Ms Chivers’ health.
In October another email sent from the “Style & Joy Team” stated the firm was “willing to resolve” their complaint. But five months later this hasn’t happened.
'My husband was in tears'
Cheryl Eady, 37, from Upwell, booked Style and Joy Events for her wedding at Waxham Barn in July 2021.
She spent £7,000 for items from food to a dance floor and an ice cream cart.
Shortly before the wedding they were told some items, such as the dance floor and line dancer couldn't be provided because of Covid. But Mrs Eady said they had never been refunded despite promises.
In response, the company said the couple had not been charged for items which were not delivered. However, an invoice from Style & Joy Events shows they were billed for some of the goods which were not delivered, including £550 for the ice cream cart.
Mrs Eady also complained about a lack of food and delays setting up which meant the venue was still being prepared as guests arrived, she said.
“It completely ruined the day for me,” she said. “My husband was crying because we had been planning it for so long and it was just ruined.
“We want to redo our day again because it feels our marriage has been all about the bad job they did.”
The company later apologised in an email to them for how the day had gone.
And in a letter from their solicitor to the company in August, they asked for £4,000 back. Ms Chivers agreed to this in an email but asked for more time to pay it. The money has not been paid.
Not enough equipment
Steven Guy also accused the company of not providing the equipment he had paid for at his wedding on August 21 last year at Swanton Morley House.
He paid the company around £1,200 for tables, chairs, napkins and linen. He said the tables and chairs didn’t match and were not the ones they had ordered and were in poor condition, while tin baths for drinks leaked. He tried several times to contact the firm.
In September, he received an email from the company stating Ms Chivers was ill, but an email later that month from Ms Chivers said: "I am so sorry for the delay in response due to health reasons and will try get this addressed and resolved this week for you."
However it hasn't been and the company now said it disputed that there were issues with what they had provided.
“All items are checked prior to leaving the warehouse including the tin baths and there were no leaks when checked,” they said in a statement to this newspaper last week.
A month later another couple, who only wished to be named as Mr and Mrs Simmons from Norwich, also paid Style and Joy Events £1,200 to provide tables, chairs and crockery.
But as they were getting married at the same venue as Mr and Mrs Guy, they had heard about the previous problems.
Mrs Simmons emailed Ms Chivers to make sure all would run smoothly on the wedding day, on September 17 last year, but it didn’t.
“The day before set up I received an email saying the company didn’t have the correct items,” Mrs Simmons said.
She said staff turned up with the wrong glasses and not enough of them.
Her partner had to go on a three-hour round trip to collect new glasses, she said. And they spent the morning of their honeymoon returning those glasses.
She also complained that chairs were stained, chair sashes needed ironing and two of the tables were broken.
Mrs Simmons said she had paid Sandie to set up the venue as she was eight months pregnant, but she didn’t show up, leaving her to set up with some staff.
Mrs Simmons said: “We were able to make the best of it but she never reimbursed us.”
In response, the company said Ms Chivers had been ill at the time.
“Staff went to the venue and were advised to set up on the owner’s behalf due to her being admitted to hospital with borderline sepsis," they said. They also disputed that the goods they had provided were in a bad condition.
We cancelled
After reading complaints online two other couples annulled their contracts with Style and Joy Events.
Charlotte Warner, 30, Leicestershire, cancelled the service she had paid for - £300 for lighting at her wedding in January. The deposit was £90 but she has not been paid the rest of the money back.
In a statement the company said: “Charlotte contacted us two weeks prior to her wedding cancelling the service. She advised that she’s going to take us to court.”
However, in her court claim, Mrs Warner said she gave several weeks notice.
She wrote: “I have been trying to contact them since November 2021 to confirm details. They failed to reply until I commented on their new business’ social media page.”
Stephanie Barrs, 33, from Norwich, also cancelled the company’s services when she found out about other people’s experiences. She paid £700 for decor at her wedding at Wensum Valley Golf Club in December. However, she said she didn’t hear back from the company to acknowledge that they had cancelled.
“Because we had not heard anything we tried calling and over three months we sent letters saying we wanted to cancel her services,” she said.
Eventually, however, they were contacted last week by Ms Chivers and their money was paid back, minus the deposit.
The company said that from September to December last year the owner was “severely unwell” and was “in and out of hospital”. They said they had made the clients aware of this, adding: “Keeping the business going is the only way she can make sure she resolved these issues as if the business closed completely funds would not be returned.”
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