M'sian Couple Faces Nightmare 3-Hour Blackout At Wedding, Causing Guests To Sweat & Leave
"My wife couldn't bear it and eventually broke down in tears," said the groom.
By May Vin Ang - 08 Jan 2024, 04:19 AM
Cover image via Vince YH (Facebook)A newlywed couple is demanding a refund from their wedding venue in George Town, Penang after a three-hour blackout with no contingency plans ruined their big day
The groom, Vince YH, shared their experience on Facebook, calling it "a terrible and regretful wedding", and detailed the alleged lack of accountability shown by their wedding venue and organiser, Averie Hous.
He shared that the reception initially went well as they hosted their guests for a garden wedding at the venue on 16 December. However, as people started sitting in the venue's indoor dining hall for dinner around 7pm, it was plunged into darkness.
"Guests were coming in and the atmosphere was very romantic when everything suddenly went pitch black. We were all stunned.
"Our friends asked if it was part of our walk-in ceremony, but I had to tell them it was a power outage," he said.
Image via Vince YH (Facebook)
The groom recounted how the organiser initially blamed them for messing with the electrical plugs before attempting to find an electrician to fix the issue
"Did you think we had the time to mess with the electricity panel?" he retorted, asking why an event space did not have a backup generator in case of a power outage.
It took one and a half hours for an electrician to arrive — much to his annoyance, with interns in tow — and yet, the issue could not be fixed.
"My guests didn't only have to dine in the dark, but they were also sweating buckets," lamented the groom.
"At first, we thought the outage would be brief, so we were still hopeful as we waited and waited. But in the end, the outage lasted for three hours," he said, adding that by 8.30pm, nearly half of their guests had left, as he and his wife also did not want to keep their friends and family waiting in the dark and stuffy hall.
"Imagine not being able to enjoy the moment and watching your guests and elders slowly leave in front of you," he said.
Image via Vince YH (Facebook)
"We spent months preparing for our wedding, only to end up with such an embarrassing and heartbreaking situation"
"My wife couldn't bear it and eventually broke down in tears," he said.
He added that he and his wife could not even play a video that they had spent a month putting together, or use the projector they had paid an additional RM300 to rent.
The groom also brought up other issues that arose while planning for the wedding, such as a last-minute change to the menu that switched out many expensive ingredients.
Image via Vince YH (Facebook)
After the wedding, the groom also claimed that the wedding organiser avoided his text messages and phone calls for days when he tried to request compensation
However, after his Facebook post went viral, the groom updated that the wedding organiser finally got back to him the next day, 7 January, to offer him a partial refund.
In the update, however, the groom said the organiser's response did not feel sincere as they would only issue him the refund if he agreed to remove his Facebook post.
"Is it right for you to respond only after the situation escalated? And is it appropriate to send a formal letter at 2.15am (and you called it a 'settlement letter', not an 'apology letter'), demanding the post to be deleted by 2.30am for a refund by 3am?" he wrote.
Meanwhile, the wedding organiser has publicly apologised for the incident
Image via Averie Hous (Facebook)
As of writing, it appears that both parties have yet to reach an agreement.
Vince YH gave SAYS permission to publish the story but provided no additional comment. SAYS also reached out to Averie Hous but did not receive a reply.
