A bride says her wedding planner canceled her £11k wedding just five days before the ceremony – and the couple are still waiting to get most of their money back.
Megan Greenaway, 30, and her husband Jordan, 28, hired Style and Joy Events in Norwich to provide a marquee, decorations, DJ equipment, flowers and catering for their wedding in Henley-on-Thames.
But just days before they were getting married, they received an email informing them that the business was closing and that the owner, Sandie Chivers, was sick, they say.
The couple had to take out a high-interest emergency loan, which they are still paying off, and hastily reorganize the big day with new vendors.
Megan says she even drove three and a half hours to Sandie’s house to confront her and believes the stress of the situation, including the financial burden, caused her miscarriage.
Megan and her husband Jordan Greenaway appear at their wedding in Stoke Row, Henley-on-Thames.
The couple were left devastated after their wedding planner canceled their £11k wedding – just five days ahead of schedule.
And although they got a court order for the repayment, bailiffs have been unable to recover the money, and Megan says Sandie has only returned £2,000.
Megan, a university agriculture professor and registered veterinary nurse, said: “It keeps me up most nights.”
‘This has really set us back. It has set our family back: we are on the brink of a total crisis.’
Megan discovered Sandie through a Facebook bridal group and paid the deposit in December 2020.
Following a visit with Sandie in summer 2021 to Jordan’s grandparents’ non-working farmland in Stoke Row, the couple completed the final payment in March 2022.
With invitations sent to more than 100 guests and preparations underway, Megan received an email at 9 p.m., five days before the wedding, informing her that the business was closing and that Sandie was unwell, she says.
Megan was unable to contact anyone and turned to the Internet, where the investigation found a number of disturbing reviews from other couples, she said.
“We were in panic mode,” he said. “I was thinking, ‘Oh my God, what have I done?’
Despite being let down by their wedding planner, the couple (pictured) were able to quickly rearrange their big day, which was a success.
Friends, family and a local marquee company came together to help the couple (pictured) organize a “beautiful” wedding.
The next day, Megan drove to Sandie’s house to confront her and said she found the wedding planner painting a fence in her yard.
“I said, ‘What are you playing at? Where’s my money?” Megan recalled, to which Sandie reportedly responded, “Well, I don’t have it.”
Despite last-minute disappointment, the couple leaned on friends and family to make the day a success, and a local marquee company stepped in to help with the big day on April 23, 2022.
“All of our friends and family came together, helped do the decorating, everyone helped set up tables and chairs and my bridesmaids and I were making bouquets the day before my wedding,” Megan said.
“It turned into a great effort by family friends and a beautiful wedding.”
When the dust settled, Megan and Jordan, who works as a heavy vehicle mechanic, were left with a hole in their finances in the form of a wedding and a last-minute loan with a high annual interest rate to pay back.
“It’s put a lot of financial strain on us, a lot of stress and a lot of anxiety,” Megan said.
According to Megan (pictured with her husband Jordan on their wedding day), having to apply for the loan has caused her a lot of stress.
The couple is still paying off the loan, was forced to put any plans to buy a house on hold and entered into a protracted legal battle against Sandie over the missing money.
Megan added: ‘I’ve had a miscarriage. I just can’t attribute it to anything other than stress and the time I miscarried was when I was getting ready to go to court.’
In December 2023, Deputy District Judge Child at Reading County Court ordered Sandie, trading as Style and Joy Events, to pay debt, interest and costs of £958.96 to Megan, in the amount of £12,184.30.
Megan said Sandie had initially refunded £2,000.
Style and Joy Events has an average rating of 2.1 from 18 Google reviews, with many dissatisfied customers detailing no-shows and no refunds.
According to Companies House, Sandie filed an application to voluntarily close and dissolve the company on March 29, 2022, about three weeks before informing the Greenaways. The company was officially dissolved in January 2023.
Although Sandie, trading as Style and Joy Events, was ordered to repay the couple £12,184.30, they say they have only received £2,000.
When Sandie was approached for comment, her sister responded on her behalf.
Sandie’s sister Leah said someone else was to blame for the missing funds owed and asked for privacy.
“My sister is trying to get on with her life and take care of her children, one of whom is disabled,” she said, adding, “She has people coming to her house and threatening her while her two children are present.”
‘He doesn’t answer phone calls from numbers he doesn’t recognize. That’s how bad things have gotten. I have to come every day.
He said bailiffs had been “dismissed” with documentation detailing Sandie as a “vulnerable” person and said any prospect of reimbursement would be unlikely due to Sandie’s health.