A BRIDE’S wedding day was “ruined” after council staff were “rude and insensitive” when she married her seriously ill husband, and failed to provide flowers or play her preferred music.

The woman, who is only referred to as Ms X, made a formal complaint after getting married at a venue run by Southend Council.

She also said that the council had made getting married at short notice difficult, and had mispronounced her name.

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The council has apologised and agreed to pay £200 compensation after the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman ruled in her favour.

According to the report: “On the day of the marriage ceremony, Ms X said staff were unpleasant to her and her guests. She said she was told to wait outside before her ceremony and staff mispronounced her name, despite her correcting them previously.

“She said staff had made offensive comments about her guests and they were aggressive and rude.

“There was no floral arrangement in Ms X’s ceremony room and Ms X was not able to have her music played during the ceremony.

“Ms X said her and her husband’s wedding day was ruined by the council.”

The ombudsman spoke to both Ms X and the council before making a decision.

They heard that, while weddings usually require 28 days’ notice, the council waived this due to her husband’s ill health.

However, Ms X said that the council had not been understanding in the request, and that telling her to get a letter from a GP about his ill-health “would take up time they did not have”.

The wedding took place in July 2019. Ms X complained to the council later that month, and after being unhappy with their response took it to the ombudsman.

The report said: “The council responded to Ms X and said staff had not witnessed aggressive, inappropriate or rude behaviour towards Ms X and her guests.

“It said it had provided Ms X with an enhanced service as it waived the 28-day notice period and was disappointed Ms X was not happy.

“The council explained to Ms X she had more guests than permitted in the ceremony room and this caused problems for the staff to coordinate her ceremony.

“It said Ms X was rude to staff and her husband and it said it was her choice to have her marriage ceremony at a council venue; this would not have been able to live up to Ms X’s dream wedding she previously had planned.”

The ombudsman said they were satisfied the council has taken appropriate action to prevent a recurrence of the faults.

A council spokesman said: “We have received the Ombudsman’s decision and have paid the additional compensation.

"We are sorry this wedding did not meet the bride’s expectations and have made changes to our processes to prevent avoidable mistakes, such as what happened with the music and flowers, from happening again.”