A young couple is suing a local wedding service company after they had to cancel their wedding ceremony scheduled for the National Day holiday because the villa they had booked to host the event wasn't where they thought it was.
Wu Lei, 26, and his fiancee Wang Lina, 25, say the company intentionally deceived them. The Jing'an District People's Court, which has agreed to hear the case on October 20, refused to release the company's name, but did say it is located on Qinghai Road.
The couple is demanding the company return their 3,000 yuan (US$361) deposit and pay another 3,000 yuan in compensation. They are also asking the company to cover other costs, such as transport and telephone bills, related to the cancellation.
The couple had planned to hold their wedding ceremony in suburban Shanghai on October 5, which is considered an auspicious day according to the Chinese almanac.
They signed a contract with the service company on February 22 and paid a deposit. The contract said the ceremony would be held at the Dianshan Lake No. 3 villa in the Jinjiang Garden villa complex.
"We thought Dianshan Lake referred to the lake in Qingpu District, where the environment and public transport are suitable for a wedding," said Wu.
The couple claims, however, that the company refused to tell them the exact location of the villa when they wanted to print the address on the invitations. The company claimed that the villa was being decorated, so the address should be kept secret.
In September, the couple decided to look for the villa themselves, but couldn't find it in Qingpu District.
They finally found the villa in a remote town in Jiangsu Province, several dozen kilometers from Dianshan Lake.
The manager of the wedding service company argued that a small creek running in front of the villa is a tributary of the lake, so it is reasonable to use the lake's name to identify the villa.