Should a wedding company compensate if the new couple's names are printed incorrectly?
Compiled from: Hubei High Court
A wedding is a moment to witness beautiful love, a place filled with sweetness and blessings. If a wedding company prints the wrong names of the couple on the wedding poster, causing relatives and friends to misunderstand and gossip, should it bear liability for breach of contract? If this upsetting incident leads to long-term insomnia, self-blame, low mood, medical visits, and medication, can compensation for mental distress be claimed?
Case review
In April 2022, Ms. Zhang, needing services for her son's wedding, signed a wedding service contract with a wedding company, specifying the service recipients, content, fees, and other terms. On the wedding day, guests informed Ms. Zhang that the groom's name on the wedding poster at the hotel entrance was printed incorrectly. Upon checking, she found that the groom's name "Mou Kun" had been mistakenly printed as "Mou Di."
After the wedding, the wedding company repeatedly demanded payment of 9,000 yuan in service fees from Ms. Zhang, but she refused. The company then filed a lawsuit requesting payment. Ms. Zhang argued in her defense that the wedding company's error in printing the groom's name on the poster caused relatives and friends to go to the wrong banquet venue, led to misunderstandings among the bride's family, and ruined the wedding's effect, thus constituting a breach of contract that should reduce the service fee. Additionally, Ms. Zhang claimed that she felt guilty toward her son and daughter-in-law afterward, leading to long-term insomnia, self-blame, low mood, medical visits, and medication. She filed a counterclaim demanding 10,000 yuan in compensation for mental distress.
[1] Court Opinion
The court consolidated the original and counterclaims. Regarding whether the wedding company's mistake constituted a breach of contract, the court considered the role of the wedding poster. First, it is an important part of the wedding ceremony, carrying blessings and commemorative significance for the couple and their families. Second, it displays the couple's appearance and names, serving to introduce them to guests. Third, it is placed prominently at the hotel entrance for easy identification, welcoming and guiding guests. Therefore, the court found that the error could not be simply dismissed as a minor typographical mistake. It severely impacted the poster's intended functions, so the court ruled that the wedding company's mistake constituted a breach of contract, requiring it to bear liability. Based on the degree of fault, the court decided to reduce the service fee by 35% of the contract amount, meaning Ms. Zhang only needed to pay 5,850 yuan.
Regarding Ms. Zhang's counterclaim for mental distress compensation, the court held that the wedding company's error in printing the groom's name damaged the personality and emotional interests inherent in the wedding, causing the wedding organizer and contract signer, Ms. Zhang, to suffer insomnia, self-blame, and low mood, leading to medical visits and medication. This was deemed sufficient to constitute severe mental distress. Thus, the court partially supported Ms. Zhang's claim, awarding 3,000 yuan in compensation.
The court ultimately ruled that Ms. Zhang should pay the wedding company 5,850 yuan in service fees, and the wedding company should pay Ms. Zhang 3,000 yuan in mental distress compensation. After the judgment took effect, both parties accepted it and voluntarily fulfilled their monetary obligations.
Civil Code of the People's Republic of China
Article 577
If a party fails to perform its contractual obligations or performs them in a manner inconsistent with the agreement, it shall bear liability for breach of contract, such as continuing performance, taking remedial measures, or compensating for losses.
Article 582
If performance does not conform to the agreement, liability for breach of contract shall be borne in accordance with the parties' agreement. If there is no agreement or the agreement is unclear on liability for breach, and it still cannot be determined in accordance with Article 510 of this Law, the injured party may, based on the nature of the subject matter and the extent of the loss, reasonably choose to request the other party to bear liability for breach such as repair, rework, replacement, return of goods, reduction of price or remuneration.
Article 996
If one party's breach of contract infringes upon the other party's personality rights and causes serious mental harm, the injured party's choice to claim liability for breach of contract shall not affect the injured party's right to claim compensation for mental damages.
[1] The author's perspective
In real life, determining whether a breach of contract has occurred does not depend on the apparent magnitude of the error, but on whether the error affects the realization of the purpose of the effective contract. For example, in this case, although the wedding company only made a typo, its significance to the wedding couple was entirely different. Moreover, the purpose of holding and attending the wedding is to offer blessings to the couple. At this time, placing a welcome sign at the entrance with the groom's name written incorrectly not only misleads guests and defeats the purpose of the poster, but also hurts the feelings of the couple and their families. Additionally, it caused serious mental harm to the groom's mother. Thus, the wedding company's mistake not only constitutes a breach of contract but also should bear liability for damages to the groom's mother.
From this, it can be seen that one cannot be careless in work; sometimes a single character difference can make a world of difference. Not only does it result in losing clients and damaging reputation, but it also entails liability for breach of contract and damages—truly a case of losing both the bait and the fish.
