Wedding Entertainment Firm’s Failure Leaves Brides Disappointed

A company that supplied waiters for weddings, who would unexpectedly perform songs for guests, did not fulfill its agreements, leaving brides “devastated, stressed and heartbroken”. Solfan1 Limited, operated by married couple Claire and Jamie Reeves in Wigan, conducted business under the name The Best Singing Waiters and engaged approximately 70 self-employed performers across the country. These performers integrated with other catering personnel before suddenly commencing singing at a pre-arranged moment during the wedding day. Individuals from various parts of the UK have contacted BBC Radio 4’s You and Yours programme, reporting losses of thousands of pounds to the company after making advance payments for singing waiters who never appeared. Both brides and performers have accused The Best Singing Waiters of continuing to trade while experiencing severe financial difficulties. The BBC has reviewed evidence indicating that the firm sold contracts to brides mere days before The High Court mandated the company’s liquidation on 1 May. Mr and Mrs Reeves have been approached for comment. Claire Yates, a mother-of-the-bride, reserved two singing waiters as a surprise for her daughter’s wedding in September, making the booking two years ahead of time. She paid Solfan1 Limited £1,500 through monthly installments of £70 after signing a contract. However, Ms Yates stated that she received no communication from the firm as her daughter’s wedding date approached. She mentioned she anticipated contact regarding “what songs I wanted them to do, timings, and things like that”. Ms Yates recounted sending an email that was undeliverable and subsequently discovering on Facebook that The Best Singing Waiters was undergoing bankruptcy proceedings. Solfan1 Limited was formally dissolved by the High Court on 1 May, four months prior to Ms Yates’s daughter’s wedding. Ms Yates was informed that she would not recover her money due to the method of payment, which was via direct debit. On 29 April, she received an email from The Best Singing Waiters instructing her to make the final two direct debit payments to an entirely different entity, named Decameron Events Ltd. Her sole contract she held with The Best Singing Waiters was with the company, Solfan1 Limited. “I was asked to set up a change of payment. It was to a company that I hadn’t heard of before,” she said. “They told me that my old direct debit had been cancelled.” “I had no idea what was going on. I panicked really, that if I didn’t do this, anything that I’d [already] sorted was going to disappear.” “It was all done in a rush.” The BBC has established a link between Decameron Events Ltd and the husband of Solfan1 Limited’s director, the company that operated as The Best Singing Waiters. Upon the High Court’s order for Solfan1 Limited to cease operations, its bank accounts were frozen. HM Revenue & Customs, the tax authority, initiated a petition in February to liquidate the company because it owed its creditors over £630,000. This sum included unpaid wages for singing waiters, full payments from brides, and outstanding tax obligations. Previous legal actions for unpaid debts were brought against Solfan1 Limited in 2019 and 2022. The BBC has examined records confirming these debts were never settled, yet despite this, those associated with The Best Singing Waiters continued to sell contracts to clients. One bride who spoke with the BBC presented evidence showing she was encouraged to pay £850 for two singing waiters the day before the company was ordered to be wound up by the courts. She was also instructed to send the payment to the other company, Decameron Events Ltd. Claire Reeves, Solfan1 Limited’s sole director, and her husband Jamie Reeves, have resided in Wigan for two decades. The BBC has seen proof that Mr Reeves, whose legal name is Frederick Stanley Reeves, was the primary influence behind the company. He identifies himself as the owner of Solfan1 Limited on LinkedIn and has released videos in which he stated his significant involvement with The Best Singing Waiters. In communications with customers, he is referred to as “the boss”. Mr Reeves discussed managing The Best Singing Waiters in a social media video posted in 2022, at a time when the firm was already in serious financial distress according to its financial statements. The preceding year, another singing waiters company for which he served as director collapsed after accumulating hundreds of thousands of pounds in debt. Bride Lisa Marsay booked performers from the company for her wedding to husband Tom in November 2024, paying the full amount of £1400 over the phone with her debit card. “We booked the waiters because Tom’s [late] mum was always singing when she was doing the housework,” she said. “It was something that he wanted on the day, so it felt like his mum was there with us.” Upon realizing that The Best Singing Waiters had gone out of business, Ms Marsay expressed that she was “devastated”. “It was a lot of money and it spoilt [the wedding] quite a lot. It wasn’t just us that it impacted,” she said. “Our family had to go through all of the heartbreak and stress that we went through.” “It got to the point where we just thought, we don’t even want to go ahead with the wedding now. “It was only people telling us, ‘don’t let it spoilt your day’, that we went ahead.” Ms Marsay is currently in discussions with her bank to obtain a refund of the £1,400 she paid to Solfan1 Limited. Some of the self-employed performers who had agreements with The Best Singing Waiters contacted the BBC to report that they are still owed earnings. Gareth James stated he is owed approximately £500 for two uncompensated performances. He now operates his own venture, The Real Singing Waiters, and has extended offers to some individuals who were left without performers. He remarked that it has been “really difficult” to rebuild business and restore public confidence. “There was an issue with people thinking, ‘it’s Jamie in a different hat’,” he said. “A lot of people said, ‘we don’t want anything to do with you’. We were just trying to recover what we could.” “I’ve spent the last six months doing reduced-priced gigs and getting the recommendations and testimonials, Mr James said.” “It’s been a hard sell.” The BBC attempted to reach Mr and Mrs Reeves via both email and a hand-delivered letter, but received no reply. Mr Reeves has posted an apology on the Facebook page of his new commercial enterprise, which provides marketing agency services. He stated: “To all the old customers and staff of The Best Singing Waiters, I’m truly sorry.” An ongoing investigation into Solfan1 Limited is being conducted by the Official Receiver, an officer of the government’s Insolvency Service.