Two-day wedding panic as venue is gutted
A city couple's dream wedding nearly turned into nightmare when their reception venue was gutted by fire just two days before the big day.
Mark and Vanessa Bradbury had a manic 48 hours booking a new venue, music and a caterer after a fire at the Windmill Hill Golf Centre.
The couple, from Bancroft, were married at Bletchley Register Office but had to phone 160 guests to tell them the Saturday reception venue had changed to Sycamore Hall.
Mark said: "Someone rang me on the way to work and I took the day off. My wife thought I was joking when I told her."
After the initial shock, the couple set about making new arrangements for the wedding.
"We were lucky enough to get the new venue and we rang a DJ who said he was free.
"Then my wife called one of her friends who was in the catering world who offered to do the catering for them.
"The wedding was a breeze. It was nothing compared to the stress we went through in the days before. We pulled ourselves together and we sorted it out."
Around 60 firefighters from Milton Keynes and the surrounding areas rushed to the Bletchley golf centre at about 6am on Thursday, April 19, after fire ripped through the bar and restaurant.
One firefighter said: "Although the middle and one end have been gutted, the crews worked really hard to create a fire break to prevent the fire from spreading to the other end of the building where the club shop and the larger of the club's two function rooms are located."
A cordon was set up around the building because it was feared that one of the walls was about to collapse.
Windmill Hill General Manager Dave Sturge is still operating a makeshift bar and barbecue.
He said: "Hopefully the council will make the decision soon that we can sort out the repairs."
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Weather for Milton Keynes
Thursday 24 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 12 C to 25 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: North east
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Temperature: 11 C to 22 C
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