Couple left devastated after wedding at Milton Keynes hotel is cancelled

An angry couple looking to tie the knot have been told their wedding has been cancelled - just three months before the big day.

Katie Harvey had been planning her wedding at the Woughton Manor Hotel in Milton Keynes for months and was set to get married in November.

However she and husband-to-be were dealt a blow when the previous operators of Woughton House Hotel went into liquidation last year.

Katie said: "I and quite a few others I’m in contact with have had weddings booked at Woughton House Hotel.

"We were informed last year that the company had been put into liquidation.

"But we were all sent emails saying the landlord would honour our bookings so we didn’t lose our money.

"And I personally have had many emails, phone calls and meetings ensuring that our wedding would still go ahead in November.

"But this week lots of us have received an email saying they will now not allow our weddings to go ahead and that all our money is lost.

"This is three months before my wedding.

"I'm devastated."

Another couple also explained how they were asked to pay an additional £4,000 before their wedding at Woughton House could go ahead - just SIX days before their big day in July. But those claims are denied by Clubhouse Woughton House Ltd (in liquidation).

They said they were told the additional payment was 'because the cost of weddings had gone up'.

"Others had a similar experience and had these demands for more money forced on them weeks before their wedding day, and like us leaving them with no choice but to pay.

"There are so many of us that this has happened to."

A spokesman for Mercure, the hotel group which owns Woughton House Hotel said: "The contracts for the weddings were with Clubhouse Woughton House Ltd, the operator of Woughton House Hotel which went into liquidation in October 2020.

"At no time after the company going into liquidation in October 2020 were demands ever made by Clubhouse Woughton House Ltd (in liquidation), for additional monies ahead of any wedding.

"The landowner at the time the operator went into liquidation has sought to appoint a new operator. As a gesture of goodwill to help the weddings to proceed, the landowner offered to honour the date and bookings of the wedding by agreeing that the deposit paid to Clubhouse Woughton House Ltd (in liquidation) be deducted, by way of discount, to reduce the costs paid to the new operator by the couples.

"Due to the enormous difficulties caused by the pandemic, the landowner has not been able to find a new operator for the hotel. This is most unfortunate for the wedding parties, and indeed the asset is now being sold by the landowner.

"No refund can be made by the landlords as they are two separate entities and have no obligation to do so."