Wedding venue closure leaves couples out of pocket

Mark Dobson and Karen Kendall said they were shocked to find out the venue was operating with temporary event licences

A number of couples in Cornwall say they are devastated and out of pocket after the sudden closure of a wedding venue.

Mark Dobson and Karen Kendall, from Ponsanooth, were among those who had their wedding cancelled by Manhay Farm and Wedding Events, near Helston.

They said they were shocked to discover the venue was using a series of temporary licences to host its events and under the terms and conditions of the contract they signed they would not have their £1,000 deposit returned.

When approached by the BBC, the company said: "Our business has now permanently closed. All operations have ceased, and we are no longer in a position to engage in ongoing correspondence regarding historical bookings."

'Destroyed us'

Mr Dobson said they received the cancellation email at the start of October.

"We were absolutely devastated," he said.

"We had put five months into that... planned to the most intricate detail - to get that email just destroyed us."

He said: "We said in the email obviously there will be no problem getting our deposit back as this is no fault of ours. That’s not quite what happened."

It was the same story for Dave Towsey and Rachel Wakefield, who live in St Austell and also paid a £1,000 deposit.

Dave Towsey and Rachel Wakefield said the cancellation had sent them into a depressive state

Ms Wakefield said: "They sent us an email out of the blue one evening and they had said that they can't do weddings any more or host parties.

"We ended up falling into a bit of a depressive state," added Mr Toswey.

Ms Wakefield continued: "I had to take time off work.

"You know these things can happen but the odds of them happening, you don't think about it do you?"

Cornwall Council said the farm had been hosting events under a series of temporary licences, but it had nearly reached the maximum number it could use in a 12-month period.

The company announced its closure after its latest temporary licence was not approved by the council.

Insurance not mandatory

The couples said Manhay Farm and Wedding Events had told them they had agreed to terms and conditions under which it could not be held liable for failing to provide the venue following the council's decision, as it fell under their clause covering "changes in the law or restrictions placed by statutory bodies".

The firm told the BBC it had recommended that all couples should look at taking out wedding insurance and it had done all it could to help the couples find alternative venues.

Mr Toswey said they did not get insurance as it was not mandatory and they were trying to keep costs down.

He said: "It's a strange thing to have in a contract anyway. It's one thing if we cancel. I can understand then, but if they cancel? That doesn’t really make sense to me, how they can keep money for that?"

Both couples said alternative venues suggested by the farm were either for the wrong dates or not comparable in price.

It is not clear how many wedding and events have been affected by the closure of the venue but Mr Dobson and Ms Kendall said they knew of 28 other couples and they were in touch with several who were also trying to get their deposits back.