Couple left heartbroken after wedding venue cancels their big day

For Michelle Shaw, getting married was to be the start of a whole new chapter.

After a difficult year in which her dad died, her big day was to be a poignant occasion.

But last week, the 33-year-old was left in tears when her wedding venue cancelled her booking – leaving her without a place to tie the knot.

Michelle and fiancee Andrew Filer, 35, had booked the ceremony and the reception at the Lakeside in Arnold after getting engaged in June last year.

They were due to get married there on June 21, and had sent out nearly 100 invitations. Andrew’s daughter Esme, seven, was looking forward to being a bridesmaid and his twin sons Rowan and Austin, four, were preparing to be page boys.

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Andrew, of West Terrace in Hucknall, said: "We just fell in love with the venue as soon as we saw it. The whole setting with the lake and the outside space was perfect, especially with the time of the year the wedding was going to be. We booked it and paid a £1,000 deposit within three weeks and sent out all our invitations. We were getting really excited about everything and it was something for my fiance to focus on. We’d organised pretty much everything.

"Some of our guests are coming from as far as New Zealand and Tenerife and they’d even booked flights and hotels near to the venue."

But last week, Michelle says she received a phone call which dropped the bombshell that the Lakeside would be unable to honour their booking.

Andrew, a business development officer at Nottingham City Council, added: "Michelle just rang me up in tears – she was absolutely devastated and heartbroken. We went to speak to them as soon as we could that afternoon but they just said there was nothing they could do."

The couple rang around immediately and managed to book another ceremony at Goosedale in Papplewick. But the experience has been distressing.

Michelle, a customer services advisor, said: "I was just gobsmacked and it was quite a surreal moment. This was my new chapter and was going to be a perfect day – and suddenly I was told it was all in jeopardy. They may have put a spanner in the works, but they certainly won’t ruin our day."

A spokesman at the Lakeside, which has recently been taken over by new owners, said they had cancelled the wedding as building work needed to be done. He added: "We bought the place in a bad condition. The wedding had been booked by the previous owner and we decided to cancel it now rather than wait until the week before. We don’t want to let anybody down."

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