Bride devastated as her £9,000 wedding gets cancelled just before her big day
A bride-to-be was left devastated as her £9,000 wedding got cancelled just before her big day.
Katy Scanlon, 26, has revealed that she was left "absolutely gutted" and in a "catch 22 situation" after a luxury country house hotel and popular wedding venue informed her it was cancelling her booking just weeks before her big day.
The pregnant bride was due to get married at Judges Country House Hotel at Kirklevington near Yarm, North Yorkshire, which has been described as a luxurious country retreat.
And despite cancelling the bride and groom's big day, the venue have told said that refunds will not be processed until the sale of the hotel goes through. The venue has not made any official public announcement on the future of the establishment either.
The popular wedding, prom and events venue has 21 guestrooms, a restaurant, private dining rooms and a gym and is set in 22 acres of gardens and grounds (Gazettelive WS)Katy and her fiancé Andrew Smith were due to be married at Judges on April 9, where they had booked the ceremony at the hotel as well as the wedding reception for 85 guests followed by an evening party and paid the last instalment of the £9,000 bill last month, report Teesside Live.
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The secondary school worker says she received an email last week to say that the wedding had been cancelled, informing her that her she would be refunded and Judges would help to look for an alternative venue.
However, this has left the pair frantically searching for another venue as she has not been able to reach anyone by phone or email to find out when that might be. The list of alternative venues, says Katy, was also simply names and phone numbers that she could have Googled.
The 26-year-old says that she already brought her dress - in July last year - bridesmaids and flower girl dresses, suits and has paid a £1,000 deposit for cake and flowers - which she also faces losing - and is now manically trying to arrange another venue for the same date with no luck.
Katy was informed that her wedding had been cancelled arrived last Friday (Gazettelive WS)The registrar had been booked to carry out the ceremony at Judges too.
Speaking about her disappointment, Katy said: "I am absolutely gutted. And with me being pregnant as well, it is just extra stress.
"I was in hospital and very poorly in July 2020 - and that's when my fiance proposed to me. This was our dream day.
"They said they are trying to get a refund to us but they can't do that until the sale went through. Our date at Judges has all been paid off, the last payment was sent through last month."
She went on to explain that she had an appointment with a wedding planner at the venue in February which was cancelled due to a sickness.
When Katy tried to call and email the team, she had no luck until the the email informing her her wedding had been cancelled arrived last Friday.
The 26-year-old continued to say: "Judges is a lovely place, it was actually a friend from work who transferred their date to us for our wedding, it was going to be our perfect day. We are now left in a catch 22 situation."
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After calling up the list of venues which Judges gave her, one quoted a whopping £12,000 - which Katy and her Domino's worker fiancé would need to find in 40 days.
Katy Scanlon and her fiancé Andrew Smith have been told their wedding at Judges, near Kirklevington, is now not going ahead (Gazettelive WS)Katy said: "We have paid for all our vendors and will lose over a thousand pounds in deposits and things. We have no idea when we get a refund and the last line of the email was “you can ring me Monday after 9am”. We are absolutely gutted and have no idea what we are going to do now."
Another woman, event planner Yvonne Hall, says that she had booked out Judges for an autumn ball in aid for a brain tumour chairty.
She even put down a deposit, but was informed by staff on Sunday that it was closing.
Yvonne said she still hasn't been contacted by Judges, adding: "I had to call them yesterday, and they confirmed that they were closing this Friday and we wouldn’t get a refund till their sale went through.
"We have contacted an alternative venue for our charity ball, and we are hoping to secure it on Friday. We will have to fund the deposit ourselves, but I am concerned that we may never receive this refund. It then means that our charity loses money if they don’t return the money.
"We are working with Ingleby Golf Club to support “the brain tumour charity” as our close friend has been diagnosed with a brain tumour which can no longer be operated on.
"I feel for all the staff, also all the poor brides who were due to be married in the coming weeks. I really hope some venues come forward to help them."
An event planner has also been contacted to say her booking for a charity ball at Judges Hotel near Yarm has been cancelled (Gazettelive WS)A popular wedding, prom and events venue, Judges Country House Hotel in Kirklevington near Yarm has 21 guestrooms, a restaurant, private dining rooms and a gym and is set in 22 acres of gardens and grounds.
It is owned by the Downs family who bought the Victorian Kirklevington Hall in 1989 and set about transforming it into a country house hotel.
During the 1970s, Kirklevington Hall became home to the country’s Judges when they were on circuit to Middlesbrough courts – hence the name. The country house and grounds underwent a refurbishment programme and Judges at Kirklevington Hall opened in 1994.
The Mirror has contacted Judges Country House Hotel for comment.
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