Vic closes - wedding couple with no venue for the big day
A Newport couple have described their dismay after the closure of the Royal Victoria Hotel left them without a wedding reception venue, with their big day just eight weeks away.
Angharod Saunders and fiance Scott Briscoe booked the venue 18 months in advance and, despite attending a family meal at the hotel recently, were not told that their booking might be in jeopardy.
Miss Saunders said: “I initially caught wind that the Victoria Hotel might be closing when I received a text message from a friend on Monday night last week.
“I got onto the hotel first thing Tuesday morning, but it just rang out. It then took two hours to get through to the brewery, whose only solution was to offer a replacement hotel in Albrighton, with no compensation.
“This was simply too far away, so we left it with them, and although they assured us they would get back to us on the Friday, our call was never returned.”
Miss Saunders added that they had secured another venue for the big day in August, with Rose Hill Manor on the A41 now hosting the reception.
She said: “It has not been easy because we are financing the wedding ourselves and we had saved up and budgeted for the occasion.
“Rose Hill Manor was the only location that would accommodate us in time, and consequently because we have not given them any notice, we have had to pay much more.
“We have heard nothing about the £200 deposit that we gave to the Royal Victoria Hotel, and what is disheartening is that we recently took some of the family there for a party, so they could see the venue, and everything seemed on course for the day.
“We wanted to do everything locally but have now had to relocate the reception which we only managed to book on Wednesday last week.
“The biggest worry was the thought we might not find anywhere in time to take us with everything else planned and in place.”
