Wedding plans collapse as venue hits trouble
A COUPLE have been left in limbo after their wedding plans collapsed due to coronavirus and now their venue appears to be in trouble.
Natalie Donovan, 48, and Spiro Spiteri, 49, were due to marry in October after five years together.
Following the virus outbreak they made the heartbreaking decision to set their plans back a year, so they rebooked their wedding for October, 2021 – but now it looks like that may not happen either.
The big day was meant to take place at the Exchange Hotel in Cardiff, but earlier this week they received news that the main company run by the man behind the Exchange had collapsed into administration, owing £113m to creditors.
Signature Living Hotel Ltd, the parent company of a network of 60 hotels, residential developments and other ventures, fell into administration on April 21.
Natalie said she thought she could lose £500 in relation to what she’d paid for the venue, and £2,000 in total when she added up all the costs for additional suppliers.
Natalie, who lives in Cardiff, said: “It was meant to be at the Coal Exchange.
“October was the original date – now we are getting married next October. We moved it to next year, but we don’t know if it will happen now. We just don’t know.
“Part of the Coal Exchange has gone into administration. The venue is running but the rest of it is not.”
When asked if she had been given any update as to whether the wedding would go ahead, Natalie said: “Absolutely nothing at all.”
She said she’d been following social media and news reports to try to gain a sense of what was happening.
Natalie added: “The pandemic was what it was and now we had this and we thought, ‘Oh my God, what now?’ How will we deal with this? All the stress, everything was worrying.
“I run my own business. Then there’s been having to deal with the wedding.”
Natalie claimed she hadn’t heard from the hotel company since the news broke last week.
She explained the venue held 300 people and the couple had planned to have 100 attend the ceremony, with 200 at the evening reception.
Originally they discussed going abroad to get married, as Spiro’s family are from Corfu, but as a lot of their family and friends are based in Wales they thought it would be easier to stay here, and that the venue in Cardiff would be better to cater for the capacity of guests.
When asked about what the experience of rearranging the wedding had been like, Natalie said: “I’ve had a gutsful of it now and think, ‘Can we just go abroad when we know what’s going on?.’
“It has taken the complete shine off it all. It has completely killed it. I don’t know what to think about it. It’s all up in the air.
“All the suppliers have been so supportive and really helpful. They have been amazing and we have managed to keep them all for next year. They have all worked together and we are really grateful for their support.”
The Exchange Hotel has been contacted for comment.