A WEDDING was saved at the eleventh hour by a quick-thinking sister.
David Crossley, 25 and new wife, Ellen from Rhos on Sea, were due to celebrate their marriage reception at the club sited on Sunnyvale Caravan Park in Kinmel Bay near Rhyl, but arrived to find it locked and empty.
David’s sister Sharon Hughes, rang round desperately to locate a new venue for more than 100 guests, leaving the groom “stressed”, as he could not reach the club’s leaseholders SV Leisure Ltd.
Mr Crossley said: “I got there on Friday night and it was quiet, but I didn’t think much of it, to drop the food round. My sister went there Saturday morning and nobody was there.
“I thought - we have 100-150 guests coming - where are we going to have it? It was such short notice. Where could we go? It was an absolute pain. It was stressful.”
The family managed to into Prestatyn Constitutional Club at the last minute but warned others who have booked the club to check the situation well in advance.
Mrs Hughes said: “I had my own wedding reception at the club and we know it’s used quite regularly. The people who leased it from Sunnyvale cleared the place out and left it empty.”
Robert Jones, from Sunnyvale who lease the club to SV Leisure said every effort was being made to contact club customers.
He said: “We have retaken possession of the club, so it is back under our control. We are going to run it in a responsible and proper manner. The leaseholders left a lot of people in the lurch, but this sort of thing won’t happen again. Our reputation is really important to us.”
Despite the upheaval, Mr Crossley said his wedding was still a special day, and the emergency reception was “perfect”.
The Pioneer was unable to contact SV Leisure.