Couples have been left “heartbroken” after a Glenrothes hotel cancelled all its wedding bookings.
The Gilvenbank Hotel has written to people with bookings to say the venue will no longer be able to host weddings.
Bosses at the hotel say the reason is due to the hospitality suite being converted into 17 new hotel rooms, with work beginning in the coming weeks.
Permission for the plans was granted by the council in December.
Dean Melville, director of Kingdom Hotels – which owns Gilvenbank – confirmed to The Courier that weddings will be cancelled.
‘It’s devastating’
Stephanie Bradbury was due to marry her partner Robbie Strachan, 31, in September but found out the news on Saturday morning via Facebook.
She told The Courier: “I found out through social media.
“We got sent a screenshot yesterday of an email from someone saying their wedding had been cancelled and every other wedding is cancelled too.
“But we hadn’t received one. My mum phoned up this morning and (the hotel) confirmed it was true and that no weddings were going ahead.
“It’s devastating and I’m shocked.”
Stephanie had everything booked for her wedding, which included a £1,500 deposit for the venue.
She booked her wedding in January 2023.
The 27-year-old from Glenrothes added: “Trying to find another venue on that date is going to be hard.
“I’ve even got my wedding dress sorted, and I’ve paid a lot of other deposits.
‘We’ve been talking about the wedding every day’
“If I can’t get another venue I might end up losing all of that.
“We’ve been talking about the wedding every day.”
Megan Castel, from Thornton, found out that her wedding was cancelled in the same way.
She was due to marry her partner Stacey Preston, 27, in August this year.
‘We’re heartbroken’
The 29-year-old said: “To be honest, it hasn’t set in. We’re heartbroken.
“I found out on Facebook this morning – we had not been contacted.
“When I phoned this morning the person on the phone said, ‘Sorry, the rumours are true, the weddings have been cancelled’.
“We have had it booked for just short of two years and it has been planned down to every detail.
“Being a same-sex couple we’ve been through a lot over the last eight years and we were looking forward to this.
“It was going to be a magical day and our proudest moment.”
The couple are now unsure if they will be able to find an alternative venue before their big day.
Megan added: “There’s no confirmation on when we’ll get a refund and we need that money to find a venue.
“We both work in private childcare and we don’t have thousands in the bank to book somewhere else.
“They’ve done this all just to put extra rooms in.
“It looks like it’ll be the registry office because we still want our wedding day – it just won’t be the same.”
Refunds to be issued next week
Mr Melville confirmed refunds will be settled next week and stated he was surprised that planning permission to change the suite was granted so quickly.
He said: “We have to look at our businesses and the sad thing is functions suites are being used less and less.
“Weddings are becoming smaller and since the pandemic, everybody seems to be tightening their belt on celebrations.
“Effectively, what we have is a function room that is not getting used enough.
“When you pay rates on a business as high as we are, you have to maximise the business space.
“We feel there is more of a demand for occupancy rooms rather than a function room.
“Official letters went out as well as emails for people we didn’t have an address for.
“They were sent out yesterday via first class so you would assume they’d be seen this morning.
“It’s unfortunate, but we can’t be blamed for slow post.”
Conversation