Numerous couples have contacted CoventryLive after we revealed a popular Warwickshire hotel venue was cancelling all weddings in 2026. Ardencote Manor was purchased by a hotel group at the start of this month.
Couples with weddings booked for 2026 began getting calls from the hotel saying bosses planned to refurbish the venue and all wedding bookings were to be scrapped. While the hotel is returning deposits, the move has left couples not only needing to find a new venue, but also out of pocket due to money already spent on suppliers.
Georgia Berry booked her May wedding more than two years in advance back in February 2024. She paid off half their balance recently only to be told days later the booking was cancelled.
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She told Coventry Live: "Everything was perfect - we had booked everything through their recommendation including the disco, photography and room decorations. We went there on August 31 for wedding food tasting, not knowing anything was about to happen.
"Whilst food tasting, the server told us 'big changes are coming' which alarmed us. We had a meeting with the wedding planner and asked what the big changes are and she told us they are being taken over but there are no changes to the venue.
"So we trusted her, stayed the night and on September 1 - the day the new owners took over - we paid over half off of the balance which they happily took. A week and a half later, on September 10, I had a phone call to say that the new owners have decided they are not going ahead with any 2026 or 2027 weddings due to refurbishing the venue."
Georgia added: "We've had no compensation for anything already paid such as our hand painted, personalised invitations that have already been sent.
"We have family travelling from across the world, Australia and Canada, who have already booked their flights and now we are unsure if we can find another venue that has our date available as it is only eight months away.
"The way we have been treated is absolutely disgusting by all at the Ardencote."
Laura Smith described Ardencote as her dream venue, somewhere she's wanted to get married since she was a child. She got engaged in September 2024 and days later got some devastating news
"Myself and my partner got engaged on the 29 September," she told CoventryLive. "Four days later I received the news that I had cancer. I had to have further surgery and some time to heal.
"We then started to view venues and we fell in love with Ardencote. I had actually said to my mum about 10 years ago when we visited the spa there that it would be an amazing place to get married.
"Having my partner love the venue just as much as me was like a dream come true. The venue was in our budget and everything was falling into place.
"After booking the venue I secured every single one of my suppliers to ensure that I had exactly what I wanted as we chose the bank holiday weekend and I knew it would be a popular date.
"Everything was going perfectly and I thought I could start to relax for a bit before it would become full steam ahead on wedding organisations and liaising with suppliers about last minute tweaks.
"I spoke with the venue regarding booking an LED dance floor on the 4 September and was encouraged to do so - nothing at all indicated that anything was wrong.
"Less than a week later I had a phone call from Ardencote and I heard the words no bride wants to hear: 'Unfortunately we are cancelling your wedding' and not because they are closing down or had gone into liquidation, but because a new chain has taken over and have decided to use the whole of 2026 to renovate."
Laura added: "This is not covered by wedding insurance, the only time you are able to claim through them is when they go into liquidation. They have stated this is a breach of contract and therefore I have to sort this out directly with Ardencote."
Laura and her hubby-to-be have found a new venue for their date, but it is at a hefty cost.
"I spent 24 hours calling around to try and get a venue with my date free, which being a bank holiday weekend was very difficult," she said. "We have found another venue which we love but it has nearly doubled the cost of what we were paying Ardencote for the venue and food. To have like for like and the numbers we had set our heart on it is way over budget."
Another couple, Jonathan and Martyn, said they were only told about the cancellation of their big day when they rang the hotel to add an extra room to their booking.
In an email to CoventryLive the couple, also due to marry in May 2026, said: "We are beyond disgusted at how we have been treated.
"We heard a rumour from a family member that it had been sold and queried this with the Ardencote directly. We were assured that the 'Ardencote had not been sold at this time'.
"Then when we followed this up we were told that 'our contract would be novated to any new owner'."
But this didn't happen and the pair were told of the cancellation on 11 September.
"This has left us totally flattened with lots of money wasted," they added. "We will now also have significant additional expense and have already lost deposits with suppliers."
Barons Eden is understood to have purchased the venue earlier this month. We've approached them and the hotel itself for a comment, but neither have responded.