COUPLES who had arranged to hold wedding parties at a restaurant fear they have lost all their money after the business went into liquidation.

The Boathouse in Chirk announced its closure earlier this year, meaning customers are now having to rearrange celebrations for their big day.

Some couples who had planned on having their wedding parties at the venue claim they are yet to be refunded their deposits and any extra money they had put down.

Isabel Blundy and Robert Anderson said they had paid £1,800 towards their party, while Robert Burke and June Mills say they have lost £460 on their booking.

The couples have become concerned after managers of The Boathouse are yet to respond to them with regard to the money they are now owed back and now fear they may not be refunded at all.

Managers at The Boathouse have been contacted for comment without success.

Ian McCulloch, insolvency director at Begbies Traynor, said: “The directors of the Boathouse have instructed Begbies Traynor to place the company into creditors’ voluntary liquidation.

“Regrettably we've become aware of a number of customer deposits for events which the company can no longer fulfil.

“Those customers will be contacted in due course.

“In the meantime, creditors such as Miss Blundy and Mr Burke should contact Begbies Traynor on 01772 202 000 to discuss the position.”

Ms Blundy has spoken of her disappointment with the way the situation has been handled.

“I’m still devastated about the whole thing,” she said.

“We have paid close to £1,800 off our outstanding balance – and now it’s closed I’m not sure if we’ll get it back.

“We’ve had to rearrange everything – all the services we planned on having on the day which we had hired and paid for.

“We had already sent out invites which we won’t get the money back for, and we’ve had to repay for these as well as pay for a new venue. I’ve had to take out a credit card for it.

“I’ve not heard back from the managers at all – it’s disgusting. I’m just angry and devastated, we planned the perfect party for us which was a perfect location for our friends and family.

“It hurt more because they didn’t have the decency to tell us about the closure – we found out via Facebook.”

Mr Burke and Ms Mills have also spoken of their disappointment, saying they feel very let down by the situation.

Mr Burke said: “£460 is a lot of money to lose especially leading up to a wedding coming up.

“Invitations have gone out to more than 80 people so we’re having to get in touch with everyone to let them know what’s happened.

“It’s just really frustrating.

“We looked absolutely everywhere to find a venue and everywhere is quite expensive, so we wanted to make sure we made the right choice.

“We had a good price at The Boathouse which was great – we initially put down a £100 deposit and that eventually rose to just short of £500.

“We tried to get in touch with the place after Christmas over the phone but there was no answer.

“We even went up to The Boathouse and the lights were all off every time we went.

“That was when we found out it had closed down.”

Ms Mills added: “We’re completely devastated. It’s been a lot more hassle than we had expected.

“We’ve both worked really hard to save up money for this – it’s really frustrating and it’s not nice the way the situation has been dealt with.

“We have family coming from as far as Doncaster and Oxford, so they’ve had to rearrange where they’re staying which has proved to be more expensive for them in some cases as well.”

Both couples made positive comments about Claire Parry, a former member of staff at The Boathouse who has been trying to help them out after the closure.

Ms Blundy added: “The staff, aside from the managers, were lovely – especially Claire who has been trying her best to help us out, despite the fact the managers should be doing it instead of a member of staff.”

Mr Burke said: “A big thanks to Claire for trying to help us out. If it wasn’t for her, we’d have been more stuck than we are now.”

Both couples also gave their thanks to the Hand Hotel in Chirk which has agreed to host the wedding parties for the two couple.