Shakespeare causes wedding chaos

Wendy was only made aware of the performance after she read about it in the Observer. She said: "I went into shock when I saw in the Bexhill Observer that the Bexhill Amateur Dramatics Society were taking over the whole of the Manor Gardens to do a production of Romeo and Juliet. No one at the Manor Barn had told us."

Wendy, who had spent months preparing for her big day, thought everything was in place and apart from a few last minute preparations and the usual pre-wedding nerves, believed she was all set to marry her partner of the past thirteen years, Cecil Carl Graham.

Then, with just days to go to the wedding, and with a hundred guests making the journey to Bexhill from all over the UK, Florida and Jamaica, distraught Wendy read about the play and rang the Manor Barn to find out more information. She said it took days to get any answers and that what she finally discovered very nearly lead to her having an, "emotional breakdown".

She said: "There is never anyone there in the office to talk to; they did not respond for three days and that was only because my last message was threatening to take them to a solicitor."

Wendy discovered that not only would the performance have taken place at the same time as her wedding, but she would have to keep the main doors to the barn (which lead out into the rose garden) closed, and the music turned down so as not to disturb the performers.

She said: "It's bad enough that the play is the most famous love tragedy of all time, and in addition to not being able to use the rose garden for photographs, I was told that for the pleasure of walking into the public gardens my guests would have to pay 8 each '“ which, at any other time of the year would be free."

Wendy was angry that she was not informed of the performance at the time of booking and made aware of all the restrictions that would be imposed on her and her guests.

She added: "The whole point of choosing the Manor Barn was to have everything together in one setting - the wedding ceremony, the reception, the beautiful rose gardens, easy access for a disabled relative, a play area for the children '“ yet when I rang and expressed my concerns over the performance they claimed that I had only booked the Barn not the grounds."

Wendy said had she known all the facts then she never would have booked the venue in the first place, and in addition she claims the staff were unsympathetic to her concerns.

She said: "They just said they didn't understand the problem and that there was no reason why the performance should affect my wedding at all!"

With just days to go Wendy and friends frantically rang every venue in the area in an attempt o find a new location. She said: "I was in a real state, I couldn't call the wedding off, I couldn't sleep - I didn't know what to do."

Then at the last minute Wendy's prayers were answered when the Beaufort Park Hotel, in Hastings came to the rescue. She said: "They bent over backwards to accommodate us."

Luckily, the Registrar who was to conduct the wedding, was able to attend the new venue, then Wendy had the mammoth job of calling all the wedding guests to inform them of the new location as by this time it was too late to re-send a new batch of invitations.

She said: "The wedding was only days away by then and even if there had been time, we couldn't afford to re-do all the invites."

Unlike the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, Wendy and Cecil's wedding day didn't end in tears and was to have a happy ending with an 'amazing' day at the Beaufort Park Hotel.

Delighted and relieved that her wedding turned out to be all she had hoped it would be, Mrs Wendy Graham said:"I can't get over the irony of a performance of Romeo and Juliet and having been with Cecil for thirteen years and having to change all my wedding plans right at the last minute! The wedding at the Beaufort Park was fantastic. We had the ceremony inside the hotel, photos in the grounds, with a reception and disco in a marquee. We have since been inundated with messages from guests and staff which all say it was the best wedding they had ever attended. It was such a relief after going through all the stress before."

Speaking on behalf of the Manor Barn, Chairman of the Old Town Preservation Society, Michael Kent said: " We've been running this facility for fifteen years now and this is only the first time that this situation has occurred and I don't know all the facts at this point. This facility is run by a team of volunteers and I can't comment until I've spoken to all those concerned. We rarely get a complaint."