EXCLUSIVE: Ayrshire bride's wedding nightmare as venue incomplete

A Kilmarnock woman fears her wedding will always be remembered as the one at the venue that wasn't finished.

Robyn Grant and her now husband got married at the new barn at Enterkine House Hotel in Ayrshire earlier this month.

The bespoke barn is described on the hotel's Facebook page as truly stunning.

But she describes it as a mess. Speaking exclusively to West FM News she says, "We originally booked our wedding for the 19th of October. But they double booked that date, so we had to bring our wedding forward to the 5th of October and were promised the new venue would be completed by then.

"We arrived the week before to an open day and the amount of stuff needing done was unbelievable. But still, promises were made that everything was on track.

"My husband and I had agreed to just turn a blind eye to everything and try make the most of the day because there had been so many tears and so much stress.

"On the actual day, we had no new toilets in the barn area. There was one disabled toilet but it was unfinished. There was no kitchen. One of the bars wasn't finished so it was covered in a white sheet. None of the landscaping had been done outside and there was quite a steep drop at the back of the area which, to me, seemed dangerous.

"There were no lights to the car park which also hadn't been completed as promised. There were also screws and wire covers lying around the floor which children picked up. One of the fire exits wasn't fitted properly and kept blowing open during our speeches.

"In terms of service, the meal wasn't what we'd had at our menu tasting. The service was slow which meant there was no time for tea and coffee afterwards. Staff were rolling big tables through our guests in the reception area to try set up for the evening because that hadn't been done properly either.

"More and more issues have come to our attention as time has gone on. We did have an enjoyable day but that's just down to the people we are. If we had let it get to us, things could have been a lot worse. But the more we think about it, the more we realise the venue we were given was unacceptable and how it was handled.

"It ruined the run up to our wedding. We spent that week with people pitying us rather than being excited with us.

"We've had people contact us since asking if we think the venue will be sorted for their wedding day so it has caused a lot of concern and panic. I think it's just unacceptable for a business to treat people in this way."

Robyn also claims the building wasn't officially signed off by South Ayrshire Council. We contacted the local authority who responded with the following statement on Monday 21st of October.

"The safety of the public is always a primary concern, so before a new building can be brought into use, the Council issue a Completion Certificate to ensure the building is fit for purpose.

“No certificate has been issued for the new building at Enterkine House. The Council is currently exploring the available legal options to ensure building standards are met."

We also contacted Enterkine House Hotel to respond to concerns raised by the newlyweds. In a statement they said, "As a successful wedding venue we are deeply upset to have an unhappy couple. Staff work incredibly hard to provide each special day and this was no exception."