Skip to content

Wedding day cut short by roof fire at We The Curious venue

Kathryn Bradfield Firefighters with cakeKathryn Bradfield
Firefighters managed to save the cake and brought it out to the couple

A couple who endured two years of wedding delays due to the pandemic had their big day cut short when their venue caught fire.

Amy Heath was preparing to walk down the aisle when she heard Bristol museum We The Curious was alight.

Fire crews spent much of Saturday battling the roof blaze thought to have started at about 14:00 BST.

Groom James Leggett said after their frustrating two-year wait they "got so close" but have yet to be married.

Kathryn Bradfield Cutting the wedding cakeKathryn Bradfield
They decided to cut the cake anyway, despite not being able to have their wedding ceremony

The couple from Swindon said considerate firefighters had helped recover a few of their undamaged items including their wedding cake and a photograph.

Mr Leggett said the museum staff had all been "absolutely brilliant and superb" in how they had dealt with the situation.

We The Curious chief executive officer Donna Speed said the firefighters "were so caring about the whole situation".

"We'd also like to say a big thanks to Bristol Hotel, SS Great Britain and Bristol Old Vic," she added.

"They really helped save the day."

James Leggett James Leggett and Amy HeathJames Leggett
James Leggett and Amy Heath visited the venue on their original wedding date

Bristol Hotel offered the couple the use of a room for their guests to gather in during the day and Bristol Old Vic stepped in to offer them use of their venue for an evening party.

The couple had originally planned to get married in August 2020.

The wedding date was then rescheduled for April last year and was finally re-arranged to be held on Saturday.

We The Curious
Fire crews spent most of Saturday tackling the blaze

Ms Heath said the past few days had been an "absolute whirlwind".

"We thought we were finally going to get there, and got so close, and that's the absolute killer," she said.

"We were due to get married and walk down the isle at 2:30pm.

"I was literally holding the door handle of the bridal suite walking out the door and my sister who was the maid of honour got a phone call from her husband who said the roof's on fire.

"He said to turn around and look out of the window.

"I just stood there and froze."

In a statement, We The Curious bosses said its "key server systems" had been damaged, and it would remain closed for the time being.

The couple said they were not sure what they wanted to do next but hoped to eventually be married at a later date.

Allow Twitter content?

This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read  and  before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
Presentational grey line

Follow BBC West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: [email protected]