Energy bills: Denbigh venue cancels winter weddings due to costs

A wedding venue is cancelling winter ceremonies - because it cannot afford the heating bill.

Energy bills, petrol and food have all gone up, with prices rising at the fastest rate in the UK for 30 years.

And it is not just households feeling the pinch as the owner of Pentre Mawr Country House, near Denbigh, has revealed.

They have decided not to take any more winter wedding bookings, calling the price hikes a "perfect storm".

Owner Bre Carrington-Sykes told the BBC Radio Wales Drive programme it was particularly difficult to cope with rising fuel bills in the wedding industry because prices are quoted at least a year in advance and cannot be changed.

She said: "It used to cost us £18 to heat our marquee per wedding night, now it costs us £60. The heating fuel has gone up to 99p from 64p."

Asked if the venue would be able to afford hosting winter weddings, she said: "Absolutely not - we've actually made that decision.

"Anything that we have already booked we are going to go ahead with. At the end of the day you're in business basically to make a profit and survive, not to go backwards.

"So we've decided we've got a couple of winter functions and after that we're closing for the winter and that's the first time ever, excluding Covid, that we've had to make that decision. But it has to be done."