A Merseyside couple have watched their dream destination wedding descend into a “nightmare” after discovering that their wedding planner — to whom they had paid nearly £15,000 — was filing for insolvency less than a fortnight before their big day.
Kayleigh Billington and Phil Golding had spent three years planning their wedding on the Spanish island of Tenerife, working with an island-based wedding planner called Claire Lopez since 2023. They claim that Ms Lopez, through her company Weddings in Tenerife, had pledged to handle everything from the venue to food, music and all the finer details.
Having handed over a total of £14,700 to the planner, Ms Billington, who lives in Southport, said she and her fiancé were over the moon as they prepared to fly out with their 40 guests for a magical celebration this coming Saturday (June 6).
Reflecting on the planning of their special day, 39-year-old Ms Billington told the ECHO: “We have been planning the wedding since 2023. We got engaged in 2022 in Tenerife and while we were there we thought, why don’t we get married here because we love it.
“We researched it and found this lady called Claire Lopez and her company is literally called Weddings in Tenerife by Claire Lopez. We paid a deposit with her and booked our wedding. She said she would do everything for us. She was a well established wedding planner there. We thought we had made a really good decision.” The couple had made numerous regular payments over the years that followed and had even travelled out several times to meet Ms Lopez and go through the details.
But on Friday, May 22, their plans fell apart when Ms Billington received a message.
She said: “I woke up and I got a WhatsApp message from the events co-ordinator at the hotel where we are having the wedding. They asked if we had heard anything about our wedding planner as they had heard something.
“My heart stopped. I started messaging and phoning Claire Lopez and got nothing. Five minutes later I got an email from her.”
An email from Ms Lopez to Ms Billington, seen by the ECHO, stated that her company had informed the Commercial Court of Santa Cruz de Tenerife that it will be filing for insolvency as soon as their lawyer has prepared the necessary documents.
View 2 ImagesKayleigh Billington and Phil Golding were preparing for their dream wedding in Tenerife before their planner told them she was filing for insolvency
The email adds: “We are no longer allowed to perform any activities regarding Weddings in Tenerife S.L, which means we will not be able to deliver any products or services for your wedding.
“Even though it doesn’t offer you any consolation, I still want to emphasise that we have done our utmost to avoid this situation, and that we are aware of the implications this will have for you. Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do about it.” Despite frantic efforts to obtain further information from her wedding planner, Ms Billington revealed she has received no further correspondence. To her horror, she subsequently discovered that the vast majority of the money they had handed over had never reached the suppliers providing key services for their big day.
Ms Billington added: “I have been trying to contact suppliers and quite a few of them have told us that we are booked in with them for June 6, but that they haven’t received any deposits or payments. The only thing that has been paid for is a one thousand Euro deposit for the venue.
“In total we have handed over £14,700. We don’t know where all our money has gone. Because we went through a third party wedding planner, our insurance doesn’t appear to cover it.”
That Friday, a distraught Ms Billington was thrust into the dreadful situation of having to notify all her wedding guests — who had already secured accommodation and flights for the trip — that she feared the wedding was cancelled.
Fortunately, the couple, who have three children between them, have since been in contact with a number of suppliers who have offered discounts and support, meaning they are still able to go ahead with a wedding on Saturday — though it has cost them considerably more money. Ms Billington added: “The hotel have been absolutely amazing and have offered us lots of discounts and a few freebies, saying they can throw something together for us. I can’t thank them enough. The Tenerife community have really supported us.
“We have managed to get it all down to around eight thousand Euros, which we have had to take out a new credit card to pay for. That’s on top of what we have already paid. It’s an astronomical amount of money really.
“But we are going ahead with it. We are not going to let what’s happened ruin our wedding day. We want to make it better than it was ever going to be – but obviously it has come at a big financial cost.”
The pair have since launched a GoFundMe page, appealing for help to cover the additional costs of salvaging their special day. Those wishing to contribute can do so here.
Ms Billington revealed she is part of a WhatsApp group with several other couples who were also clients of Claire Lopez and find themselves in an equally distressing situation. A number of news stories have featured affected couples from across the UK and Ireland.
She added: “We are all heartbroken, we are devastated by what has happened. We are all trying to support each other. This was our dream wedding. It was supposed to be a dream come true and it has turned into a bit of a nightmare.” The pair are jetting off to Tenerife today (Sunday) and plan to file a complaint with local police on the island before turning their attention to ensuring their big day is as memorable as possible, despite everything they have endured.
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The ECHO has reached out to Claire Lopez and Weddings in Tenerife for a comment.