Venue burns down on wedding morning, but 60 employees cancel days off to save

Mark Bernard and Lowri Jones had to cancel their wedding after a fire ripped through their chosen venue on the morning of the ceremony. Luckily a new venue stepped in and the day was saved

A newlywed couple had their special day saved after the original venue burned down on the morning of the ceremony and 60 staff members took their days off to help.

Groom Mark Bernard, 52, was having breakfast when he received a call that a fire had burned out the venue.

He’s had to call off his wedding to Lowri Jones, 34, with guests on the way, decorations sorted and a meal already booked.

Firefighters had been called to the south Wales venue just after 5.30am on June 17 and, given the extent of the fire, were urging the public to avoid the area and nearby residents to keep their doors and windows closed, reports said Wales Online.

Ocean View Windmill Farm on the Gower was evacuated and the couple said their wedding could not go ahead.

Luckily, staff at nearby Oldwalls Gower wedding venue offered to host the celebration – and arranged for the same registrars, the same food and all 93 guests to attend.

More than 60 employees have volunteered to take their days off and annual leave to help. Centerpieces and welcome signs were saved from the fire, and the new venue even managed to source a roast pork.

The beloved and very grateful couple got married at 11am and the overjoyed couple and wedding party commended the staff for “saving the day”.

Groom Mar spoke to WalesOnline as he headed to Oldwalls Gower with his bride, 34, ahead of the 11am ceremony.

“It was all over at 7 a.m. this morning! It was a feeling of great sadness,” he said. “It was just myself – Lowri was with her parents – and I woke up and had breakfast and I got a call to say the house had burned down.

“From that moment it was over. But within an hour calls were coming from everywhere and suddenly we were going to Oldwalls. We were set up in a great place, they brought us here and they did something amazing Let’s celebrate this wedding!”

Usher Regan Craig previously said: “We were told about the fire around 7am and were moved to Oldwalls. They saved the day, they will host the wedding with 90 to 100 guests. Everything stayed the same [guests, registrar etc].”

Oldwalls Gower Commercial Director Shakira Obaid said: “When we first heard the news this morning we were disappointed for Ocean View and know first hand the devastation the fire would wreak as we happened to live through it in 2014 .

“We quickly jumped into action when the bride’s makeup artist, Farhana Ali, tweeted on Facebook at dawn to ask for our help.

“Turns out the bride’s father is actually our insurance agent and a friend of Oldwalls. We called him straight away to let him know Oldwalls was available and we’d be stepping in for the big day.

“Our events team was due to be off work so an SOS message went out to all staff as we couldn’t do this without the team. Over 60 of them reached out to us within the hour to volunteer for the work which we are really proud of.

“We even brought in the team from our sister location, Fairyhill’s gardening team helped prepare for the outdoor ceremony this morning!

“We are literally about to welcome over 90 wedding guests and the ceremony will be held outdoors at 11am – at least the weather was on the couple’s side. We have tried our best to repeat throughout the day to minimize disruption to the bride and groom.

“Our chefs managed to source the roast pork, the party favours, centerpieces and welcome signs etc. were all salvaged from Ocean View which is a huge relief to the bride. We will pull out all the stops to make today magical for Lowri. Mark and her guests.”