Wedding planner accused of running off with couples' deposits

Police are investigating allegations that a wedding planner deliberately double-booked dozens of weddings and then ran off with half a million pounds in deposits.

At least one couple is believed to have turned up for their big day, only to discover that there was no record of their booking and that a conference was taking place instead.

The planner at 15th-century Guthrie Castle in Angus is said to have collected £2,000 deposits from couples and had them paid into his personal account. He is then alleged to have wiped the hotel's computer system before running abroad with the cash.

40% of married Brits regret wasting money on their wedding

As a result, the hotel now has no idea of who has booked a wedding, and no way to contact them.

"It's all a bit up in the air for now and my clients are devastated, but allegedly the wedding coordinator at the venue has been pocketing the deposit money and taking double and triple bookings for dates without putting them in the diary, and the castle owners are left uncertain as to who has been booked in for which dates," writes wedding photographer Kirsty Brown on Facebook.

The castle is asking couples who have booked a wedding to get in touch on 01241 828691. However, some are complaining that they still don't know what's going on.

"Although this is a terrible shock for them and I have a great deal of sympathy for them, they could have been more transparent and made more effort to try to get people to come forward as quickly as possible," one groom tells local paper the Courier.

"There has been very little in the way of apologies or 'this must be awful for you'. The feeling is very much how awful it is for them."

Brides' fury after dress shop closes weeks before weddings

We have to hope that none of the affected brides have ordered their wedding dress from Bride to Be in Manchester - because, if so, they're in for a double shock.

In a rather similar story, the bridal store has shut up shop and stopped answering calls. Several brides who have paid deposits for the dresses are now out of pocket.

A statement on the bridal shop's website says: "Greenfield Recovery Limited have been instructed to take steps to place Bride to Be (Manchester) Limited into creditors' voluntary liquidation (a formal insolvency process)."

All of the company's social media pages also appear to have been deleted.