A DISTRAUGHT bride has said a hotel has caused her and her husband-to-be ‘untold amounts of stress’ by cancelling their room booking just 10 days before the big day.

Sara Clavin, 34, from George Green, Slough, booked a room for her and her fiancé, Steve Sweetman, for two nights at the Oakley Court Hotel in Windsor as part of their wedding celebrations to be held in Bray tomorrow (Saturday), explaining the reason behind their stay in an email on August 11.

The hotel responded on the same day saying it looked forward to welcoming them.

However, just 10 days before the big day, the couple received the news their booking had been ‘released’.

Miss Clavin said: “I was so deflated, I couldn’t concentrate on anything. I was so distraught that when the hairdresser came round to plan my hair for the big day, I wasn’t even paying attention."

Richard Smith, managing director at the Oakley Court Hotel, confirmed the hotel had been made aware the couple would be attending their wedding elsewhere.

This week, clarifying, he said: “There are strict rules regarding wedding photos on the grounds. We communicated with [Miss Clavin] at the time that she couldn’t have photos in the lobby.”

However it was not until September 9 - just three weeks before the wedding and more than three months after the initial booking on June 1, through a third party website, that any stipulations regarding external brides were mentioned.

Emails sent from the hotel stated ‘having pictures on the lawns will not be permitted’ and ‘you will be unable to walk around in your [wedding] dress at all’ - this came after the hotel had already asked what time, day and location the couple were planning on having their photos taken before heading to their wedding destination.

Miss Clavin said: “I was disappointed but we understand as we’d not booked it for the wedding.”

An agreement was worked out regarding the bride-to-be being able to wear her dress to and from the wedding venue and despite being upset about not being told earlier, the couple decided to go ahead with the booking due to the short notice.

Miss Clavin suspects staff may have missed the information about her being a bride or that there was some sort of miscommunication at the hotel.

She said: “If they had apologised and said ‘we’ve made a mistake’ I would have been annoyed but I would have got over it in a few days. We all make mistakes, it’s the way we handle it - that’s what matters.”

On September 21, Miss Clavin informed the Oakley Court Hotel via email: “[...] this situation has really put a dampener on our big day and I will reflect this in our review of your hotel.”

Two days later the hotel ‘released’ the couple’s booking, devastating the pair’s plans.

A spokeswoman for the hotel said: “I can confirm that Oakley Court protects the essence of any special event at the hotel, as this was not a wedding that was occurring at Oakley Court, this was purely a bedroom booking only, it then became apparent closer to the date of arrival that additional requests were being demanded that would mean that our on-site Bridal Party would be effected.”

The hotel says Miss Clavin would not accept she could not have photos taken in the grounds and that although the ceremony and party are both being held elsewhere, she demanded the use of the bar in the evening.

It says it was ‘threatened’ with a poor review if the ‘demands’ were not met, at which point the hotel decided there was ‘no alternative but to release the bedroom reservation’.

The spokeswoman added: “Oakley Court prides itself on providing excellent service and standards to the guests that utilise of our unique venue, however we do not permit the staging of weddings that have not occurred at our venue.”