What should be one of the happiest days of a West Footscray couple’s life has turned into their worst nightmare.
Richard Macri and his fiancee Hannah have been planning to tie the knot and hold their reception at The Willows, one of Melbourne’s best-known wedding and reception venues.
Yet their plans for a perfect day have been shattered by the St Kilda Road venue suddenly announcing it was going into voluntary liquidation.
The closure has left the pair and dozens of other couples scrambling to find new venues and rearrange almost every element of their wedding day.
Mr Macri feared they would never get back the $17,000 they transferred to secure their August wedding for 150 guests.
He said he had paid for the wedding up front after a recent email from The Willows offered a discount for people who paid in full ahead of schedule.
“We are pretty much in shock, it’s not easy saving all of this money,” he said.
“We spoke to them on Wednesday about making the final preparations and there was no mention about any of this.”
On Friday night, an email sent to some clients claimed that “it is with regret” that The Willows has undertaken voluntary liquidation.
“We understand that the business’ immediate closure is both an inconvenience and shock,” it stated.
“We apologise in advance for the disruption and undertake that this was very much a last resort.”
The email goes on to list “a handful of venues close by that might be useful”.
“We hope that this goes some way to demonstrating our sincere remorse. A liquidator has been appointed and will be in touch in due course.”
Mr Macri said he did not receive the email and still hasn’t been contacted directly by The Willows, despite making dozens of calls over the weekend.
Housed in a Victorian mansion built in 1890, the venue was acquired by Aaron and Estelle Lewis in 2002. New-Zealand born Mr Lewis is a chef by trade and Ms Lewis has a background in sales and corporate HR.
The venue’s website has been shut down, along with all social media channels and Mr Lewis has deleted his LinkedIn profile.
The Willows was repeatedly contacted for comment.
