Couples set to be married at a popular Kent wedding venue have been left devastated after the business behind it collapsed into administration.
The Blazing Donkey Country Hotel, near Sandwich – which once snubbed a million-pound deal to house asylum seekers – has been forced to close its doors after more than 36 years under the ownership of Richard and Sherry Martin.
Blazing Donkey owner Richard Martin has reportedly not been able to return to the business since his wife’s death
In a statement pinned to the gates of the site, the directors said administrators had been appointed amid financial pressures and personal tragedy.
The sudden closure has left prospective brides and grooms scrambling to find alternative arrangements, with some due to get married this week.
Among them is Kenna Nicholson, who was set to walk down the aisle on Friday after spending more than £12,000 on her dream wedding at the “beautiful” venue.
She said administrators called her yesterday, warning her she would be lucky to receive a penny back for every pound she has spent.
“We’re devastated – our whole day is just gone,” said the bride-to-be.
“When we booked it 18 months ago, everything looked great, but we thought something was up when we saw staff looking for new jobs on Facebook.
Kenna Nicholson and her fiancé, Anthony Russell, were due to be married at the Blazing Donkey this Friday. Picture: Kenna Nicholson
“I sympathise with the owner, but the way they’ve gone about it is disgusting. Even yesterday, they accepted a hotel room booking from one of our friends.
“The communication has been terrible – we’ve had four wedding coordinators in that time, which seemed odd.”
Ms Nicholson and her fiancé, Anthony Russell, have now been forced to spend yet more money finding a new venue and putting friends and family up in hotel rooms.
Bosses at the Blazing Donkey – which is run by Edenlodge Associates Ltd – say they “deeply regret” the disruption, acknowledging the “disappointment this may cause to couples affected by these circumstances”.
No details have yet been released on how payments and deposits will be handled, but the statement says contact details for the appointed administrators will be provided “very soon”.
It also reveals how the Martins’ lives changed “irreversibly” in January when co-director Mrs Martin was admitted to hospital with an aggressive brain stem cancer, which ultimately claimed her life at the age of 63.
The Blazing Donkey is said to have hosted more than 2,000 weddings since 1999
Her illness had forced the couple to step back from running the venue, which hosted more than 2,000 weddings since becoming one of the first in the country to be licensed for outdoor ceremonies in 1999.
Without their day-to-day involvement, administrators say the business quickly became unsustainable despite “significant cash injections” from the couple’s personal savings.
Mr Martin is now understood to be in poor health and, according to the statement, has been unable to return to the business in any capacity following his wife’s death.
The statement reads: “Immediate action was taken to close all non-event operations so that the team that remained could focus on looking after wedding clients that had already booked and ensure that every wedding and event due to take place last year and this year could proceed as planned.
“Since the couple withdrew from the business, the team that remained in post were able to deliver all events.
“However, despite significant and sustained cash injections from the couple’s personal resources, without the wider core business operating alongside, and with overheads remaining high, it has become impossible to continue hosting these events and operating the business in any form.
Despite significant and sustained cash injections from the couple’s personal resources…it has become impossible to continue hosting these events and operating the business in any form..
“The family acknowledge the disappointment this may cause to couples affected by these circumstances and extends their deepest regret that such action has to sadly become necessary.”
Companies House reports for Edenlodge Associates Ltd are yet to show confirmation of the business entering administration.
Mr Martin – who on August 24 incorporated a new property company classified as “buying and selling of own real estate” – is listed as the sole director of Edenlodge.
He made headlines in 2022 when he claimed to have rejected a fee of little more than £1 million to turn his hotel into accommodation for asylum seekers.
He told KentOnline that accepting the “fast buck” would have meant cancelling hundreds of weddings, with the popular venue already booked into 2025 at that stage.
The shock closure of the Blazing Donkey is the latest in a worrying trend this year, with other high-profile wedding venues being lost around the county.
In January, St Augustine’s in Westgate-on-Sea also went into administration, and weeks later, the Little Silver Country Hotel in St Michaels, near Tenterden, suffered the same fate.