A “devastated” bride-to-be has had her dream wedding “destroyed” after the venue cancelled their ceremony due to refurbishment work.

Chesham resident, Nicola Coster, had been looking forward to marrying her fiancé Michael Arscott at Latimer Place, a luxury Victorian manor house also in Chesham, on April 29 next year.

However, nine months before the wedding was due to go ahead, De Vere Venues, which runs the lavish hotel, told the couple the venue would be closed between January and June 2017 for a £7 million refurbishment.

The bride-to-be said they were not told about the renovation works until July 20 and finds it “hard to believe” the firm did not know about the plans when their wedding was booked at the beginning of January.

She said: “It is horrific. We originally went to view the venue in December 2015, we met with a wedding planner and we had various emails back and forth. We asked if there would be any refurbishment works and they said no. A £7m refurbishment doesn't just get decided overnight.

“I have bought my wedding dress, the DJ and photo booth is booked – it is 80 per cent done. Our honeymoon has also been organised for the Tuesday after the wedding.

“They have ruined our plans but more importantly destroyed our dreams of getting married in the Victorian manor house. We don't want to get married once it’s been refurbished, we picked it because we liked it as it was.”

The couple are now anxiously searching for a new venue.

Miss Coster said: “I get home from work every night in tears, frantically trying to find somewhere else. We have found nothing like Latimer Place. We are so distraught. We are going to have to compromise on something to keep the date we wanted.”

De Vere Venues has offered the couple their deposit back as compensation and told them they could submit a schedule of losses for the management board to consider, but the “devastated” bride says “no amount of financial compensation will make up for what they have put us through.”

She added: “Our wedding day is meant to be the best day of our lives. Words can’t even describe how I feel. They have let us down.”

Tessa Win, general manager at Latimer Place, said they had “no alternative” but to “regretfully” cancel the wedding.

She said: “We understand how disappointing this must be to both Nicola and Michael, but due to the timings of the extensive refurbishment project, we had no alternative but to regretfully cancel the event.

“The decision was made to close the property and we contacted the couple to give as much notice as possible, more than eight months, and we are continuing to discuss all of the options directly with Nicola, including similar standard local venues at no financial loss. We remain totally committed to doing everything possible to ensure their wedding is a successful one.”