Aberfoyle Mill closure leaves Guelph couple without venue 5 months from their wedding | CBC News
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Becky Gray and Spencer White planned to have their dream wedding at the Aberfoyle Mill in the Township of Puslinch this September.
But that won’t be possible anymore.
The Guelph, Ont., couple is one of many others scrambling to save their wedding day after the Aberfoyle Mill abruptly announced it will be closing down for good last month.
“You have this vision of what your wedding’s going to look like being five months out from it,” Gray said with tears in her eyes.
“It just feels like all the hard work was gone for nothing.”
The Aberfoyle Mill is a restaurant and event space that has been a landmark in the community for 35 years. It’s located in a 19th-century grist mill in Aberfoyle, which is south of Guelph and within Puslinch Township, and has been a popular place for special dinners and weddings.
‘Impossible to continue’
John Manolis is the owner of the business. He says they were hit hard during the COVID pandemic because of all the lockdowns and restrictions that essentially put a stop to any new bookings for multiple years.
Manolis says that period of low sales was crippling for his business. He says he’s been trying to unsuccessfully pick up the pieces ever since.
“It just made it impossible to continue,” he said, adding that he hopes he’s giving couples enough time to make alternate arrangements for their wedding.
“We could have closed at the end of February. It was at the point that things were so desperate. The only reason I decided to stay open for March is the fact that there were three weddings in March and I wanted to see those through … I looked at April and we didn’t have any weddings.”
Manolis closed his business for good on March 29.
After 35 years in business, the Aberfoyle Mill abruptly announced it has closed. The restaurant and event space south of Guelph near Highway 401 has long been a landmark. Located in a 19th-century grist mill, it has been a popular place for dinners, special events and weddings. Now, couples like Becky Gray and Spencer White, who were planning on getting married there later this year, are scrambling to find a new venue.
Flights, hotels, honeymoon already booked
Gray and White say they have reached out to many different venues to try and save their September 12 wedding.
They’ve decided to look into venues in Kitchener-Waterloo to improve their chances of finding a suitable location.
Gray says she envisions a rustic wedding theme with about 80 guests. They had originally chosen the Aberfoyle Mill because they wanted to make sure elderly family members would have an easy time getting to and from the venue.
So far, none of the available spaces have met all their needs. Some are too small, some don’t have their dates available and others are too expensive.
“A lot of [guests] have flights and hotels booked,” White said.
“Some of those RSVPs might end up retracting their ability to come. We’re not really sure if they’re going to be able to make it to what the next wedding plan ends up being.”
The couple has a honeymoon booked a week after when they were planning to get married, so they’re hoping the next venue will be able to accommodate them on or before their original wedding day.
“I’m kind of at a loss,” Gray said, questioning why they did not get a sooner heads up if Manolis knew he would be closing the business.
“How in good faith can you take couples’ money for a wedding knowing that you might never be able to provide that for them.”
Waiting for a refund
White and Gray say they don’t have much hope that they’ll ever see their $500 deposit again.
Manolis says there’s probably not a lot he can do at this point.
“I have nothing else left. I gave everything I had,” he said.
“I wanna make sure I do everything right here for everybody concerned. As much as it’s in my hands, I will. But a lot of it probably will be out of my hands.”
He says his staff has so far reached out to some of the impacted couples to discuss alternate options to try and help them save their day.
There is hope
Jeff Maeck of Maeck Weddings has been in the wedding planning business for 14 years.
He says there is hope for the couple trying to save their September wedding.
“There’s still good availability at some really wonderful venues. There’s this insane concentration of exceptional wedding venues in the tri-cities that I think is very unusual.”
Maeck is encouraging the affected couples to think outside of the box.
“Don’t stress. It’s going to come together. It’s going to be beautiful. You’re getting married. That’s the main focus of the day. You’re going to have an incredible celebration,” he said.
“They’re going to find something amazing. They’re going to marry their best friend. Hopefully they can focus on that and not stress too much about it.”