An Irish couple due to marry in the Canary Islands in September is facing the loss of €26,000 paid to a Spanish wedding planner who closed her business last week amid claims of insolvency.Sorcha McManigan from Dublin and her fiance Alan Kent have expressed anger and heartbreak at the loss of the money handed over for their wedding in Tenerife. The couple had been planning their September 19th wedding since the autumn of 2024 and taken multiple trips to Spain to meet wedding planner Claire Lopez of Weddings in Tenerife. They had paid over two-thirds of what they believed would be the final bill for their wedding to a company they had researched and which had been in business for 12 years and won awards.“She was so flexible and willing to cater for special requests and arranged a tasting menu for us to pick the wines,” McManigan said of Lopez.“We wanted to make sure we were doing this without having to take out any loans so worked really hard and saved everything that we had.” They chose Tenerife as Kent’s grandmother lived on the island.The couple’s wedding plans are now in tatters as they have learned that none of the vendors, including the hotel, restaurant, cake supplier, videographer, photographer celebrant or florists have been paid. McManigan said 80 invitees have booked flights and paid for accommodation, giving her less than four months to arrange a wedding they don’t know how they will be able to afford.Claire Lopez of Weddings In Tenerife The bride-to-be said she started having misgivings about Lopez in the run-up to last Christmas after she became slow to respond to emails and text messages.“My gut was telling me something wasn’t quite right but we had a contract and had paid out so much already that I didn’t want to pull out,” she said. The couple delayed payment of a final payment of €10,000 given significant issues with an invoice Lopez promised to address.On May 22nd she received an email from the company’s business address stating: “I regret to inform you that Weddings in Tenerife has informed the commercial court of Santa Cruz Tenerife that we will file for insolvency as soon as our lawyers have prepared the necessary documents.” The email said the couple would receive instructions for submitting a claim for the money paid and that the company “will not be able to deliver any products or services for your project”. Sorcha McManigan and her fiance Alan Kent have to work out how to have their wedding “Even though it doesn’t offer you any consolation I still want to emphasise that we have done our most to avoid this situation and that we are aware of the implications it will have for you but unfortunately there is nothing we can do about it,” the company told them. “It was just sickening,” McManigan said.She said that while the booking for the venue was made and is still secure, only €1,000 or 20 per cent of the total cost has been paid with no other vendors paid.“We now have to work out how to have our wedding and work out how to pay for it,” she said. The Weddings in Tenerife website and all related social media accounts have disappeared, she added. She has contacted the Garda in Ireland, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Spanish solicitors on her options but is not optimistic about getting her money back.[ Currys attempts to fob off customer with faulty oven to the manufacturerOpens in new window ]Other couples have been affected by the collapse of Weddings in Tenerife and have shared their stories on social media. Kayleigh Golding from Stockport in England, who is getting married on June 6th, paid about €18,000 to the wedding organiser with the final payment made in March but discovered less than a week ago that nothing had been paid for. “On Friday we woke up to the email and that was it. No further response, nothing,” she told The Irish Times. “I went into panic mode, it was horrendous.”She had to cancel the wedding on the 40 guests who were due to travel as they could not afford to pay for the wedding a second time.Weddings In Tenerife website “All the guests said they would still come and our wedding co-ordinator and celebrant worked to help and then we were able to get [a] credit card so can pay out an additional £8,500 which we can pay back over a time,” she said. The Irish Times was unsuccessful in seeking comment from the company.