Manchester hotel wins wedding race
Love-struck couples are queuing up to get married at a Greater Manchester hotel which is believed to be the first in the country to get a licence to host civil marriages.
Saddleworth Hotel, near Oldham, got its licence on 1 May and held its first wedding just two days later - of special significance since it was the proprietors, Anthony Baker and Sandy Newman, who took the plunge.
"We are situated six miles outside Oldham in the Pennines with a view over a Roman Fort. The building itself was originally a farmhouse, so it's an ideal location for getting married," said newly-wed Mr Baker.
"We waited a long time to get married because we didn't want the ceremony in Oldham register office which is in a run-down area," he added.
A second wedding was held just half an hour after Mr Baker's and now seven other couples have booked to get married at the hotel over the summer.
"We previously held lots of functions here but this will mean a lot of new business for us and generate good profits," said Mr Baker.
Hot on the heels of the Saddleworth Hotel in winning a licence is Haley's Hotel in Leeds, which will host its first wedding this Saturday.
And in Cheshire, functions venue Peckforton Castle, which has also got its licence through, has already taken 20 bookings for weddings over the summer.
