Manitoba wedding venue destroyed in massive blaze

Wedding venue destroyed by fire Josh Crabb on couples left scrambling after a fire destroyed a wedding venue in the R.M. of St. Clements.

A couple’s dream project has ended in a nightmarish fire.

Robert and Tammy Belanger completely renovated a 1940s era barn in the R.M. of St. Clements, Man., and turned it into an elegant wedding venue called Hawthorn Estates.

However, Robert got a call Friday morning saying the barn was completely destroyed in the massive blaze.

"Somebody came in our driveway this morning about the six in the morning honking the horn and woke us up," Robert said. "It was like a dream. You could just hear this horn honking and when we got out of bed and I looked out the window, I could see the flames."

This was the third year the Belangers operated Hawthorn Estates – 2017 would've been their fourth year.

"We've had hundreds of weddings here. That's the unfortunate thing. It was such a unique building from an old-style barn that was renovated. That's what's hard, it's not replaceable," Robert said.

The Belangers moved the barn next to their home in the R.M. of St. Clements and spent two years fixing it up before opening the venue for weddings.

"Anything you lose is sad, but we put so much blood, sweat and tears and effort into this structure, and our hearts, and that's what's hard about seeing it gone, now," Robert added. "To see it gone now, it's just such a shame, because the building was such a beautiful building."

At this point, it is not known what could have caused the fire.

Robert said the venue was fully booked for 2017 and half booked for 2018.

He said him and Tammy have spent the morning contacting couples who had weddings booked so they can make alternate plans.

The Belangers just hosted a wedding at Hawthorn Estates last weekend and had one booked for Saturday.

Robert said the bride and groom booked in for this weekend have been notified and they are now making alternate arrangements.

"They were very gracious about it. They understood it's out of our control and our hands," he said.

Many people who have attended weddings or worked with the Belangers have reached out to them.

"The hundreds and hundreds of guests who have come to the couples' weddings, there's many people calling us and all of our vendors and all of our photographers," Robert said. "Everybody knows Hawthorn Estates, it was a one-of-a-kind."

Robert said he's not sure how the fire started, but he's hoping fire crews are able to find out by the end of the day.