Lisa Snape celebrates 25 years at the Best Western Valley Hotel in Ironbridge.
A Shropshire wedding planner is celebrating her own silver anniversary working at an award winning World Heritage Site hotel.
Lisa Snape, marketing and sales manager at the Best Western Valley Hotel, has overseen weddings at the family-run hotel for the last 25 years.
She has organised hundreds of weddings – watching couples begin their married life together from the picturesque venue – along with christenings, wedding vow renewals, birthday parties and many more celebrations.
As a surprise, staff at the hotel made her a memory book with messages from people she has worked with over the 25 years as well as some jewellery to mark the special occasion.
Mrs Snape, 45, said she had followed full family journeys from a person being christened and then that person returning to get married here.
She said sadly she had also been involved with events where a couple had celebrated milestone wedding anniversaries and then several years later they were hosting the wake for the same family but many took comfort in being able to hold that final event in the place the person loved so much.
“I am so honoured to have worked at such a wonderful establishment for so long. I started working at the hotel as a general assistant when I was 19.
“Being a general assistant meant helping out across the hotel and I gained invaluable experience in all areas.
“I enjoy organising weddings as I love the fact you can really make a difference and make it really special for the couple. I get to meet couples when they book and then go through the planning stages with them and then to see it all come together on the day is wonderful and very rewarding,” she said.
“The generations I have served coming through the hotel for various events and celebrations makes my job very special.”
And as Mrs Snape got married at the hotel to her husband Karl the venue certainly holds a special place in her heart. The couple have two children, Kyle, 20 and Kerys, 18.
Mrs Snape said: “The hotel is so special to me. Our wedding was a fantastic day and has made the hotel a part of my life in every way.
“Another very special memory was winning the Best Western Hotel of the Year in 2008, which was a fantastic achievement for all our staff.
“We have also retained the AA two-rosette status for the last 15 years for our commitment to maintaining a consistently high standard of food.”
Mrs Snape said she has seen many changes at the hotel over the years, including more recently a change of ownership.
“I’ve seen the business go from strength to strength, building new bedrooms and undergoing refurbishment.
“I still love every day at work just the same as I did on my first day,” she added.
“We have a great group of people who really care about looking after the customers. We all support each other which creates a lovely environment to work in.”
For more information about the Valley Hotel and their weddings, see http://www.thevalleyhotel.co.uk
