Your Surrey Wedding- April/May 2021 (Issue 88)

RE-PLANNING “We had originally booked to get married and have our reception on 1 st August, 2020, but due to the pandemic, we had to cancel,” recalls Paileen. “It was difficult finding a date where the venue and registrars were both available. After a very stressful month of not being able to book any of the dates we wanted, and finding out we would have to give notice again and possible re-pay the fees, we decided to have the ceremony at the next available date which happened to be 29 th August, 2020. As time passed, we started to look at the positives of having a separate ceremony and reception, such as I get to wear my dress twice, I get to be pampered again and re-live the fun. We were upset about having to re-arrange everything as we had already sent out invites and received replies. We had to contact everyone to let them know it was cancelled, and due to the restricted numbers tell some people they wouldn’t be able to attend our new date. Luckily our friends and family understood that it was important to keep everyone safe.” Despite being unable to have the wedding they originally planned, the couple had the perfect day. “I would suggest to anyone that if you can get married with a few guests present, to definitely go ahead,” explains the bride. “It’s not worth stressing over trying to re-arrange everything, and remember if you do need to re-book over a year past the original date, then your notice of marriage won’t be valid.” MEMORABLE MOMENTS “Even though it wasn’t a traditional celebration, we still felt the nerves and excitement on our wedding day,” shares Paileen. “It wasn’t exactly what we had imagined, but it was still very special. We both looked and felt amazing. We managed to get Michael’s mum to the UK despite the pandemic, and we had our closest friends and family there to celebrate with us. We had to have our first dance in the lounge, but it was just as lovely.” REAL WEDDINGS 47