Planning a wedding can be a very stressful time for any couple but imagine having every aspect of your big day planned only to have Covid19 come along and cause your wedding to be postponed not once, but twice?
Simon and I were supposed to get married on Monday 30th March 2020 but sadly, lockdown was announced the week before our wedding. Our venue had already closed before lockdown but were more than happy for us to change our date to October 22nd 2020. At the time, we had no idea how serious the pandemic would be and we were naïve to think that our wedding would go ahead in October. By the time August came around there were talks of second waves so we rang our venue and postponed to March 18th 2021 in the hope Covid19 would be a distant memory. Never did we think we'd have to consider postponing for a third time. To say I was stressed out was an understatement. The country went into lockdown on Boxing Day for what was supposed to be only 6 weeks but it kept getting longer and longer.
Thankfully, the restrictions in Northern Ireland allowed weddings with up to 25 guests but with no receptions or discos. Our original venue was more than happy for us to go on ahead as they have a wedding pavilion which is separate to the actual hotel but they were going to charge us more money that on our contract, plus admin fees. We had a stressful few days trying to find a new venue that would accommodate our wedding on Thursday 18th March 2021. Thankfully, we found a venue that was more than perfect for us which had availability on our date. Plus, it was less expensive and had the perfect gardens for our photos. Our original venue thankfully gave us a full refund.
So with the venue sorted, we could get back to finishing off the last minute organising. Firstly, I needed to get my dress. I hadn't seen my dress since February 2020 at the dress makers but due to a death in her family and Covid, I hadn't been able to see my dress with all the alterations. I was worried about it not fitting me as I had put on a little bit of weight during lockdown. Northern Ireland was still in lockdown with restrictions not allowing you to visit other people's houses. Not that, that probably stopped people. I contacted the dress maker and she was more than happy for me to come and collect my dress and allowed my sister to come too, to help me in and out of it. We all wore masks and June kept her distance from us. Thankfully, my dress fitted perfectly and it looked amazing on. I got a bit emotional though.
Truth is, we did have to break several lockdown restrictions in order to get our wedding organised. Simon had to go and collect the suits which he had ordered and paid for. I was worried he wouldn't be able to get them or that we wouldn't get our flowers.
The night before
The night before the wedding, Simon took me over to my Dad's house. Dad had been part of our bubble since we moved in with him. Claire, who was doing our make up and nails then arrived to do our nails. It felt so nice getting my nails done, for the first time in about a year.
My NailsWhen Claire left, Vera, Zoe and I got a take away. It was a very quiet evening. Zoe had a few things to get for the wedding and Vera went home. I sat up for a bit, playing on my tablet then went to bed in my old bedroom.
I woke up early and had a shower. Claire arrived at 8am, just as I was making some breakfast. Claire did my make up first while Vera and Zoe did their hairs. I had to take a hay fever tablet in the hope that it'd stop my nose from running. They didn't really work and I probably had most of the make up rubbed off my nose. My eye was stinging like crazy too. Zoe then started curling my hair while Vera got her make up done. Once Vera and I were done, we went to the local garage to get something to eat. I wasn't hungry at all. I got some bacon and chips. Zoe was able to do my hair for me.
Back of my hairIt was then time for me to get into my dress. I began to get nervous now. Vera and Zoe helped me into my dress as there were so many buttons. Zoe and Vera had to get into their dresses too but as I zipped Zoe's up, her zip broke just as Colin, the photographer arrived. Thankfully, one of Dad's neighbours is a dress maker so Dad raced over to see if she was there. She was and came over to fix Zoe's dress. I was rushing around in my wedding dress trying to pack all my stuff into my bag to take with me.
It was then time to go down stairs which wasn't easy in my dress. Vera had to hold the train so I wouldn't trip. Dad came to the bottom to see me.
Flowers, mine were the pink ones
At 1pm, it was time to go. It was lovely seeing all my family standing outside watching, but very strange too. None of them were able to attend the actual wedding. Vera and Zoe were able to come in the car with Dad and I as it was big enough for the four of us. Then it was off to Antrim Castle Gardens which was about a 20 minutes drive. The drive seemed to take ages.
It was finally time for the actual wedding. I was very nervous by now and cold. Philip who was looking after us, took us into a little corridor to keep us warm as we were freezing. I heard the music kick in which as an instrumental version of A Million Dreams from The Greatest Showman. Simon and I had worked out when each of us were supposed to walk in but I was that nervous that we didn't go in at the right time. It didn't help that Philip was sort of rushing us. I could feel myself start to well up as I walked in with my Dad. Vera and Zoe had walked in before us. I could see Simon watching me which made me even more nervous. He winked a supportive wink at me to help calm my nerves. I was hoping Kelsey would have been filming everything but he wasn't. Colin was taking plenty of photos though. It was very strange with such a small number of guests but I liked it a lot. My family were sat on the left with Simon's on the right. Steve then started into the ceremony where Simon and I exchanged vows then the rings. Simon ended up dropping my ring. My hands were so warm and sweaty, as were Simon's so I struggled to get his ring on. Then it was time for us to kiss, which was so awkward, especially in front of our families. It was then the time for us to sign the register. Vera and Wes were our witnesses. We also got photos of us pretending to cut the cake which Zoe and James had made for us. I loved the bride and groom Mickey and Minnie on the top of it. We obviously couldn't cut the cake as it was being taken back to our house for our afternoon tea. We were able to get loads of photos taken in the gallery by the gorgeous arch way we had rented. Ruby, Simon's niece took a shine to me and kept wanting to touch my dress.
After the ceremony, it was time to get photos taken. Some were taken inside by the archway then we moved outside into the freezing cold to the courtyard which was perfect for all the group photos. It meant the 3 kids could run around safely and no nosey people could see. It was so cold so I spent most of the time in between the photos with Colin's jacket around my shoulders until James brought me my own coat. Once the group photos got taken, the others went back inside to the gallery and the wedding party went further into the gardens for more photos before Simon and I went to get some done on our own. I was freezing cold and my eye was watering like crazy.
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