Couples forced to change wedding plans because of coronavirus

Heartbroken couples reveal how they’ve had to scale back, cancel or postpone their weddings because of coronavirus – with one groom forced to self-isolate from his fiancée after catching COVID-19

Melanie Murphy, from Ireland, tied knot but admitted wasn’t day she planned
Gemma Stubbs, 30, and Derek Nally, 36, were forced to cancel their dream day
Sophie Hancill, 30, has cancelled as partner Graeme Jones, 32, has coronavirus
Lauren and Tom, from London, are unsure if their day will go ahead in May
Salman Shaheen and Anna Ward, of Brentford, postponed theirs to September
Colette and Jamie, from Belfast, are panicking about their wedding in Spain
Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby suspended Church of England services amid coronavirus lockdown but weddings and funerals could go ahead
Coronavirus symptoms: what are they and should you see a doctor?

Defiant couples are making emergency plans to reschedule their dream weddings due to the coronavirus pandemic – with some forging ahead with their plans to tie the knot.

With new government advice being dished out daily, brides-to-be across the nation have had to make the difficult decision to cancel their upcoming nuptials – but others have come up with creative ways to ensure they can still say ‘I do’.

Melanie Murphy, from Ireland, took to Instagram and shared a snap of herself and her husband Thomas – before explaining she wasn’t wearing her actual wedding dress, nor was it their planned wedding day in their perfect venue with all of their friends and family.

She explained: ‘It’s not the one I’ve lived out in my head a thousand times as we planned away – *but* this man, folks, is now officially my husband!’

Melanie Murphy, from Ireland, took to Twitter and told how she had to adjust her wedding due to updated Irish government advice on coronavirus prevention. Pictured, with her husband, Thomas

Melaniie explained: ‘This isn’t my actual wedding dress and this wasn’t our big, planned wedding day’ (pictured)

It comes as the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby suspended Church of England services yesterday amid the coronavirus lockdown – but weddings and funerals could still go ahead.

Due to updated Irish government advice on coronavirus prevention, Melanie and Thomas had to cancel their wedding ceremony and reception, which was due to happen this week.

‘We couldn’t, in good conscience, go ahead with it when we’d be putting people at risk against government advice and of course we were sad and angry and we’ve lost a considerable amount of money on deposits & non-refundables,’ she said.

The newlywed continued: ‘At 2pm yesterday we said our vows in a registry office. We were going to do this anyway, a few days ahead of a humanist ceremony in Wicklow (was meant to happen Saturday coming).

Melanie, who also shared this adorable snap on social media, penned: ‘A fancy wedding is a privilege, a bonus, a cherry on top kinda thing. Love is all we need during these difficult times’

‘We did so in the presence of some family members as witnesses and in spite of the simplicity, it was *so* special… dad walked me down the aisle to A Gift Of Thistle from Braveheart and we finally got to exchange our wedding rings. Tears all round.’

Melanie went on to explain that while they still plan on having a big celebration down the line in a couple of years, a strong marriage is what they really care about.

‘A fancy wedding is a privilege, a bonus, a cherry on top kinda thing. Love is all we need during these difficult times. Anyway f***, lads, I’m a WIFE!’ she added.

It wasn’t such a happy ending for Gemma Stubbs, 30, and Derek Nally, 36, who have been engaged for seven years and hoped to tie the knot on their anniversary.

The couple have been forced to cancel their special day due to the coronavirus, and admit the decision has left them ‘broken’.

It wasn’t such a happy ending for Gemma Stubbs, 30, and Derek Nally, 36, who had to cancel their wedding. They have been engaged for seven years and hoped to tie the knot on their anniversary

They were due to marry this Saturday – to coincide with the date they first went out together – and the ceremony would have come seven years after Derek’s proposal all the way in August 2012.

Despite their enormous disappointment, the pair said they believe it was the right thing to do.

Another couple forced to cancel their wedding later this month is Sophie Hancill, 30, and Graeme Jones, 32, who live in Essex with their two-year-old daughter Clara.

They had planned to go ahead with the nuptials, booked for March 28 at St Mary’s Church in Astbury followed by a reception at Alcumlow Wedding Barn in Cheshire, but on Monday night Graeme arrived home from work with a persistent cough.

Another couple forced to cancel their wedding later this month is Sophie Hancill, 30, and Graeme Jones, 32, who live in Essex with their two-year-old daughter Clara

Sophie told FEMAIL she is pretty sure Graeme has coronavirus and he is now quarantined in their bedroom – much to her daughter’s confusion.

‘He feels ok in himself, it’s a really bad cough, his temperature’s been going up and down and he’s got achey legs,’ she explained.

‘He can only hold his breath for two seconds before he starts choking. You don’t do the test unless you are in a risk two category and you need medical attention, so we won’t ever know for sure if he’s got it, but I’m pretty sure he has.

‘Our daughter is a very confused and a bit stressed out because Daddy’s locked in the bedroom and she can’t see him. He’s been watching us play outside from the bedroom window, that’s how we see him.’

The couple, who both work in insurance and have been together almost five years, had planned to forge ahead with the wedding and video it for guests that could no longer make it, but Graeme’s condition has meant Sophie and Clara have to self-isolate for two weeks, during which it was due to take place.

They now plan to tie the knot on December 4 and are re-planning their spring nuptials for a winter wedding – meaning they won’t be able to have their wedding photos on the daffodil-packed lawn where Graeme proposed (pictured) as they’d planned

‘It forced us to make a decision we were probably going to have to make anyway,’ Sophie said, adding that her venue and suppliers have been very understanding, letting them re-book for alternative dates at no extra cost.

They now plan to tie the knot on December 4 and are re-planning their spring nuptials for a winter wedding.

‘We wanted our wedding in March, because it was exactly a year from when my partner proposed, on Mother’s Day weekend last year,’ she said.

‘The green in front of the church where we were getting married has daffodils in front of it – that’s where he proposed, and we did it a year later so that the daffodils would be out again on our wedding day and we could get lovely pictures on the daffodil green. It’s upsetting we won’t get those.

‘But I don’t want to wait another year – we were so close and I can’t bear the thought of waiting another year.’

While they’ve been lucky that relatives coming from overseas have had accommodation and flights refunded, Sophie said she’ll have to find her little girl a new outfit, as hers will no longer fit in December.

‘I also have a young bridesmaid who had her dress specially made – it might fit her in December,’ she said. ‘And we’ll have to pay out for warmer attire!’

Having to cancel their wedding has caused an extra headache for Andy Shaw 34, from Guisborough, and his fiancee Sarah Felpel, 25, from Philadelphia, USA, who have conducted a long-distance relationship for three years.

Andy, who is currently based in Whitby and works in a supermarket, and Sarah were due to wed at Robin Hoods Bay in North Yorkshire on April 4, after planning their wedding in just two months.

‘We finally decided to make the jump as it would make life easier, as with our visa situation only one of us at a time can work at the moment depending on which country we’re in,’ Andy told FEMAIL.

‘The wedding was going to put an end to all the difficulties of a long distance relationship and make our love and lives easier, so that we could focus on our lives together without all the red tape, back and forth travel and time distance. After a difficult three years, the end was almost in sight.

‘After looking at our slim options we decided to get Sarah the marriage visitor visa for the UK and get married here so that we could then apply for immigration status in the US, to minimise our time apart. Doing it the other way around would have been very expensive.’

Sadly Andy and Sarah have had to cancel their ceremony and the reception, but are still hoping to go ahead with the legal side of things on their original date, without their beloved friends and family.

‘We had friends coming from all over the world who had to cancel,’ Andy explained. ‘We don’t have wedding insurance – when we started to thing we might need it, we missed the cut off by a few hours.

‘Obviously it’s very sad, and it’s worse for Sarah because she’s isolated from her family in the US. We had broken our backs trying to make this all happen over a couple of months, only to see it collapse overnight.

‘It’s an anxious waiting game now to see if we will still be able to do the legal side of things. It’s a tense time, but at the same time you have to be subjective and understand how much worse this is for other people and the losses they will face.’

Another couple due to get married on Saturday 28 March was Ronja Richards, 27, and her partner Dominic Rogers, 26, after two years of planning and eight-and-a-half years together.

Another couple due to get married on Saturday 28 March was Ronja Richards, 27, and her partner Dominic Rogers, 26, after two years of planning and eight-and-a-half years together

The couple, from Newport, South Wales, were holding the entire event for 80 guests at a stately home, getting married at an on-site church.

Many of Ronja’s family members are Swedish, meaning they had more than 20 guests coming from the region, and another family member currently lives in Spain.

The couple paid for everything in full, costing around £28,000, last month – never expecting the spread of the virus to escalate so quickly.

‘We were aware that things could be non-refundable and were just hoping that the insurance we had gone with would be good enough should the worst happen. You just don’t expect this!’ Ronja told FEMAIL.

‘We cancelled on Saturday evening last week, after Sweden banned international travel. This came hours after finding out that our honeymoon was to be cancelled too. We just sat there in shock and cried.

The couple, from Newport, South Wales, were holding the entire event for 80 guests at a stately home, getting married at an on-site church

‘I think we had been in the mindset that we would be the lucky ones and that the coronavirus wouldn’t be peaking for quite some time, but it seems to have gone from zero to 100 within a matter of days.

‘We were devastated as we saw our wedding as an opportunity to finally have our families come together and have something to celebrate for a change. We also have family members that fall into the high risk category and as much as we knew they would want to be there, it’s a risk that we would never feel comfortable with.

‘I’ve decided to take my honeymoon leave early to just take some time to process it all. It’s been a lot to deal with and the thought of having to pack all of our wedding stuff away makes me very upset.’

Thankfully their venue has been very supportive and let them reschedule, and Ronja said they now feel relieved that they no longer have the stress of worrying about their elderly relatives who were due to attend.

‘You’re supposed to be excited and we were sick with worry, constantly checking the news and it was really taking its toll,’ she said.

Many of Ronja’s family members are Swedish, meaning they had more than 20 guests coming from the region, and another family member currently lives in Spain

‘I feel for the brides who are still going through that. We’re extremely deflated that the day we’ve been looking forward to and planning for so long isn’t for another seven or eight months, but at least we’re getting married!

‘Our honeymoon has been completely cancelled and as our insurance will only speak to passengers flying within 10 days, we really don’t know where we stand.

‘We were supposed to be going the day after the wedding for three-and-a-half weeks, flying over to California to do a road trip and then to Mexico to finish there. The majority of our trip was booked with a package travel provider who have also been fantastic, but a lot of our America trip we had booked separately, so we know trying to sort this out will be a headache.

‘We are also worried that if we rebook anything now we won’t be covered by insurance which is a real worry for us. We’ve not been on holiday for a couple of years whilst saving for the wedding, so we were so ready to switch off from the world.’

Brentford-based couple Salman Shaheen and Anna Ward, who got engaged in Spain in September last year, were meant to be celebrating their special day at the end of May, but have taken the difficult decision to reschedule.

Brentford-based couple Salman Shaheen and Anna Ward were meant to be celebrating their special day at the end of May, but have taken the difficult decision to reschedule

They spent last weekend on the phone frantically re-organising their nuptials, due to be held at Strawberry Hill House in Richmond, south west London, because they were concerned about the risk it could pose to their parents and elderly relatives who are in the high risk category for catching coronavirus.

Salman, 35, told MyLondon: ‘We were really excited about it…We were preparing for the wedding, we had just booked the cake, Anna had got her dress. We booked the string quartet and a DJ.

‘Slowly this coronavirus was creeping and creeping up and at first we had a discussion, should we postpone the wedding? At that moment it was a month ago, only a small handful of cases here in the UK. But in the last week everything kicked off.

‘Unfortunately the peak is slap bang when we’d have our wedding. We have got family, relatives who are in the higher risk category… It would be such a shame if they couldn’t come.’

He added that ‘a cloud of fear’ was gathering over what was supposed to be the happiest time of their lives.

It’s likely the couple, both former journalists, will also have to abandon their planned hen and stag dos. Anna was due to be heading to Spain while Salman was looking forward to a London pub crawl.

The couple got engaged in Spain in September last year but were worried about the health of their older relatives if they went ahead with their May wedding. Pictured: Anna after the surprise proposal

Luckily Salman and Anna have managed to reschedule their big day for September, by which point they hope the UK will be over the worst.

The venue has been very accommodating and allowed them to move the dates, as has the registrar and suit hire company.

‘Fingers crossed we don’t have to postpone it again,’ Salman told FEMAIL.

He also expressed his wish to thank Strawberry Hill House and Madeleine’s cakes, as well as Richmond Council for their help and support.

Meanwhile Lauren and Tom, from London, booked a barn-style venue back in April 2019 – near to where the bride-to-be grew up – and are still unsure whether their dream day will go ahead.

Lauren and Tom, from London, are still unsure whether their dream wedding in a barn-style venue will go ahead on May 2

‘The process of planning the wedding has been loads of fun – family and friends have been really involved in the process, invites have gone out, dresses and suits bought, a ridiculous amount of decorations made – many personalised with the May 2020 date. To be honest, everything has gone without a hitch… until now,’ explained Lauren.

Spokesperson for Bingham Riverhouse venue commented:

‘We’ve been contacted by many of our couples who are getting married over the course of the next two-three months.’

‘They’re all extremely worried as news of the coronavirus spreads. They want to understand what their options are and almost express guilt in thinking of themselves and their big day as this news of this epidemic changes.’

‘Some of the couples are adamant that their big day will go ahead as scheduled, but with an anticipation that there may be fewer guests from overseas and the elderly.’

‘Some just want to move the dates to later on in the year with some of the winter month’s now becoming more popular. Some don’t want to act just yet, they just want to know what we’re doing as a business and will see what happens over the next 6-8 weeks before the make/change their plans.’

‘Everyone, without fail, has been completely supportive with the emerging situation, the need to put everyone’s health and safety first and how we’re trying to look after all of our Bingham Riverhouse staff and keep them all employed over the coming weeks/months.’

‘We first heard about coronavirus at the start of the year, but thought nothing more of it. Then the stories started getting worse and the paranoia set in.’

The couple’s final wedding planning meeting took place a few days after the worst stories about coronavirus came out – and Lauren says the venue have been very reassuring.

‘They’ve said they wanted to go full steam ahead until they heard otherwise,’ said Lauren. ‘We asked about postponing but were told that wasn’t possible for the time-being – they’d only cancel if the government said they had to.

‘A few days on and our stag and hen do have been cancelled (and we assume the same for our honeymoon abroad).

‘We’re also guessing the wedding won’t be going ahead. We intend to speak to the venue again very shortly.’

While the couple fortunately have insurance, they are left unsure as to how much this will cover, or whether suppliers will be available at a later date.

‘It’s the not knowing that makes it worse,’ said Lauren. ‘When should we even reschedule it for, if we can? We’ll never get this time back and it’s ruined what is meant to be one of the happiest times of our lives.’

Another couple in limbo are Colette, 25, and Jamie, 27, from Belfast, who got engaged in April last year and were due to marry in Marbella, Spain, on June 18.

‘We have been planning this for over a year and have flights, accommodation for five nights and a venue booked – everything is ready to go,’ Colette told FEMAIL.

‘We don’t have many guests – only 10 – but we have all been looking forward to a big family get together.

Another couple in limbo are Colette, 25, and Jamie, 27, from Belfast, who got engaged in April last year and were due to marry in Marbella, Spain, on June 18

‘We have planned a humanist wedding in Spain, so have booked the legal part at a registry office in Belfast City Hall the week before we fly.

‘Now if we can’t fly to Spain, we don’t know if we will postpone the whole marriage and wedding or go ahead with the official registry.

‘We have talked about it and we would rather wait and have our dream wedding – but who knows what the future holds and how long it will be before we can have our day.’

Colette and Jamie (pictured) had a humanist wedding planned in Spain with a registry office ceremony in Belfast before, and are now unsure whether to postpone the whole marriage and wedding or go ahead with the official part

Colette, a mental health blogger, added: ‘The wedding means so much to us! We are still quite young and decided to get engaged and married young because we wanted our whole family to be able to attend.

‘On both sides of our family we have had cancer and really stressful health situations, and so we wanted to celebrate together while we could. We have all planned to stay in the same villa and have a big holiday together.

‘Sadly Jamie’s mum passed away in January of this year very suddenly, and when that happened we felt we needed this time together even more. This has been a very hard year and we are really disappointed about the likelihood of the wedding being cancelled.’

After a difficult start to the year which saw Jamie lose his mother very suddenly, Colette told how the wedding meant everything to them as they’d decided to get married young so their family could all attend

Luckily the couple had only paid their deposits as it isn’s until June, and they are able to get a refund from their Airbnb villa and should be able to claim back their flights if they’re unable to travel to Spain.

‘I’m not sure how much money we will lose, maybe £1,000 to £2,000, but we aren’t even thinking about that. Hopefully if we have to postpone, everyone will maintain good health and we will get our dream wedding.’

Holly Eason and her fiancé, who have been planning their April wedding in their hometown of Tokyo, have had to cancel everything due to risk of guests being exposed to infection.

‘I couldn’t forgive myself if our celebration became the cause of a serious health condition,’ Holly said, speaking to the BBC.

‘I’m also worried that my dad and my brother wouldn’t be allowed to enter Japan. We just don’t know what the situation will be at the time and I wouldn’t want to go ahead without them being here.’

Her father Mike, who lives in Leciestershire, added the family are now struggling to get refunds and are looking to lose around £5,000.

Meanwhile, Saavan Nathwani and Risha Modi, from Harrow in London, told how in just one week, they were due to celebrate their dream wedding in Tuscany, Italy.

‘In a matter of one week, our world was turned upside down, when the outbreak in Italy was announced,’ said Risha, speaking to the publication.

‘We had been planning for this wedding for nearly six months. We both work full-time and even though it has been a stressful and bumpy road, the only thing that kept us going was knowing we would marry one another.’

Saavan Nathwani and Risha Modi (pictured), from Harrow in London, were looking forward to their holiday in Tuscany

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