Weddings In The Pandemic | Craig & Amy's Story

It goes without saying, the wedding industry has been impacted massively over the past year due to Covid, leaving so many couples in devastating circumstances. It's been tough and it hasn't come without its challenges, but over recent months we've been hearing about inspiring stories of adaptation and perseverance, resulting in days to remember for all the right reasons. To spread a little positivity in what has been such a difficult period, we'd like to share one of these amazing stories with you....

 

 

Starting from the beginning, tell us about your engagement & how long the wedding planning process took?

So we got engaged just before Christmas in 2019 at our favourite National Trust site, Croom Court in Worcestershire. I attached a Christmas wish tag onto a large Christmas tree in the middle of the rotunda saying "Will you marry me?" which Amy then read and turned around to see me holding an engagement ring. I was so nervous I actually forgot to get down on one knee! Our wedding planning began pretty much straight away. 

 

Tell us about the original wedding plans

Our wedding day was to be held in a woodland setting, surrounded by 120 guests, followed by a music festival themed reception with different musicians playing throughout the day and street food served all day. 

We had spent the previous 18 months making our own little crafty touches and growing our own plants for decorations etc. But after being hit with Covid-19 restrictions, all of this was at risk of not happening, and we were absolutely gutted. But we stuck to our original date all the way through lockdown as we still had this belief that we would have our big day. When it was confirmed we could go ahead with 30 people we were over the moon. 

 

The outdoor woodland setting worked out perfectly with the Covid restrictions - was this always the theme or did anything have to change?

Initially we were looking to get married the following Christmas surrounded by Christmas trees until our photographer (who we had booked before we had even arranged a date or venue) recommended The Nest in Ledbury, Hertfordshire who had a beautiful orchard and huge yurt for our party so we decided to get married in August. Frequently visiting the venue to visit their cafe and have a wander around, on one visit the owner took us for a little walk around the grounds and showed us his new project where he had transformed the old Christmas tree farm into a woodland wedding venue. So we got the best of both worlds, sunshine and a Christmas tree wedding, although with Covid restrictions in place we were told we were only allowed 25 guests and we had to cancel our party in the yurt.

 How did the day turn out in the end?

We still had our woodland wedding with our closest family and friends and managed to have a few celebratory drinks and a little picnic at the venue before we travelled back home to Worcestershire in a little VW Camper Van. We were very fortunate that our friends live in a beautiful house with a huge garden, so we were able to have a little socially distanced party in their garden where we had live music, and our original caterer came with his pizza oven van. And the weather was amazing. It wasn’t the day we had originally planned but if we had to do it all over again, we would not change a single thing

How did you decide on your suit for the day?

It didn't take me long to find a suit. I originally wanted the Dion suit from yourselves but when my fiancé and I were out we spotted the Marc Darcy JD4 and the colours in the detailing matched perfectly with the colour scheme and bridesmaid dresses so we fell in love with it straight away. 

 

Lastly, what advice would you give to any newly engaged couples planning a wedding?

As much as you plan, sometimes you can't plan everything. You are what makes it special and amazing. Our memories are worth their weight in gold! Do what is right for you, love will find a way to shine through. 

Photography credits: Kerri Auckland from Dearest Love Photography 

If you would like to share your story, please get in touch via email on [email protected] - we'd love to hear from you and we might just feature your story!