A couple managed to rearrange their wedding within 24 hours so they could beat the lockdown restrictions that came into effect on 5 November in England.
Jo Loosemore, 33, and her fiance Matt Goffin, 37, had been due to get married near the bride’s parents’ home in Devon on November 14, according to the Daily Mail.
After hearing the announcement on 31 October of the second national lockdown restrictions, under which weddings and civil partnership ceremonies will not be permitted at all except in ‘exceptional circumstances’, the new Mr and Mrs Goffin rearranged their ceremony for the following day in Witcham, Cambridgeshire where they live with their eight-month-old son Rupert
Mr Goffin said that their original wedding plans for 14 November had been designed with 200 guests in mind, which had already been changed due to previous restrictions with the continuing pandemic.
“We’ve had to chop it down so many times now,” he said. “I thought I can either let this get us down and we can get stressed having to rearrange it for the 100th time or I can be proactive and try and be positive about it and do something about it.”
Mrs Goffin, on hearing the news of the lockdown decided to see if it could be rescheduled for that weekend. She said it was a “hectic” weekend but they managed to arrange the wedding in less than 24 hours with the help of their local reverend, Mary Hancock, who was “absolutely brilliant”.
The planned morning church service was replaced by the wedding ceremony and scores of people chipped in to help.
An appeal was put on the village’s Facebook page, leading to offers from musicians, with friends and family also helping out.
Rev Hancock had been helping with the paperwork for their original wedding date, so there were no legal hold-ups.
Mrs Goffin said her parents and sister made the journey from Devon, while her husband’s parents and two family friends travelled from Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk.
“We’re both just so happy and I guess really relieved as we’ve rearranged it so many times now,” she said.
“We had a really nice day, it’s really special to us.”
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