For Sam and me, Saturday 2 May 2020 was to be our day, the day we said “I Do” at St Peter’s Church, Caversham. Instead, it was a day we celebrated, not our wedding day, but our commitment to each other. Back in October 2018, when Sam proposed I said yes.Ever since we have been busy planning and preparing for the day. As time crept closer and more news was coming in about Covid-19, no-one said we would have to postpone, so we kept going. In mid-March (one week before lockdown), I collected my wedding dress and couldn’t contain my excitement as I tried it on. However, the next day everything changed. I was given the option either to proceed with our wedding, albeit with very few guests, or to postpone. We decided postponing was best for us, as we wanted our family and friends to be part of the celebration. Now, instead of counting down the last few weeks, we had added on a whole year. The thought of our wedding day was now more of disappointment than excitement.
We formed a new plan to try to celebrate the date in some form that was allowed in the lockdown. The day dawned and we walked down to our local church, coincidentally also called St Peter’s We received some odd looks along the way, since we had both dressed smarter than usual. There, in front of the church, we exchanged our vows. The rest of the day was spent enjoying an amazing afternoon tea package delivered from a local café and drinking a bottle of bubbly. The support we received from our family and friends was incredible and helped a huge amount. Fingers crossed that next year all I have to worry about is whether or not it’s going to rain and not the effects of a global pandemic!