When coronavirus didn't beat Faye & Adam's wedding day!

Here at Whitewed, we've had the absolute pleasure of knowing the lovely Faye for several years as she is Head of Whitewed Directory approved wedding venue, Oxleaze Barn, and also runs her own successful wedding planning business, Faye Elizabeth Event Services.

Every time I caught up with Faye, I loved hearing about how her wedding plans were coming along...and when the coronavirus pandemic started to gain momentum, I was so worried that her beautifully planned wedding wouldn't happen...well it didn't go to Faye's original plan, but...  read on for Faye & Adam's story of true love and determination that they'll look back on and remember forever...

7 days – What shall we do? A bottle of Moet for two.

A wedding planner planning their own wedding – simple? Yes, until the unplannable happens. Having to re-think your wedding an uncountable amount of times the week before due to a global pandemic slowly shutting everything down around you!

We had a romantic unexpected (for me!) proposal at the confetti fields in Pershore in June 2019 (the height of wedding season – that’s how to catch a wedding planner off guard!). Plans quickly started coming together (the guest list was written that same afternoon!) and like all excited newly engaged couples we started to pay deposits and book in our suppliers, Pinterest boards and amazon ordering a plenty!

Nothing unusual until the week before our wedding in March 2020. Like something from a Craig David song it went like this:

Honeymoon cancelled on Sunday

International friends cancelled on Monday

High risk family cancelled on Tuesday

We were down to 20 by Wednesday

Even less on Thursday, and Friday we were down to 5

But we married on SATURDAY!

From 120 guests attending a church ceremony followed by a reception at Oxleaze Barn to 5 guests (including us and the vicar) how is anyone supposed to choose between parents? Having had things slowly stripped away we had numerous conversations after Boris’ 5pm briefing – do we just pull the plug? For us, it became clear it wasn’t about the party anymore or guests lining the pathway from the church launching confetti. It was about us marrying. 

We had accepted by Wednesday evening that this wasn’t going to be the wedding we had planned. And there was nobody to blame for this, it was simply bad luck. So, at this point what felt important was taking control.

One of the biggest parts of getting married for me was having my dad give me away.  For Adam, his best man Will stepped in so that he didn’t have to choose between his parents. So, that was our 5.

Once you’ve accepted it and taken control, you have to enjoy it! There was no point going ahead if we were going to mope around, so in comes Georgie of Georgina Rose Events to help us test lots of apps and services for live streaming the ceremony to our guests. Georgie went on a secret mission to deliver our wedding Champagne to as many local people as possible, and we wrote to everyone encouraging them to put their glad-rags on and celebrate with us – virtually!

I’ve always worried that the professional photography aspect of our wedding would make it feel more staged, but instead – it made our marriage a wedding! Marcus of Big Eye Photography made us feel like every other couple he has photographed, like nothing was different even though our couples photos were in a public park and he wasn’t allowed in the church unless the best man was out of it!

After our photos, Adam surprised me by hiring a Tesla to drive off into the countryside in. We had 2 peaceful days at Thyme before lockdown hit. Our wedding evening was spent video calling our family, drinking lots of Champagne and refusing to take off our wedding outfits!

Our advice to couples deciding whether to change their plans now for weddings this year… 

Have an honest conversation between you and your fiancé, what is important to you? 

There are a number of scenarios depending on the type of ceremony and the type of venue that you were planning for. You have to accept that your wedding won’t be the same, you may have to compromise on your wedding date which in turn means your bridesmaids dresses might not be normal for that season – OH WELL! Does this really matter? 

At your fingertips there are hundreds of suppliers who are itching to express their creativity and have tricks and tips on how to adapt things affordably. If you are determined to have a summer wedding, this may cost more and that’s where only you know what matters to you as a couple. If It’s worth the money, do it and enjoy it but it’s OK to decide that a cheaper February wedding would still have the same meaning for you. 

Take advice from your suppliers and accept that you aren’t going to be able to cast blame on this situation, but you will have one heck of a story at the end of it!

With huge thanks to the suppliers who made us feel like a Bride and Groom:

Flowers: Corky & Prince Wedding & Event Flowers

Photography: Big Eye Photography

Wedding Coordination: Georgina Rose Events

Makeup Artist: Amy Hickey Makeup

Hair Stylist: Rhys Jones Hair

Church: St Mary’s Church, Charlton Kings

Couples photo location: Pittville Park, Cheltenham