The latest government guidelines for weddings mean that all ceremonies and celebrations planned to take place between the 5th November to the 2nd December can no longer go ahead, unless there are ‘exceptional circumstances’.
However one bride-to-be in North Yorkshire has been denied the right for her wedding to go ahead, even though the circumstances are as exceptional as they come.
The bride – who wishes to remain anonymous – was due to get married on the 21st November at Thief Hall, as she has incurable, stage four secondary breast cancer, which has spread to her lymph nodes and bones. She is receiving palliative care and was due to originally have 120 guests attend her wedding, which she then dropped to 15 in line with the government advice.
She now wishes to be able to get married with just six guests – her immediate family – in attendance. The bride has carefully created her chemo plan around her wedding day and is shielding in order to stay alive.
Her request for exemption – via the local registrar in North Yorkshire – from the current ruling banning weddings from taking place has been denied by the governing body.
She has no idea how long she has left to live and it’s her last wish to die with the same surname as her children. “There will be no reception,” explains Jessica Barker of Thief Hall, “All she wants is to marry her partner and create some lasting memories and photographs for her children to give her peace of mind in her last few months.”
Her wedding venue have set up a petition to allow this terminally ill bride to be get married due to the exceptional circumstances – it’s currently under review but will be live to sign soon.
“At Confetti.co.uk, we believe in the importance of following the government guidelines and staying safe during the global pandemic – however, these restrictions are causing so much heartache and stress for couples and suppliers. In circumstances such as these, we’d expect the couple to be allowed to marry as time is of the essence. Hopefully by sharing this story and the petition we can help tell her story and get the ruling in her case changed so she can have her final wishes carried out,” says Zoe Burke, editor of Confetti.co.uk.
You can view the petition here.