It was a fairytale wedding that still went ahead despite lockdown for one couple – with even their guests sharing the love via Zoom.
Claire Louise Steele-Kinder and Ian Craig Stewart were meant to be getting married on Saturday June 20, 2020 at All Saints’ Church in Sawtry.
When lockdown hit, they were faced with the tough decision of postponing the ceremony until next year. The reception was set to take place at Kingsthorpe Lodge Barn, in Oundle.
But the pair, both aged 33, decided to hold on the hope that they could still have a wedding this summer – for a special reason.
“The date meant a lot to us as we got together on June 23 2013, bought our first house on June 20 2014 and get engaged on June 22 2018,” Claire explained.
“It was meant to be our weekend.
“We held on as long as we could with everything still organised for this date, but two weeks before the wedding we decided to postpone the reception until September 5 2020.
“But we held on to the church until the bitter end.”
Reverend Becky Dyball reassured Claire and Ian that if restrictions changed, they could still go ahead and have their dream wedding.
“She was a massive help to us and gave use all information and was very reassuring,” Claire said.
“We decided that we wanted to do it as soon as we were allowed to, because we didn’t want to want a whole year or longer and we wanted to share some happiness and love with all our friends and family.”
The couple got married on Saturday July 4 and managed to limit numbers to just 27 guests.
Claire continued: “As soon as we knew we could get married we called and messaged our guests and told them all the news.
“But don’t worry - all of our family and friends who couldn’t make it got to watch it on Zoom or Facebook too!”
Claire made her own bouquet, did her hair and make-up for herself, sister Heidi and two daughters Evie and Autumn.
“We had a truly amazing wedding day even if it wasn’t how we had planned it and we can’t wait to celebrate it with everyone as soon as we can,” she added.
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