Nat and Sam’s Postponement Story during Covid-19

Nat and Sam share their postponement story

“Sam proposed to me on 1st December 2018. We happily began our wedding planning journey. In terms of where we were to be married, there wasn’t really a doubt: we were going to get married in Cornwall.

Although we are from Manchester, Cornwall is a special place for both of us. My grandparents spent time living in Looe as my grandad’s job bought them down south. Years later, they ended up buying a second home in Hayle, where I spent most of my childhood. Sam’s family are from Millbrook, so naturally, he has spent a lot of time there with them, often staying in Kingsands.

As soon as the Christmas break started, we headed to Cornwall to finalise our venue. Sam took me to see Mount Edgcumbe: a beautiful stately home surrounded by 865 acres of parkland. I fell in love. We arranged for the ceremony to be held in the house and the reception to be held in The Orangery. Over the following weeks, I spent time scouring the internet for photographers, bands, photo booths, the works! We selected our suppliers and confirmed bookings. We also booked accommodation which meant we could spend a week in Cornwall before and after the wedding. It was going to be perfect.

The wedding date 29th May 2020

We were going to be married on 29th May 2020. Sam and I were counting down to our wedding with excitement. As the clock struck midnight on 31st December we happily posted Instagram pictures with the caption ‘We’re getting married this year!’. We bought our honeymoon suitcases in the January sales and I enjoyed my hen party in February! However, all that excitement soon turned into trepidation.

Of all the reasons I imagined why my wedding would not go ahead, a global pandemic was not one of them!

The outbreak of Covid-19 was changing life as we knew it. Watching the news brought fear, not only for our health but we knew that it was only a matter of time before our wedding became one of the numerous ones that had to be cancelled. Of all the reasons I imagined why my wedding would not go ahead, a global pandemic was not one of them! We held out hope and I contacted the wedding venue, asking to be kept informed of any developments, but in reality, they were as much in the dark as we were.

The postponement

On the 19th, of March we received the news we had been dreading. Our wedding was to be postponed. After a tearful phone call to Sam (and another to my mum – because even as grown-ups, we all still need our mums!) I decided I needed to pull myself together and sort out another date. I’m a teacher so I needed a date during the holidays; it also needed to be far enough in the future to allow our Manchester guests time to book more accommodation.

Mount Edgcumbe offered options…a new date was secured

Luckily, Marie-Claire from Mount Edgcumbe had sent an email, outlining all our options, including a list of dates for this year and next. I managed to find a date which seemed to fit in with my holidays as well as those of my friends and family – the 4th June 2021.

I started to panic as it was past half five and I worried no one would be in the office. I decided to call Michelle who was the wedding coordinator at The Orangery. She was straight on the case and within 20 minutes our date was secured.

Clare Kinchin Photography

That evening was stressful – I frantically emailed and messaged as many of our suppliers as possible. My main concern was that our photographer wouldn’t be able to do our new date. I know that popular suppliers often get booked up years in advance and I would have been heartbroken if we had to find a new one. I had loved Clare’s style from the moment I saw her photos and we had a great morning on Whitsand Bay having an engagement shoot with her. She shared our disappointment at the wedding postponement, but was able to confirm her availability – it was such a relief!

Such supportive suppliers

After that, emails from our other suppliers started to come through. Just like us, they have been waiting on every news story to see if their lively hoods will be affected by the Coronavirus. We know how lucky we have been to have booked such supportive suppliers – they have understood how stressful rearranging can be and have gone out of their way to make everything as easy as possible for us. All this has just confirmed to us that we had picked the right people! And these are: Clare Kinchin Photography, Flicksbox, Flora and Fern, Edit My Wedding, Natalie Nichols Bridal and The Horizons

It’s hard to ignore the horror stories from other brides, (venues charging extra to change dates, not allowing a date change during certain period, suppliers not giving deposits back, insurance refusing to payout due to ‘an act of government’) but I can honestly say that has not been our experience and I cannot thank the wedding industry enough for their kindness! There’s even been a Manchester-based company called ‘Six Stories Bridal’ offering a free ‘Bridey’ t-shirt for all brides affected by the Coronavirus!

To all other brides going through this – Your feelings are valid

To all other brides going through this: it is easy to feel guilty about being upset with everything else going on in the world. You have put a huge amount of energy in to planning your perfect day and spent hours imagining it. Your feelings are valid. It is a tough time, but you will get through this. You will have your special day and the extra wait will make it that much sweeter.

Here’s to June 2021!”

Photography credits: Nat and Sam’s engagement shoot by Clare Kinchin Photography