The year weddings were left jilted at the altar

On a September’s day last year, in a church in Wendens Ambo in Essex, Hannah Yadi, soon to be Hume, was going to the chapel – and she was going to get married. It felt “cruel and cold” to change their wedding date as the pandemic put everyone’s lives on hold, instead their wedding adapted in order to survive. Emulating a scene Julian Fellowes would be proud of, the Wendens Ambo village community surrounded the outside of the church, socially distanced of course, to clap the newlyweds as they emerged from the church – “only without the throwing of rice and coins,” says Hume. Despite Covid, it was the most magical day of their lives.

Cut down from 180 guests to just 27, including a photographer and vicar, the day didn’t quite match the couple’s expectations – it surpassed them. “It was stressful and heart-breaking to not have everyone we wanted to have there,” Hume explains. However, as she placed one foot in front of the other down the aisle of church any ounce of stress weighing on her shoulders “melted away in the moment”, when she saw her fiancé Johnnie waiting at the altar. “Without meaning to, we got everything we had ever wanted,” Hume remembers fondly.

After the ceremony, 27 loved ones gathered in their back garden. The day was more “intimate and memorable than they ever could’ve hoped”.

Weddings were capped at 30 guests from the 4th July last year, with a brief intermission from 31st to 15th August as coronavirus cases surged. This meant some mathematical family politics were in order. The band didn’t quite make the cut, but luckily, the bride had musical talent to spare. “I always thought singing at your own wedding was cheesy,” she laughs. But Hume’s sweet rendition of Doris Day’s Dream A Little Dream Of Me gathered tears in her husband’s eyes, and was the perfect addition to the day.

When the time came to toss the bride’s bouquet, offering a glimpse into the future for the unmarried, there was only one fitting guest in the reduced numbers. Hume took her friend by the hand, throwing the bouquet directly to her as everyone erupted into a delighted cheer, as her boyfriend looked cautiously on.

On Wednesday, What About Wedding’s founder Jessie Westwood wrote for Reaction about the government’s complete neglect of the industry. Already driven to desperation, frustration and anxiety, the roadmap out of lockdown left it until the 11th hour to give weddings the time of day. Waiting in the dark for months, with make-up brushes and cameras poised at the ready, wedding suppliers are sadly all too familiar with this.

After getting engaged whilst adventuring out in the Sumlaee Phuket martial arts school in Thailand in February last year, beautician owner Georgia Mitchell has the unique experience of being able to view the industry from both sides, as both a supplier and a consumer. When gushes of “when’s the big day?” echoed out of her phone from relatives on FaceTimed, her gut told her to “go for the end of 2022”. As the world went on to shut down a few weeks later, it was a rather handy premonition.

In October last year, Mitchell was working a wedding that was forced to decrease its numbers from 30 to 15 overnight, as government advice altered once again. PPE-ed up to the eyeballs, Mitchell and her team arrived at the wedding preparations bright and early. Sadly, no matter what anyone did, there was an unshakable sadness in the air as the “biggest day of their lives” was welcomed in by just 15 people.

“It’s been a bizarre time for the industry,” Mitchell explains. With clients postponing or cancelling frequently, the wedding planner she hired for her own wedding is currently working in a supermarket to make ends meet. What has truly left Mitchell frustrated is the inconsistencies suppliers faced compared to other sectors. “I know tv and film hair and make-up went ahead,” she says, left wondering the difference between an artist painting the face of an actor compared to that of a bride or bridesmaid.

Somerset-based wedding photography duo Simon Billing and Kiana Pople share Mitchell’s frustration. Due to wed in May last year, they experienced their client’s concerns on a deeply personal level. Hoping their date can go ahead for the third time lucky, they have now settled on October.

Last year, the couple had around 30 weddings booked at the time of the first lockdown, which eventually amounted to just eight Covid weddings. The majority of the remaining nuptials were postponed to this year, with three cancelled entirely, meaning the pair will “be flat out for the next two years” to account for less new bookings coming in. The fickle government support was “not good enough for an industry that gets booked up 2 years in advance,” says Billing. As far as he is concerned, “the industry owes a big thank you to those who have gone ahead with Covid-friendly weddings or postponed their weddings, rather than cancelling.” In lieu of government assistance, “they have kept the industry going,” he says.

This week’s announcement may have promised light at the end of the aisle, but Billing takes it “with a pinch of salt”. “We were promised a normal Christmas,” he sighs, “but we all know how that turned out.”