Leyland couple among the few saying 'I do!' under new wedding restrictions

They had first hoped to make their vows in a romantic summer wedding in July last year, but the outbreak of Covid soon put a stop to their plans, prompting them to reschedule for last April.

But as their big day loomed over them, there were no signs of restrictions lifting and they were told they could only have six people attend.

So for a second time, Tracy and David Buck made the tough decision to move their wedding from April to last weekend, June 26, and said they were determined to go ahead "no matter what."

They saw their hopes for a canal cruise reception shattered and instead rebooked at the Mediterranean at the Bay Horse, in Whittle-Le-Woods.

And their international honeymoon to Mexico was also moved to next year and swapped for a caravan stay in the Scottish highlands.

Currently, weddings are one of the few exceptions to the rule of 30, with couples now able to invite as many guests as their chosen venue can safely hold, with social distancing measures in place.

Tracy, 50, said: "We had first planned to get married back in July and had planned an exciting canal cruise reception but we had to change that because people were not able to socially distance on a boat so they had stopped running.

"We then delayed it to April but at that point, we were still in the first phase of the roadmap, so could only have six people there which was just no good for us because it would've been just the people living in our house. We knew we couldn't have gone through with that because it wouldn't have been the same at all or even felt like a wedding.

"After cancelling, we rebooked for last weekend and chose to have our reception at the Mediterranean restaurant because we had enjoyed many meals and birthday's there and it was amazing.

"We had gazebos outside and the weather was absolutely perfect. The food was fantastic and they just couldn't do enough for us, it turned out to be the perfect venue for our day."

Their wedding party was only small, with 42 guests attending on separated tables of six - but only a handful of them could watch the special moment at the Preston registry office.

It was news that left bride-to-be Tracy in floods of tears just days before the big day, when she was told only 19 of her guests could be seated safely inside and watch the vows.

But to raise her spirits, all of the guests met outside for photographs at Avenham Park afterwards before heading over to the Chorley restaurant for the evening celebrations.

Current guidance means guests must stay seated on tables of no more than six and cannot mingle with each other, dance or break the social distancing guidelines.

>>> To say 'I do'?: Engaged couples debate whether to wed after cap on guest numbers lifted but dancing and mixing still banned.

So Tracy and David opted against the usual wedding DJ and instead resorted to bringing a Bluetooth speaker connected to their iPad music to keep guests entertained.

Tracy said: "It was gutting when we got the news that not everyone could come inside the registry office. I cried when I got the email because we hadn't even thought about it. There were people that would have loved to see us get married that couldn't make it.

"I wondered how we would make the decisions to cut people out, but we just had to and all our family were very understanding because of the difficult circumstances we were put under.

"But everyone still made the effort to meet us for pictures and it worked out so well in the end and just went amazingly. People wanted to make the extra effort and we all just made the most out of the situation and had a perfect day regardless.

"Everyone was understanding about what was going on and we just had to put our immediate family first. The most important thing was that all our friends and family were able to come to the evening meal and spend the rest of our day with us, that was all we wanted."

The newlyweds were then set to jet off on a luxury honeymoon to Mexico, but due to the restrictions on travel, they have postponed this to 2022 and have instead opted for a caravan stay in Scotland.

But after organising a wedding for the third time, the Leyland couple say they "just wanted to get it done" following a challenging year personally and financially.

Tracy added: "We didn't want a big wedding, we just wanted to celebrate our marriage with the people that mattered to us. We couldn't have cancelled it again and we were able to have everyone there who we wanted.

"A lot of people have had weddings but organised an evening do later in the year, and we might look at doing something similar. We have to just move forward now, we can't keep going in circles and isolating.

"With the weather being so nice, we are just so happy that we went ahead with it. The venue was amazing and they went above and beyond and it was just a beautiful day from start to finish and I couldn't be happier."

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