Couple forced to cancel dream wedding due to coronavirus tie the knot after kids hold surprise garden ceremony
The coronavirus lockdown has scuppered the wedding plans of many this spring - but two children were determined not to let the pandemic get in the way of their parents tying the knot.
Kim-Marie Gerrard, 36, and partner Mark Tooth, 42, were due to get hitched on Thursday of this week, but were forced to cancel their big day.
However, one the day they were due to get married, son Louis, ten, and daughter Ruby, eight, surprised them with a ceremoy in the garden of their home in Cheddleton, Staffordshire.
The bride wore the dress she had bought for the real occasion, while dad Mark donned his best suit. Louis officiated and Ruby stepped in as the photographer.
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Kim-Marie, a nursery manager, said: “They’d set the garden up with chairs when we woke up with teddies on them as guests.
“My little boy was dressed in his suit from top to bottom with his shiny shoes on.
“They’d set everything up ready to officially marry mum and dad.
“We were absolutely amazed. We had no idea what they were doing until they woke us up and said 'get dressed, you're getting married today'."
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In a video Ruby filmed, Louis can be heard telling the bride and groom: “Welcome to our wedding, marrying mum and dad.
“Covid-19, you won’t stop us today.
“Thank you Freya for the cake and Sam for the flowers. Now let’s begin.”
Addressing his beaming mum, Louis asked: “Do you Kim, promise to be Mark’s friend?” to which she replied: “Yes, I promise to be Mark’s friend.”
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Louis asked: “To comfort him and listen to him?” She replied: “To comfort him and listen to him, yes I do.”
Addressing dad Mark, a mechanic, Louis asked: “Do you Mark take Kim to be her friend. To kiss her and cuddle her like a grizzly bear? Dad you had better say ‘I do’.”
A laughing Mark replied: “I do.”
Louis then told him: “Good, you may now kiss the bride. Congratulations.”
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Recalling her big day, Kim-Marie added: “My little girl wanted to be the photographer so she had the camera and was whipping round.
“It was quite funny but it was nice, a really good giggle.”
The couple are planning on holding an official wedding ceremony later this year.
