A couple who managed to tie the knot just hours before the nation went into coronavirus-enforced lockdown, had just four people in attendance at their fast-tracked wedding.
Aarti, a teacher, and Jonny, a 27-year-old salesman from Leicestershire, sensed that their original wedding day in May would be lost in the swathe of cancelled and postponed events across the world, and decided to bring their big day forward to March 2020.
After a frenzied search, the couple – who first met at school – managed to secure a venue, registrars and a wedding dress in time for the new date five days later, and exchanged vows shortly after 1pm on Monday 23 March with their parents present.
Later that evening, the newlyweds sat on their sofa and watched as Boris Johnson introduced more stringent measures that banned gatherings of more than two people – including weddings.
Aarti and Jonny from Leicestershire, who married just hours before the United Kingdom went into lockdown, had just four guests in attendance at their fast-tracked wedding. Pictured: Aarti and Jonny on their wedding day
Aarti who teaches at Walsgrave CofE Academy in Coventry, said: ‘I rang our venue, Mythe Barn, and they were absolutely fine with us bringing it forward.
‘The Leicestershire registrars offered us dates on the 23rd, 25th or the 26th, and I thought I would do the Monday 23rd, as we were living from day to day.
‘Being a teacher, we were living hour by hour, not knowing whether the the school was open or closed? Every day at 5pm, we were watching the updates. I just felt that we had to take the closest one.’
She continued: ‘The registrars were free, they gave me the time. I had to speak to my boss at work as I was meant to be at school and thankfully they said it was all okay. We weren’t even sure if I would be at school or not.
‘It all kind of happened from there. On Wednesday the 18th, less than a week before, it was booked!’.
Aarti revealed that they spent a frenzied few days securing a venue, registrars and finding a dress, in order to tie the knot at an earlier date than originally planned. pictured: The couple on their wedding day
Aarti admits that she was concerned about finding a suitable dress, after locking in the venue for their new wedding date.
She said: ‘I felt extremely anxious. I’d already ordered a wedding dress with express delivery at short notice as we only booked the original wedding in December for May, which is a short amount of time. That wasn’t going to come in time for the new date.
‘I went onto ASOS and ordered some quick next-day delivery dresses. The ironic thing is the postman did try to deliver it on the Friday, but because I wasn’t in he took it back with him. So I was thinking ‘great, I can’t even try it on’.
‘When it came on the Saturday I managed to try it on.
‘Of course these things don’t fit you perfectly. My mum was having to stitch it, tweak it, make it fit.’
Aarti (pictured) walked down the aisle alone because her father works for the NHS, but plans to have another ceremony where he’s given the opportunity
On the day Aarti had her make-up applied at 7.30am, while frequently calling the venue to make sure their efforts wouldn’t be in vain.
She added: ‘The decision wasn’t down to us, it was in someone else’s hands. The registrar could’ve been ill.’
Luckily at 1pm everyone was in place, with Jonny waiting by the registrars in front his parents. Aarti’s mother and sister were on the other side providing balance.
Aarti walked down the aisle alone for a poignant reason.
‘My dad works for the NHS,’ she said.
‘With his job and making sure he wasn’t exposed to a lot of people, we took the decision ourselves to FaceTime him for the ceremony, because he wasn’t there.
‘We still know we will get our wedding when we get it and all of our family and friends will be there, this was the legal ceremony for us.
‘Of course, we would’ve loved for our dad to have been there and part of our day, which we still feel he was. The registrar still included him, acknowledged that he was on FaceTime.
Jonny said they didn’t build up their expectations for the big day, but it turned out ‘really nice in the end’. Pictured: Jonny and Aarti on their wedding day
‘But we will get our day and he will walk me down me the aisle.’
Jonny recalled the moment that he saw his bride, and said: ‘It was surreal. It was incredible. Of course I never, ever expected the day to unfold as it did and when it did.
‘Despite the circumstances, we didn’t really build it up or expect too much of the day, but it was amazing and it turned out to be a really nice day in the end. She looked beautiful, absolutely beautiful.’
Their wedding was filled with surprises and wonderful gestures, including Aarti’s sister providing a crucial loan of her Jimmy Choo shoes.
‘Mythe Barn booked and surprised us with a photographer so a massive shout out to them,’ said Aarti, who grew up in Bedworth.
‘The staff couldn’t have done more for us. I would ring them literally every day and speak to them, they were more than happy to reassure me.
Aarti (pictured) and Jonny spent the evening of their wedding day watching Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s announcement
‘They’d also organised a bouquet for me and button holes for Jonny so it matched. They really went above and beyond.’
After a couple of glasses of champagne and once the photographs were completed, the married couple headed to their home in Leicestershire.
Around the time that most newlyweds would be exchanging pleasantries with guests or wrapping up after-dinner speeches, Aarti and Jonny were waiting for the 5pm press conference providing a coronavirus update.
At 8.30pm, when a first dance song may have been played, they watched the prime minister’s confrim stringent new measures to lock down the country.
Aarti who is a key worker, said they feel stronger going into the pandemic as man and wife. Pictured: Jonny and Aarti on their wedding day
‘It was important to us, the legal part, we hold a lot of value on that and my parents in particular hold a lot of value on that. It could be 2021 before we’d managed to do that if we’d have left it,’ said Aarti.
Jonny added: ‘When you get the wedding licence it’s only valid for 12 months after it has been approved.
‘So we were thinking it could easily be another 12 months. We thought we may as well get that box ticked now and then it is done. It’s one thing less to do when the storm clears.’
Like any date on the horizon in the current climate, the couple’s scheduled wedding day hangs in the balance. When they do manage to pull together their friends and family together for the big day, they will arrive as man and wife.
‘We feel a lot stronger going into this as man and wife,’ explained Aarti.
‘I am a key worker as well, I’ve got to be at work, I am up and down. We’ve got enough money to keep a roof over our heads but we’re doing it together as man and wife and not just your partner or girlfriend.
‘We played our music, said our vows, exchanged rings. It was the perfect wedding ceremony.’