A Harrogate couple have cancelled their wedding plans for a third time after the government further restricted the number of guests that can attend.
Ali Farr and Ben Cross, who both work for the NHS, were initially set to tie the knot on May 1 at the St George Hotel in Harrogate. However, lockdown struck and their big day was cancelled.
They rearranged for New Year’s Eve, only to discover afterwards that the St George Hotel was going into administration.
The DoubleTree by Hilton Harrogate Majestic Hotel & Spa
Still hoping to get married in 2020, they booked the DoubleTree by Hilton Harrogate Majestic Hotel & Spa for December 31 – the day they’d been due to marry at the St George and 12 years exactly since they met.
However, Tuesday’s announcement that they would only be able to have 15 people at the wedding instead of 30 prompted them to cancel for the third time. Ms Farr said:
“We didn’t really expect the numbers to go down yesterday, I was quite surprised that it didn’t stay at 30 and then we were hoping it would at least be 60 by Christmas so Ben and I have taken the decision again to move the wedding.
“We are now trying to work with our suppliers and venue to get a new date for next year but I’m not even sure if that will be able to go ahead at full capacity.”
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The couple initially planned to invite more than 100 guests from as far away as Singapore and Australia.
With coronavirus cases in the district rising, Ms Farr, a community nurse in Knaresborough and Boroughbridge, is now preparing for a busy winter at work:
“As a community nurse I know that our workload gets busier over this period and with cases on the rise I imagine it will have added pressures on the service as we still have patients with other illnesses, not just covid, to care for.
“The winter months will be testing for the service but the community teams are very resilient and work well under pressure. The nurses and healthcare support workers just keep going no matter what they are faced with.”
