Covid-19 tier 4: Dorset couple rearrange wedding to beat rule change

A couple rearranged their wedding in little more than two hours so they could get married before tougher coronavirus restrictions were imposed.

Sam and Hannah Freeman of Poole, Dorset, were preparing for their New Year's Eve wedding when they discovered the area was moving into tier four.

After securing the attendance of two registrars, the pair rang the venue and guests to bring everything forward.

Mrs Freeman said she had been "totally overwhelmed" by everyone's kindness.

The couple, whose plans had already been significantly downsized, discovered on Thursday - the day before their planned ceremony - that new restrictions would start at midnight, meaning it could no longer go ahead.

Mr Freeman said the mood suddenly changed "from such a high to such a low".

She said: "It changed everything. I got on to the phone to Hampshire council and I asked, 'Is there anything we can do this evening?'

"Two minutes later they called back and said 'We've got two registrars who are willing to come down at six o'clock to marry you.' It was about half-past three, quarter-to-four, so there was a mad panic to get ready in two hours."

Mrs Freeman rushed with her mother to the venue, Sopley Mill, on the Hampshire-Dorset border, making phone calls on the way.

She said: "I managed to get hold of my hairdresser and my make-up artist who said they would meet us at the venue. Sam phoned the photographer who said he would jump in the car.

"I went to do my interview with the registrars in my pyjamas and my hair in rollers. I didn't have very much time at all.

"The wedding was fantastic. We stood there laughing. We couldn't believe we made this happen in just over two hours."