Doncaster workmates stage amazing 'fake wedding' for Sheffield bride whose big day was cancelled by lockdown

But Faye’s friends have made sure that they still got the closest thing to a wedding imaginable by stunting up a fake marriage service for the couple at the her workplace!

Faye, aged 27, and James, aged 28, from Manor, Sheffield, were due to marry on May 14 at Whitley Hall Hotel, Grenoside, before the current crisis led to weddings being stopped across the country.

But when her workmates at Dunniwood Lodge care home, Doncaster, realised what had happened, they made secret plans to give her the closest thing to a wedding they could muster in the back garden of the care home on that same date, with its residents as guests.

Joanne Booker, manager at the home, said: “Three weeks before they were due to get married we thought about what we could do to have a fake wedding for them. I spoke to her chief bridesmaid – she thought Faye would like that – so we arranged it all in three weeks!

“I was the Vicar of Dunniwood for the day to carry out a service with some fun vows, and we decorated with balloons and bunting. We kept the whole thing secret from Faye.”

James was in on the act. He had to socially distance from everyone except Faye and stay outside.

Faye said: “When I first arrived, I didn’t have a clue about what was happening. My friends told me to put a white dress on, gave me some flowers and some champagne, and one of the residents asked me if he could walk me down the isle. I didn’t know what to think when I saw my fiancé in a suit and the garden decorated for a wedding. It was a shock but I was so happy! I couldn’t believe what everyone had done for us.

“They all knew how upset we were the wedding was cancelled, and the fake wedding’s taken that feeling away.”

The real wedding is re-arranged for May 2021.

“It has a lot to live up to,” said Faye. “And I’ll know what to do better on the big day.”

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