Coronavirus crashes wedding plans

It was supposed to be one of the happiest days of their lives together - a blessed occasion surrounded by loving family and friends.
The date was set, dress got, flowers ordered, musicians booked. People in Kingscourt were looking forward to seeing Caroline Shields and husband-to-be Christopher Ward tie the knot as much as the popular couple were themselves.
But just days before the big day, Monday, March 16 last, disaster struck - something that not even the best wedding planner could have pre-empted. Bars, restaurants, hotels, even churches began shutting up shop to adhere to restrictions around social distancing, in the hope of slowing the spread of the Coronavirus.
Caroline and Christopher had been due to exchance their vows in the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Kingscourt, with a wedding receptions afterwards in nearby Cabra Castle.
Suddenly, they found themselves in a tricky situation, with months of preparation and planning seemingly spiralling down the plug hole.
“I will admit, I did have a cry at the start. You do, of course you do. But then you calm, and you think,” says Caroline, who in her own deeply pragmatic way set about seeing how, if there was any way, to reschedule her walk down the aisle until such time as the current crisis has hopefully blown over.
She also took a deep breath and a large gulp of perspective. Caroline’s bridesmaid’s little sister was also in hospital, having taken ill just days earlier. Their mum is also Caroline’s best friend, and might not have even made it to the wedding if it went ahead.
“I was in Friday getting my nails done and whatever else when the hotel rang me. I was upset already about Megan’s sister Milly being sick, and they were calling to say the likelihood was by the Monday everything would be shut.”
The mum of two, teenagers Mikey (18) and Anthony (14), adds: “It was a very, very trying few days, with all that was going on. It was just horrendous, even without the Coronavirus.”
It started with Fr Gerry McCormack, who with wise words, encouraged Caroline and Christopher to look beyond the present situation facing them. “Only for him! We’d played with the idea of still getting married and doing the rest another day. But then there was the paperwork, it was all dated March 16, so we could get married anytime after that. It was Fr Gerry who said ‘We’d put an awful lot of time into it, why not put it back a while’. So we did.”
Next up was contacting Cabra Castle, who fortuitously had the Bank Holiday in October still free.
After that, things all seemed to fall back into place. The band were able to be rebooked, and even the photographer was free.
Caroline though pays particular tribute to her florist, Drogheda’s South Gate Florist, who despite having ordered in all her flowers, were wholly accommodating, and even presented the relieved still bride-to-be with the bouquet she was due to walk down the aisle with.
“We’ve now booked October 26 and, lucky enough, everything was free again. It’s one of those things. How could you possibly plan for something like this? In a strange way, even if it wasn’t, it was meant to be.”
She encourages others now, if and when this crisis concludes, to ensure that they continue to shop local. “Everyone was just so generous, so kind, so accommodating, so understanding. There are so many small businesses that are suffering because of this - hair and nails and make-up, flowers, our hotels, they’re all finding it just as hard if not harder than everyone else right now. They need our support.”
To other couples facing the prospect of having to rearrange or postpone their wedding plans, Caroline has this morsel of advice. “Keep your head up. If you’re meant to get married, it will work out. If it means postponing it to another day, so what! It means that you’ll celebrate even more to have all your family and friends with you, and that everyone is well and safe.”