MAKING A DIFFERENCE

THE BIG DAY Emma Robertson, who has breast cancer, and Michael Sidell said “I do” on 10 April 2018 in Devon JOY ALL ROUND Natasha and Oscar Adkins married on Friday 1 February 2019, in Tortworth, Gloustershire. Natasha had skin cancer

MICHAEL RILEY PHOTOGRAPHY LEE HAWLEY PHOTOGRAPHY

Imagine what it would be like to have to plan a wedding when you only a short time left to live, and not a penny in the bank. Couples face this dilemma every day when they are given the devastating news that one of them is terminally ill. But you can help a UK charity to ensure couples in this situation get the chance to say “I Do”.

For the past ten years, Cheshire-based, non-profit charity, Gift of a Wed, has been donating wedding services to couples in the UK who have neither the time, nor the money, to arrange a wedding, because one partner has a life-limiting illness. “We believe that there should be no barriers to the terminally ill having the wedding day of their dreams,” says Patricia Harrison, a wedding planner who was approached to organise the wedding of a 27-yearold man, from Greater Manchester, who had no money and 14 months to live. He had brain cancer, and was expected to begin losing his ability to walk and talk. With no budget, she approached wedding suppliers from all over the North West of England, and secured £18,000 worth of free goods and services for the wedding.

Patricia quickly realised that the young man she had helped was not unique, and she also discovered that, if asked, thousands of wedding suppliers around the UK were happy get involved. On 14 February 2012, Gift of a Wedding was born, and Patricia has since made fulfilling wedding dreams her main mission.

Together with her team of dedicated volunteers, Gift of a Wedding has grown from strength to strength. Patricia says: “I could never have imagined ten years ago that I would have set up a charity, and that volunteering would be my life and mean so much to me. It is has been an honour and a pleasure to create this unbelievably special charity for some extremely deserving people.”

Gift of a Wedding is all about bringing joy, love and happiness to those with a terminal illness, regardless of age, gender, race or religion. Professionals from across the wedding, medical and charity sectors have come together to help create a distinct non-profit organisation make a real difference.

Making it easy

The criteria for those applying for assistance is straightforward and simple, so approval can be granted quickly. Those requiring help can be nominated, or nominate themselves.

GET INVOLVED AND YOU COULD MAKE DREAMS COME TRUE

If you would like to nominate yourself or someone else for a wedding, this link will take you to the charity’s website where you will find a nomination form, https:// www.giftofawedding.org/apply-for-a-wedding.

To donate services or products, or your time, contact suppliers@giftofawedding.org

If you would like to make a donation, text the word BRIDE5 to 70085 to donate £5. This donation will cost £5 plus your standard message rate. If you would like to donate more or make an online donation, this link will take you to our donation page - appeal.donr.com/giftof-a-wedding

The applicants must be over 18 years of age, and a UK resident with a terminal or life-limiting illness. The wedding need and urgency is key and also that it will be in the UK. Finally, applicants should not have the time or finances to plan their own special day. As most are nominated by medical professionals they generally tend to be approved.

The charity is extremely proud of the fact that it can create a wedding in any time scale and in any setting. It has planned weddings in gardens, hotels, hospitals, hospices and even in an empty field. The quickest wedding was created in just three hours, but on average most couples require a wedding within three weeks from their initial request.

Fulfilling dreams

Annemarie Blainey, one of the senior wedding planners at Gift of a Wedding says: “People always assume what we do is glamorous, I would say that it is extremely hard work and can be stressful at times especially as we never have a budget to work with and have to rely totally on the donation of goods and services. It’s a privilege to help our couples, when they need us most.”

What the charity achieves is no less than a miracle as they can do in a short space of time – and sometimes days – what most engaged couples look to achieve in 18 months or more.

Each wedding is based on the bride and groom’s exact vison for their day and can take up to 250 hours to plan. Each involves an average of 27 wedding suppliers who gift services and products, and the average total value of donations is £15,000.

Tammy Powell, a wedding planner in Sussex, who donated her time to help a couple says: “What an amazing charity, I was honoured to be involved in a recent wedding and must say how amazing this team are. It was a pleasure.”

Counting the numbers

Over the past ten years, 256 weddings have been gifted to couples from the four corners of the UK, none of which would have been possible without the help of over 7,000 wonderful donors. These incredibly generous wedding and hospitality professionals have so far given goods and services to the value of £4 million.

By the charity’s calculation, 10,500 cupcakes have been consumed, and over 26,000 guests have attended a wedding to watch their loved ones tie the knot and create memories of a very special day.

The sentiments of one of the Charity’s recipients, Marianne Stephens, say it all:

“Gift of a Wedding organised our dream wedding. The charity helps so many couples show their true love and commitment to each other and to their families at what is the darkest of times, when one has been diagnosed terminally ill.

“All the volunteers at Gift of a Wedding, together with their team of suppliers, give up their time and donate services, to make dreams come true, as they did for my husband Bill and I in September 2017 – Bill had been diagnosed with cancer and given a two-week maximum prognosis in August of 2017.

“Bill sadly passed away on 7 April 2018. We had eight and a half months together as man and wife, and not the two weeks expected. Thanks to Gift of a Wedding , we had the happiest of wedding days, but of course it was also one of the saddest, because we knew we were not going to have our ‘happy ever after’.

“The family and I have beautiful memories to look back on, especially seeing Bill so happy and proud.”

See the video of Lauren & José Rosa’s wedding, 22 February at facebook.com/giftofawedding/ posts/2193394574075978