When you watch the news on TV, do you sometimes wonder if there is any good stuff going on in the world around you? I certainly do, and it makes me sad sometimes.
So, when we heard about a fantastic charity called Gift of a Wedding, we were immediately curious.
They provide free wedding services to people who have a terminal or life shortening illness. The way they do this is to call upon business owners for help, on Facebook.
They already have a list of venues who regularly offer their services. So they then ask for everything else they require for each couple – they put calls out for everything! Dance floors, DJ’s, Photographers, Dressmakers, Chauffeurs, Florists and more. So, when we heard that a couple were getting married not too far from us, we jumped at the chance to offer our services to them.
Gift of a Wedding were helping Richard and Kayleigh plan their dream Wedding day at Colchester Castle.
Richard was terminally ill. He really didn’t have very long to live. What made this even more heart breaking, was that he and Kayleigh had six children, including a baby boy. They were the sweetest parents you could meet, such a close knit family.
The beautiful Colchester Castle was an amazing backdrop for such a memorable day. The Castle was a special place to them as it was the location of their first date, twelve years ago.
Richard was very poorly that morning. And when he arrived, we could tell that he was struggling. He was a quiet, shy man and was noticeably overwhelmed and – as most Grooms are on their Wedding Day – nervous. But the ceremony went really well and was very much about their children as well as Kayleigh and Richard. Knowing that they didn’t have that much time together, was very sad, but we had to keep it together. We wanted to give them as many pictures as we could, knowing how important they would be.
After the ceremony we took the couple off for a walk around the Castle to get pictures of them on their own. Richard even braved the long rickety stony stairs to top of the building, with just the clouds as a backdrop.
We had such a lovely time with this sweet young couple, and their family and friends. And were so happy to have been able to capture such real and special moments for Kayleigh and Richard on what was a very poignant day in their lives.
Sadly, Richard passed away just a few months after their Wedding. We wish Kayleigh and her children lots of love and strength to get through such a tough time in their lives.
