Covid Stories - The Best Laid Plans

This is the first of a series of uplifting stories from the pages of Blipfoto during this remarkable time.


Everything was in place - the date, the time, the dress.  Family and friends were to gather from far flung places to celebrate.  Thorough planning and coordination was well underway to make sure that everything went off smoothly.  
 
Then, just over a month before the wedding was due to take place, everything changed.  The impact of the coronavirus was spreading rapidly across the world and now getting a foothold in Europe.  
 
Read the heart-warming story of how mother of the bride, Daveen (Blipper amandoAlentejo), worked with family and friends to ensure this precious day took place… with just a few adjustments here and there!
 
Back in March, Daveen was in Portugal, where she lives and works with her husband.  They were planning to return to the UK in a couple of weeks for their daughter’s wedding which was booked for today (13th April 2020).  With the discovery of impending travel restrictions across Spain (their route back to the wedding), they suddenly realised they needed to make their move straightaway.
 
Snippets from Daveen’s Blipfoto journal reveal the tension on 12th March this year: “Hoping we get out of Portugal; the leaders are in a meeting discussing measures at the moment. If we hear the border is closing, might make a run for it - it's 7km away. And then hoping the ferries go. Hoping we don't get quarantined on the ferry, and get to England. Pretty confident we're not infectious, no cases so far in the Alentejo [our region of Portugal]. And we'll be careful on the ferry, and afterwards. And hoping Julia and Tom get some sort of wedding, even if not as planned.” 
 
They set off the very next day.  They crossed the border from Portugal to Spain and started heading to the coast to catch the ferry from Santander to the UK, hoping it would still be operating when they arrived.  
 
Daveen recorded in her journal that even the simple option of getting a coffee in a small hamlet they were passing through proved impossible: “a scared looking man told me through a window that ‘nothing doing, everything locked down because of the virus.’”
 
The trip required them to stop overnight near the Picos de Europa, a stunning mountain range on the north coast of Spain.  In a small town called Riaño, they found a room for the night.  During the day, it had been a struggle to remain positive, listening to the anxious and breathless, non-stop reporting on Spanish radio.  Finding a warm comfortable bed, good food and a local wine helped somewhat!
 
The dramatic beauty of the Picos de Europa was their companion for the first part of the next day’s travel.  They had time to appreciate the majestic scenery and nature, even stopping to walk through snow that clung on in the higher altitudes.  They made it to another hotel.  The next day, they would reach the ferry and their last chance of getting back to England.  
 
Before they went to bed, Daveen explains how they encountered something spine-tingling: “Hearing a strange noise, going to our window, and realizing folk were clapping and whistling from their balconies and windows, a way of keeping spirits up, learned from Wuhan, when everyone is confined to their flats. Found it very moving and feel privileged to have joined in and been a part of it this night.” 
 
And so, to the following morning and the uncertainty of the ferry.
 
They were on it! It was the last ferry to leave the port before Spain’s lockdown came into force.  Sailing through the Bay of Biscay, heading north along the west coast of France, they should reach Portsmouth on the south coast of England late in the evening the next day.  You can imagine that the experience of sea sickness had never been appreciated so much!  
 
After friends welcomed them into their home for the night near the British port, they made the remaining journey to the West Midlands, a few hours inland by car.  
 
Back with her other daughter, blipper mishkid, they celebrated with, “a ‘hot dog party’ with all our family, and sticky toffee pudding for dessert, with a good Alentejo red.”  
 
Part one complete.  Now, the little matter of a wedding! 
 
A couple of days later, Daveen noted this moment in her journal: “At about 5 this afternoon, after pondering all alternatives, our daughter and her fiancé decided to see if they could bring their wedding forward by three weeks, to the day after tomorrow. To try to beat lockdown. [It] Will be in Bedford, in the open air, with immediate family only. Everyone has been fantastic, shifting plans, cooperating to make it as good as we can, accepting disappointments. Her dress isn't ready, so we've been looking and ordering something online, hoping they can deliver tomorrow.” 
 
With just one day inbetween, every second was filled with preparations so that everything was in readiness for the big day. That included transporting friends back and forth from Manchester where the bride-to-be and groom lived.  
 
The night before the main event, the couple were legally married in church in Sutton Coldfield, with two witnesses, the minister, and the registrar. The following day, the ceremony took place with those friends and family who could make it at such short notice. 
 
Daveen’s summary from the day expresses the significance of what they’d managed to achieve together: “Our daughter's wedding, brought forward three weeks to beat the lockdown, and put together in just over a day, different venue, different town, different guests, different dress, different catering... went off beautifully, both families and many friends (many of whom couldn't be there) pulling out the stops to give them a special day. So much had to be given up, but so much was given and feels a privilege to be a part of such a group of people, many of whom [including blipper [url=https://www.blipfoto.com/Hamp5on]Hamp5on[/url]], all over the world, participated through a livestream.” 
 
She continues: “It was a wonderful, wonderful day, so much love and tenderness and kindness from so many. I am utterly grateful, especially to God, who, apart from anything else, made the sun shine all day. And I hope it brings you a little of the happiness in the midst of this strange time we are going through. And now for isolation...” 
 
It’s a wonderful story of triumph over adversity.  Ten days of incredible highs and worrying lows. But what a special few weeks this will be to look back on and certainly an extraordinary wedding to remember.
 
Daveen, known on Blipfoto as amandoAlentejo (amando means loving and Alentejo is their region of Portugal), has shared a little more of her life in a blipper’s profile which we will also be able to share with you soon. 
 
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Do you have a happy, funny or uplifting story resulting from the Coronavirus crisis?  If so, tag your entry #CVstories.  There will good times and bad times during this period but it’s the happy, funny, uplifting stories we are looking for with this tag - these are the ones that will better lift our spirits through this period.  If you're happy for us to share your story, don't forget to tag it #OK2share.