Announcements

LOVE conquered lockdown as brides Nicole and Stephanie Bean said their vows just a week before the country went into its first enforced hibernation in March.

Their big day, at The Italian Villa in Poole, was attended by 105 day guests with another 35 joining them in the evening.

"We know how lucky we are to have got married, to have been surrounded by all our guests with relatively relaxed Covid restrictions in place," said Nicole. "It really was fabulous and the highlight of such a strange year for us."

Nicole, who hails from Marchwood, and Stephanie, who grew up in Totton, now live in Wallisdown. They had a Disney inspired wedding with Princess dresses and a Disney song to walk down the aisle to. But their Disney World and Disney cruise honeymoon had to be postponed.

Here Nicole tells us more.

Q: How and where did you get engaged?

A: After two and a half years together, we went on our dream trip to Walt Disney World in Orlando. On our first night, Steph got down on one knee in the grounds of our hotel and asked me to marry her. The ring had been in our rucksack all day, on all the rides and security almost blew the surprise.

Q: Did Covid have any impact on your wedding plans?

A: We were incredibly lucky to have had a nearly normal wedding. Two days before, we were back and forth on the phone to the venue to find out if it would be allowed to happen. We were advised not to hug all of our guests and for everyone to sanitise regularly.

Q: What are your best memories of the day?

A: We rented a huge house with 22 family members, having everyone together and getting ready in the morning was amazing. For Steph it was seeing me walk down the aisle, and for me, seeing Steph standing at the end of the aisle. Having all of our (huge) families together, seeing everyone’s happy faces. All the photos together, even in the rain. We had so many people do speeches. Our evening reception was fantastic, we chose most of the music, including our final song of the night of Azelia Banks 212, luckily most of the grandparents had gone to bed by then!

Q: What was the most stressful part of organising your wedding?

A: We were engaged for almost four years, so we had plenty of time to plan and with two women organising, it was pretty stress free. The lead up to he wedding was incredibly stressful, we both cried every day with Covid getting worse.

Q: Did you have a first dance?

A: We did, which was a little tricky with two big dresses. Our first dance was to The Girl by City and Colour, then Real Love by Jess Glynne.

• Nicole and Stephanie's stunning wedding pictures were taken by family friend Antony Burdett-Clark of Lightbox Studios