Wisbech Castle team save the day as Chloe and Nathan tie-the-knot

Wisbech Castle provided a fairytale ending to one couple's wedding dreams after volunteers stepped in to save the big day.

Chloe Keith and her fiancé Nathan Odell had spent over 18 months planning their dream day, but Covid-19 saw their hopes in tatters when their venue announced it was closing permanently due to the pandemic.

Chloe said: "We had been watching the situation closely, hoping and praying our big day would still go-ahead on August 1 despite the lockdown - we really had high hopes when the government guidelines stated you could have up to 30 guests at a wedding.

"We are both from small families, so we were only planning a small wedding anyway, so we really thought everything would be able to go ahead as planned. Then, just five weeks before the wedding we had an email from our venue saying they were closing permanently and so our wedding could go no longer go ahead.

"Safe to say I was absolutely devastated. All those months of worrying, to then have the glimmer of hope just disappear in front of me in one email. I drove to work sobbing that morning - I know I should have been prepared for it, because of the pandemic and everything that was going on, but it really hit me hard. It was just heartbreaking."

A tearful Chloe contacted her parents, John and Paula Keith, to break the news and that's when her dad stepped in.

Chloe said: "He just said 'we'll get it sorted' - now Dad is just an incredible person. He is a three-time cancer survivor, so when he gets his heart set on something, he'll get it done. He went to the town's social media pages asking for help. And to my delight, one of our town councillors got in touch to say we could get married at the beautiful Wisbech Castle.

"Ironically the Castle was the venue I had originally wanted, but when we were booking our wedding 18 months ago it was closed for renovation - so I was over the moon.

"The only slight hitch was we had to move the date back a week from August 1 to August 8 because we needed a new notice of appointment because of the venue change. But when you think about all those other poor couples who have had to postpone for months or even a year, it was not a lot to ask.

"The wedding went ahead and it was everything we had dreamed of. The Castle volunteers had worked so hard to make sure everything was perfect. They even planted flowers in the garden to match our navy colour scheme.

"They worked out social distancing so a few immediate family were in the Fendick Room to watch us get married, whilst the other guests watched from the gardens. They even installed microphones and speakers so all our guests could hear us.

"Once married we walked out onto the balcony overlooking the gardens where all our guests cheered and clapped and of course we shared a kiss - it made us feel like royalty.

"Honestly, our day was absolutely perfect. Not even a pandemic could ruin it. Just goes to show what a tiny little town can do when they all pull together, but I sure know it would never have happened without Wisbech Town Council, the Cambridgeshire registrars, and all the volunteers at the Wisbech Castle working so hard for us."

The only difference was the couple, who live in Wisbech, were unable to have the big party they had planned to celebrate afterwards, but the Wisbech Castle team even have that covered as they offered the venue to Nathan and Chloe for a first anniversary party, free of charge as a wedding gift.

Chloe, who had six bridesmaids, added: "We will be forever grateful to the Wisbech Castle team and what they did for us. So up yours COVID, you can’t stop love."