• Like many others, Alex Buckwell, 26, and David Collie, 36, were forced to cancel their wedding on account of the coronavirus pandemic. Luckily for them, they recently moved into the friendliest of neighbourhoods and were treated to a surprise wedding by the other residents.

    The couple from Eastbourne, East Sussex, postponed their ceremony which was supposed take place in a Scottish priory. Of course, they were heart broken by this. Instead of their big wedding, they planned to eat fancy steaks in their new garden on March 23, since they had just moved in.

    That evening, they heard the sound of bagpipes and a knock on their door. To their surprise they found that their new neighbours put together an impromptu wedding with champagne, bagpipes, flowers, and a bubble machine.

    “It was the most touching surprise,” said Alex, who works in HR for the NHS in Eastbourne, to the Daily Mail.  “To know that this was all organised by strangers made it even more incredible. I couldn’t stop crying.”

    “We’d moved into the house on the last day possible before house moves were banned and then we were in lockdown so we hadn’t met any of the neighbours.”

    She said she only briefly mentioned what would have been her wedding day because the woman who lives across the road had asked her if they could swap parking spaces.

    The couple danced to ABBA’s Dancing Queen as the neighbours applauded their first dance in the middle of the road.

    Congrats to the happy couple!

    Images: Unsplash

    You may think that with a world wide health crisis going on, now is not the best time to get engaged. However, it seems many would disagree as there have been quite a few engagements during the time of coronavirus.

    Of course, there is no single reason for this trend, but there are a few which are common. The most common reason is that these couples planned to get engaged before the coronavirus pandemic took over everyone’s lives and forced us all to change our plans. Like rapper Jeezy, who propososed to Jeannie Mai on a “quarantine date”, many are simply following through with plans they had already made but had reworked to cater for self-isolation. After all, we wouldn’t want to put our lives on hold for an undisclosed, or unknown amount of time.

    Many people are rushing engagements of marriages at this time for more logistical and technical reasons. Getting engaged and married means that you may have more authority to advocate for each other in medical emergencies, which is important at a time like this. It may also be on account of visa requirements, or to avoid conflicts about wills or estates.

    Then, there is the obvious reason. The one we hope is the strongest, most convincing reason for all those couples getting engaged. Love. Perhaps the health crisis has shown people how precious life is and how time is fleeting and that they have to seize the moment.

    For those who are religious, or at least more conservative in their beliefs, an engagement or marriage makes it more “acceptable” to stay together during the lockdown. If people don’t want to get separated from each other during this time, they simply get engaged and married to be together while keeping their families happy.

    No matter the reason though, we hope that all the couples getting engaged during this time are as happy as can be!

    Image: Unsplash

    Even in the time of coronavirus, love conquers all. It finds a way around all barriers, even hospitalisation. This elderly Italian couple celebrated their 50th anniversary, in an intensive care unit (ICU) after medics arranged for them to be together.

    Sandra (71) and husband Giancarlo (73) both contracted COVID-19 and were thus hospitalised at the Murri Hospital in Fermo, in the eastern region of Marche.

    Roberta Ferretti, a nurse at the hospital, heard that the couple’s 50th anniversary was coming up and decided she would organise a a celebration with the help of some other medics. “Sandra cried a lot, not for herself; she was worried about her husband. He told me how much he still loved her, after so many years. When I found out that it was their anniversary, I thought they had to celebrate it,” said Ferretti to a local media outlet.

    According to the Daily Mail, the celebration lasted only 10 minutes, and a candle was placed on a cake without lighting it since it cannot be lit close to the oxygen.

    The couple held hands as the medics played the Wedding March.

    In a Facebook post, Ferretti said that Sandra was crying tears of joy, and her husband only spoke about how in love with her he is.

    Images: Facebook / Roberta Ferretti

    Instead of going for something expected like a white cake with floral detail, why not be bold? Live your life in colour with a fun wedding cake that your guests will love.

    Once lockdown and quarantine ends, attending an actual physical wedding in the future will be extra special. As such, we predict couples will go big and bold to honour the occasion. What better way than with colour?

    Using fun splashes of colour is a simple yet striking way to make a statement and add personality to your wedding cake. Here are a few of our favourite colourful creations:

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B9sMAOXAbT-/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B9PnIxih25V/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B9TbKu9F3GQ/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B-rqR_iDNnD/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B-kmI2klGZU/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B7q7HLcH5Z2/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B-7ns2Kh3m3/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B7jGWWoH7c-/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B6_kDwwAvLT/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

    https://www.instagram.com/p/BlDzYgZgTb5/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

    Picture: Unsplash