Bury St Edmunds couple hope it will be fourth time lucky for wedding date

A devoted couple are hoping it will be fourth time lucky after having to cancel their wedding three times in the past year.

Emma Curtin, 37, and partner, Tom Palmer, 30, had originally planned to get married in March, 2020.

The couple, from Bury St Edmunds, had already been planning their big day for two years, with a tour of the United States to follow, for their honeymoon.

But a series of lockdowns and ever changing restrictions have meant the couple have given up the idea for now - and planning on March next year, instead.

“After we decided to cancel the last one, we just thought: let’s just aim for 2022, when hopefully things will be better,” said Emma.

“The first time we were devastated as we had been planning it for so long - but we went into national lockdown six days beforehand and that was the end of that.”

Emma and Tom decided to rearrange for six months later, in September.

Again, all the arrangements were made for florists, make-up artists, a DJ, a cake and decorations.

“It was our decision to postpone this time as we had originally invited around 120 people to the first wedding date,” said Emma.

“We were monitoring what was happening and first it was 6 guests, then 15 guests and we thought if we were going to do it, we wanted to do it properly. So we decided to postpone.

“Sadly, Tom’s Grandad also died in the August and we wanted to focus on that. He was going to be Tom’s best man.”

The couple planned to get married again on March 27 this year.

“Again, everything was booked and when it was announced we were going into national lockdown again in January, we just thought: oh no, here we go again,” said Emma. “By this time, we were getting used to it.”

Restrictions mean venues are still only allowed to host 15 people until May 17.

“We feel for all these people having been through it ourselves,” said Emma. “To make matters worse, I was made redundant as manager of Dorothy Perkins and Burtons at the beginning of the year, and Tom hasn’t been able to work as a driving instructor.

“But we are happy together, have learned to live with it and just hoping things will be better. When we get married on March 19 next year, it will also be our 11th anniversary of being together. We’re really looking forward to it.”

Have you had your wedding plans affected by Covid or pandemic restrictions? Then email news@buryfreepress.co.uk to tell us your story.

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