Coronavirus: Woman loses out on dream wedding due to lockdown after 13-year wait

A couple who were set to tie the knot after a 13-year wait have been forced to cancel their wedding due to coronavirus.

Claire Leatherland and Carl Briggs' nuptials were set for April and had already planned every detail of their wedding, including the venue and bridesmaids dresses.

Carl finally popped the question to Claire on her 40th birthday after over a decade together.

Claire told LincolnshireLive : “There is a fear that when we do eventually get married, the dresses we bought won’t fit.

"Our daughter is nine so she would have grown out of hers by the time we can rearrange.

They now face losing money as a result of the cancellation (Lincolnshire Live WS)

“We had booked our honeymoon as a holiday in 2018, through Thomas Cook which we initially lost when they collapsed. 

“It was a relief when they were taken over, however now we’ve now lost it again due to coronavirus, so now we’re waiting in limbo to see what happens.

“Each day that passed I was watching the news, just hoping. We got the first phone call asking me to collect my dress, then the bridesmaid dresses and then eventually everything was postponed.

“Thankfully, the venue and many of the things we had booked were able to be postponed or pushed back.

The bridesmaids' dresses had already been chosen (Lincolnshire Live WS)

“It’s just we’ve waited for so long, and you think it will be the one day in your life that nothing could change that’s all yours and it’s all fallen apart.

“We have good days and bad days, we hear the songs we chose for our wedding on the radio and it’s hard.

“It will eventually happen, it’s just for someone of my age, getting married for the first time is special and we’ve waited so long. I was so excited, it was a dream come true.”

Claire says they are hoping to set another date, but are facing an uncertain future.

She said: “At the moment no one knows what’s going to happen, it could be months.

“The Best Western West Retford hotel has been brilliant, everyone has said they’ll move the dates, but it’s the uncertainty, it’s horrible.

“We’ve hit bad luck consistently. At this moment, we are finally ready to tie the knot and can actually afford to for the first time, and everything is against us.”