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Wales Online
Wales Online
National
Nathan Bevan

Couple's Storm Eunice wedding powercut sees them walk down the aisle by candlelight as kitchen can't cook banquet and beer pumps stop working

A couple ended up getting married during Storm Eunice after their original wedding plans got cancelled due to Covid.

Becca Hunt and Tom Moses from Merthyr Tydfil had originally planned to get hitched back in November 2020 but both tested positive for coronavirus 24 hours before their big day.

So instead they settled on last Friday (February 18) as a replacement date - not knowing that would place them in the path of the worst weather front the UK had seen in three decades, just as it was due to make landfall.

Read more: Bride stages entire fake wedding so she can propose to the best man

Much of Wales ended up being lashed by gusts of up to 100mph as a rare red alert was issued by the Met Office, meaning the power at the venue failed just as the pair were about to walk up the aisle.

The outage further threw the ceremony into chaos by rendering the kitchens at the Grade II-listed Fairyhill on Gower in Swansea unable to prepare any food, while the WiFi went down and the beer pumps at the bar also stopped working.

"The funny thing is that when we first booked Fairyhill three years ago there was a similar bad storm raging - I think it was when Ystalfera flooded," said Becca, 26, who's a pharmacy technician at Newport's Royal Gwent Hospital.

"I was working on a coronavirus ward back then and me and Tom, a 29-year-old tree surgeon, both ended up testing positive with the virus the day before we were meant to tie the knot."

So to say they were looking forward to this weekend is an understatement.

"To be honest, I'd been so caught up in the organisational side of things that I hadn't really been watching the TV for any storm warnings," added Becca.

"But when one of my bridesmaids, who's a teacher, turned up the night before and told me that schools were being closed all over Wales, I realised we might something might be up."

The couple had meant to marry in 2020 but both contracted coronavirus on the eve of the wedding (marcsmithphotography.com)

Then, at 11am, the venue's water and power was hit, causing a mad scramble amongst staff to get the situation rectified as soon as possible.

"The only thing that wasn't affected was the wedding music because, luckily, we'd booked a harpist for the event," laughed Becca.

"We couldn't even let people go outside to take photos because there were branches dropping from the trees everywhere you looked."

However, Eunice did at least grant the newlyweds an hour's respite - long enough for them to pop to nearby Rhossili and get some official wedding snaps done.

The couple then eventually walked down the aisle by candlelight, while the food for the reception had to be cooked five miles away at the hotel's sister venue Oldwalls Gower, before being shipped across.

By which time a local had lent Fairyhill staff his generator and the power was finally turned back on.

"Up until that point the tills had all been down, so everyone had been enjoying a free bar," said Becca.

"They were all absolutely buzzing by the time the speeches came round."

Hannah Jones, assistant manager at Fairyhill, said: "Our aim is to pull out all the stops to give our couples the day they dream about.

"Our team are second to none and work effortlessly to ensure the day runs smoothly and to plan, with minimum disruption.

"The show must go on."

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