A frustrated family has told of how their wedding was nearly "thrown into limbo" after they struggled to get their young daughter's passport renewed in time for the big day.
Vicky Whittingham, 42, and her partner Paul Kelly, 39, are set to get married in Ayia Napa, Cyprus, on May 24 with over 30 guests made up of both family and friends making the trip for the couple's special day.
Unfortunately, the wedding was facing uncertainty as Vicky and Paul's daughter and flower girl Francesca Grace Kelly, five, still hadn't received her passport after applying for renewal back in March, Teesside Live reports.
The Teesside mum, who still has numerous wedding preparation appointments and a final dress before flying out, states that the ordeal almost ruined the run-up to one of the happiest days of her life.
Thankfully, Francesca's passport is now being printed, and will hopefully be with her in time to fly out on May 19.
The 42-year-old said they sent off for a renewal of Francesca's passport back on March 15, and later discovered that her daughter's application had been converted to a paper application.
Vicky and her fiancée Paul, who is from Billingham, have been together for eight years, and this isn't the first time they've had struggles before their wedding day.
Sadly, they've already had to postpone the date twice, due to the covid pandemic. Vicky said that her daughter has "no idea" that they might not make the wedding.
She said: "This is something out of our control - it's something that's happened at their end. I can't tell you how many times we've rung.
"One day we got cut off over 103 times - Paul had a phone log. I eventually got through at about 3pm, and we'd been trying since 9am.
"Out of desperation last week we drove to Durham, where we were told we can apply for an update 14 days from our flight date. We drove back feeling hopeful.
"We got a call back from Durham and they said we couldn't do Fastrack and [they] explained what happened. They asked for additional documents because the father applied - but he has the same surname as Francesca and I haven't.
Vicky said the ordeal left her struggling to enjoy the lead-up to her wedding because of the stress.
She added: "The last two weeks before the wedding we've had loads to do. I should've been enjoying it, but instead, I haven't been able to sleep for two nights. I'm so exhausted from worrying about it.
"Today is the first day I've not been crying about it. My friends have said to just get packed up as if we are going. There are loads of things we still have to do, hair appointments, nail appointments, and my final dress fitting."
In the worst-case scenario, Vicky said her wedding guests would've had to go without her and would just have a holiday.
She added: "Us three just won't be able to go. We wouldn't be able to postpone the wedding, as we have to be in the country four days before the wedding can take place. I've even asked if we'd be able to move the day, but they said it's too short notice. We're just in total limbo."
Vicky said that Francesca's passport renewal was the only way the wedding would go ahead. She added: "I wouldn't get on a plane without her."
A spokeswoman for the HM Passport Office said: “Since April 2021, we have been advising people to allow up to ten weeks when applying for their British passport as more than 5 million people delayed applying due to the pandemic.
"We urge people who need a new passport to apply for one as soon as possible, with the vast majority of all passports applications are being dealt with well within 10 weeks.
“To deal with this demand, we have increased staff numbers by 500 since April 2021. This has helped us to handle more applications than ever before, with more than one million passport applications processed in March 2022.”
After Teesside Live spoke to the HM Passport Office, Vicky got back in touch with positive news that they were finally printing her daughter's passport.
She said: "Colin at the Durham office rang to say it'd been printed out - I've been crying ever since. I'm totally over the moon and have been ringing around everyone. Now we can look forward and start getting stuff done for the wedding."
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