A young couple celebrated their wedding a second time just months after the first - because they were adamant that the bride's gran wouldn't miss out just because she has dementia.
Low Fell pair Hannah and Jay Harris were married at Brinkburn Priory in Northumberland. However, Hannah's gran Liz Jobey, 86, was unable to attend in August due to the complications of her condition.
So, to ensure Liz was able to see her eldest grandchild in her white dress, the family got themselves glammed up and shared a very special wedding moment at Eothen Homes' dementia care home in Wallsend where she lives. Along with Hannah and Jay, family - including the bride's sister and chief bridesmaid Esme and parents Elaine and Steve - put on their finery and celebrated the happy couple once again.
Wedding outfits were dry-cleaned, mother-of-the-bride Elaine created a second set of flower bouquets, and aunt Ruth helped Liz herself look fabulous for the special occasion. Afterwards, Hannah - a teacher - said: "I always wanted my gran to be part of our wedding and doing it this way, she could be involved in a way that meant she felt at home but still in a special way. I really treasure the pictures and videos from the day with her.
"I really wished she could have been there on the actual day and I wasn’t exactly sure how the day at Eothen would look, but in the end I was so pleased that we had chosen to do it this way. My gran was so relaxed and happy and that was so important to all of us. She kept holding my hand, not letting go, and looking at my dress!"
Hannah, 29, said she had been grateful for Eothen for allowing the family to pull out all the stops, include Liz in the celebrations and make heartwarming memories.
The bride's dad Steve, from North Shields, explained how it had been incredibly tough that Liz - his own mum - had been unable to attend the wedding last year. However, he said that finding such a creative decision had been magic.
Steve said: "We didn’t mention to mum in the interim period that Hannah had got married as we didn’t want to upset or confuse her. We debated about to what extent should we go to try to replicate it, but a lot of it would have gone over her head if we had done too much, so we just recreated parts of it.
"On the day itself, my sister Ruth went and got her ready and then Hannah and Jay came in dressed to the nines. They told her got they married and had come to see her. When Hannah came in my mum was absolutely thrilled to bits, it was like a light was switched on. It was lovely to see.
“When Hannah went across to her mum grabbed her hand and said ‘you look absolutely beautiful’. It made me so happy we had done it as we had. That moment made us realise we had made the right decision. She was in comfortable environment and able to take on board that it was her granddaughter in her wedding dress. It was absolutely magical."
Eothen runs two homes in Whitley Bay and Gosforth in addition to that in Wallsend - and was recently named among the UK's top 20 small care home providers. Manager Christine Henderson said: "Steve was concerned about Liz leaving to go to the wedding, and asked if there was anything the family could do here. I said of course we’d be happy to do whatever they wanted.
“They decided we would have a little reception with fizz and everyone would get dressed up, including Liz, so she felt part of the day really. She absolutely knew who they were and why it was happening. She knew it was a wedding, and that her granddaughter was the bride. She had a very lucid moment where it was very real for her, she got quite emotional about it."
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