We all know planning a wedding during a pandemic is hard, but what happens when you only have one week to get everything in order? Meet Yvonne and Reuben who pulled of a last-minute wedding against all odds.
Despite being in a global pandemic, Yvonne and Reuben Woodruff finally tied the knot in Dublin Registry Office after four years of long-distance across the UK and the US.
They first met when they were both living in London, but after just two dates Reuben had to move back to America.
Despite the distance, the pair kept in touch and two years later Yvonne took a leap of faith and went to visit Reuben in United States, which is where he popped the question.
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“Just as lockdown was starting, I was over in America with Reuben and we planned to go on a road trip to Sante Fe in New Mexico, but everything was closing so we did a hike to a remote warm springs and that’s where I said ‘YES’,” Yvonne shares.
After just getting engaged, it was 9 months before Reuben could give Yvonne his great-grandmother’s engagement ring and finally be with his fiancé again.
Being originally from Dublin, Yvonne wanted to get married in her hometown, so they quickly flew over to self-isolate together and had to get married just one week later.
“Everything was so last minute because with Brexit we had to get married before the end of the year in December to be able to be in the same country,” Yvonne explains.
“It was so difficult getting the paperwork we needed and we ended up right down to the wire with it arriving just 4 days before we had to meet with the registrar.”
Clearly time was not on their side and as if that wasn’t stressful enough, Yvonne had to buy three different dresses before she found the one.
“I bought my first dress in England and it was in alterations in Sheffield so I couldn’t go back, so I bought another dress online but had to go suit shopping before it arrived which ended up in the suit not matching the dress!” Yvonne shares.
As the saying goes, third times a charm, and Yvonne finally got her hands on a stunning gold sparkly number from Folkster in Dundrum.
Regardless of all the complications, Yvonne and Reuben managed to create the perfect intimate wedding and are now both finally living together in North Lincolnshire.
“We were able to invite 6 guests in the end which we were so pleased with because at one point we thought it would just be us two,” Yvonne says.
“We didn’t really think we could get a reception venue, but I started looking around Dublin for places that could take us and that’s when we found The Lucky Duck!”
“We convinced them to let us have our reception there last minute and they actually opened up early for us and we had a lovely evening dinner there with my family.”
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Yvonne and Rueben’s favourite part of the day was getting their wedding photographs taken by Nina Val Photography, where they had a romantic stroll around Dublin.
“We are so glad we were able to book Nina last minute – she was amazing and we loved wandering around Dublin having a laugh and getting to spend some quality time together, it was really good fun!”
‘We then headed to The Merrion Hotel in Dublin for our mini-moon, where we spoke with Reuben’s parents over Skype and celebrated with champagne and another great meal.’
Although it may have not been the day they originally planned, Yvonne and Reuben have no regrets and are planning to have a bigger celebration with family and friends when life is a little more normal again.
