Fifth time lucky for happy couple
St Nics’ first wedding this year as Ben and Laura finally tie the knot
HERE’S something to cheer us all up – St Nicolas’ Church, Newbury, has hosted its first wedding this year.
Ben Corbridge tied the knot with fiancée Laura Davey on Saturday, December 5.
Mr Corbridge, a 32-year-old investment expert for Barclays, said: “We finally succeeded in our fifth attempt to get married in 2020.
“We had previously intended to get married up in my ancestral home in Northumbria and had moved the date back several times with each impending lockdown.
“Finally, and with only a week to go, the whole of Northumbria was declared in Tier 3 and we began to despair.
“It was then that our wonderful local community here in Newbury stepped in.
“We’d like to thank all of the local businesses for stepping in to make a miracle happen – especially impressive, given the time-frame of a week and achieved despite the rest of the challenges that small businesses have had to overcome coming out of lockdown.”
He added: “Rev Will [Hunter Smart] and his team offered to perform our ceremony.
“It was the first ‘Covid compliant’ wedding they had attempted – and they organised it in a matter of days.
“Kata and her team at The Dolphin transformed their restaurant for our Covid-safe reception at the drop of a hat.
“Cakey Bakey’s Carly created us the most beautiful wedding cake in her kitchen.
“Helen from Willow & Bloom not only managed to replicate our original flower design, but managed to get them delivered all over town at precisely the right moments.
“And Luke from Pizza Pilot fed us all across West Fields the night before.
“We were the first wedding that Rev Will had hosted this year, and the first event The Dolphin had attempted with the new regulations.
“We felt safe and looked after throughout and the day was extraordinary.”
The couple, who met in Dubai seven years ago, had to limit the guest list to just 15 people instead of the 90 they had hoped for, but they live-streamed the event online to family and friends who could not be with them physically.
Mr Corbridge said: “The reception from passers-by as we
walked up the main street was so heartening.
“We were watching our community come together over a long-overdue good news story.”
Mr Corbridge and his bride, a veterinary nurse, are currently staying at home in Berkeley Road, but they are planning a honeymoon in January next year, if coronavirus restrictions allow.