Coronavirus: Plymouth couple postpone Italy wedding By Hayley Westcott

BBC News Published duration 11 March Related Topics Coronavirus pandemic

image copyright KATIE RAWLINGS image caption Katie Rawlings, 37, and Lee Rymell, 38, had hoped 40 guests would join them for the wedding at Lake Como

A bride-to-be says she is "devastated" at having to postpone her wedding in Italy due to coronavirus fears.

Katie Rawlings and Lee Rymell were set to marry at Lake Como on 29 May.

But after emergency coronavirus measures , including travel restrictions and a ban on public gatherings, were extended to the entire country, the Plymouth couple decided to postpone it.

"We'd been keeping an eye on it, getting more nervous, but last weekend we made the call," Ms Rawlings said.

The couple, who had 40 guests due to fly out with them, had been planning the wedding for a year but took the decision because of "all the uncertainty".

"We've been thinking 'do we hang on and see if the quarantine period is extended? Or do we bite the bullet now?'," Ms Rawlings said.

"We figured with this lockdown and my gut feeling of the impending lockdown of the UK, it's just too risky."

The couple is unable to cancel the wedding and get a refund because the quarantine period in Italy at the moment is only until 3 April, so there is a chance the wedding could have gone ahead.

Ms Rawling said they were now "in limbo".

"We've put down quite a sizeable deposit with the hotel so we're hoping to be able to transfer that date but of course we don't know when that will be," she says.

image copyright KATIE RAWLINGS image caption The couple has already visited the venue in the small town of Varenna to prepare for the big day

The couple had planned "hair and make-up, flowers, everything".

"I think the most disappointing thing is we've just been so excited about it," Ms Rawlings said.

"To impact this as well, we've booked and paid for our honeymoon to the Maldives on 1 June, so we're just waiting to see where we stand there.

"It could be that we go on our honeymoon without actually getting married.

'We were so near'

Ms Rawlings said while she was "completely devastated and just so disappointed" she felt for her guests as well.

"Everyone has been absolutely lovely but we're very aware people have spent hard-earned money to get to our wedding and the likelihood is they will lose out.

"We were so near yet so far."