A couple have been left out of pocket after being forced to ditch almost a hundred Kinder Surprise eggs bought for their Easter wedding because of salmonella fears .
Chocolate company Ferrero has recalled many of its Kinder Surprise and Kinder Eggs after a salmonella outbreak at the factory that makes them.
More than 60 people have contracted salmonella from the firm's chocolates.
Lisa Nash, 51, and partner Steve Lousvet, 56, are getting married on April 16 and planned to give all their guests a Kinder Surprise as a wedding favour.
The pair spent £66 purchasing 33 boxes from supermarkets for their Easter-themed wedding as a tribute to Steve's late mum, who loved the chocolate eggs with toys inside.
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But they have now been left with stacks of inedible chocolate after Ferrero recalled thousands of the eggs.
The couple have now asked for an apology from the company for the "distress" caused after their wedding plans were affected by the recall.
Lisa, of Droitwich, Worcestershire, said: "I have been very stressed worrying about how to solve this.
"I have nothing. The wedding is on April 16 and this weekend was meant to be about baking the cake, not scouting around for eggs.
"We now have the added expense last minute of replacing them, not knowing what to do with them and the inconvenience that most shops have sold out of things.
"We have now got 24 bags of Cadbury mini eggs but that doesn't have the same connection to Steve's mum, which was the whole point.
"The instruction from Kinder is to email them, but then you don't get any response beyond the auto reply. So, I don't know what to do next.
"Its about the fact that this was done for a very specific reason. We have ways of representing family. Now that's gone. We've lost what represented his mum."
The couple, who have been together 10 years, are due to get married at the Jinney Ring Craft Centre, near Bromsgrove in Worcestershire.
The Kinder Surprise eggs favours were to be a tribute to Steve's mother Hillary, who died from cancer in 2004 aged 61.
But Ferrero has recalled all Kinder products manufactured at their Arlon site in Belgium between June and the present date due to a salmonella outbreak.
Lisa, an office manager, added: "We chose Kinder Surprise eggs as they fitted the Easter theme and because the groom's late mother loved them.
"When he was young, the price of entry to his house was a Kinder egg for his mum, so this was a way of paying tribute to her even though she cannot be there.
"It started as a joke with his friends, bringing her an egg to come to lunch, but it continued and brought her happiness in her final days, which is why its such a special memory for Steve."
The couple are also asking guests to bring Easter eggs, which they will deliver to staff at Worcestershire Royal Hospital the following day.
This is because Lisa spent Easter 2020 at the hospital, as she battled with Covid for eight days.
