An NHS worker was finally able to enjoy her big day after the pandemic put paid to her plans for a dream wedding in Italy.
Thanks to a luxury hotel chain, front-line worker Rebekah Brown and her fiancee James Smith, who are both from Fife, were finally able to tie the knot in Edinburgh in what was an emotional ceremony.
Working in conjunction with the Operation Recuperation project, the Apex Hotel chain wanted to thank NHS workers for everything they did during the pandemic by offering the chance to still have a dream wedding.
The couple, who were chosen from hundreds of applicants, were finally able to enjoy their big day at the luxury Apex Waterloo Place Hotel in Edinburgh on Saturday, June 11.
Rebekah, who is a Specialist Biomedical Scientist working in the Pathology Department at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee, returned to work at the beginning of the first lockdown after the birth of her second child.
She described the situation of going back to work as "terrifying" at the time and was worried about how to keep her family safe.
Sadly, the pandemic also put paid to any plans for the couple to enjoy their dream wedding in Italy in September 2020.
“The restrictions meant we couldn’t be sure if the wedding would be able to go ahead or not, but we held out for as long as possible hoping that we’d be able to get married," Explained Rebekah. “Eventually we had no choice but to cancel the wedding in June 2020.
"With relatives due to fly in from all over the world it just wasn’t going to work, but we were devastated.”
The now-married couple, who have two children together, have been together for seven years and had been engaged since 2016.
Speaking about the wedding in Edinburgh, James added: "We were desperate to finally tie the knot and share our love for each other with our family and friends. Apex Hotels made our dream wedding a reality and we can’t thank them enough for giving us such a wonderful and memorable day.
"For that day to have been in the city where we had our first date, Edinburgh, made it even more special.”
The luxury hotel chain treated James and Rebekah to a complimentary complete wedding package, including a three-course wedding breakfast, drinks, evening buffet and upgraded wedding night accommodation.
In addition, the couple were gifted other wedding essentials from some of Apex’s trusted suppliers, and the event was captured digitally by Andy Hamilton Photography, flowers provided by Carolyn Designer Florist and the evening party was kept in full swing by Dougie Robertson from Buena Vista.
Piper James A Nicholl made sure the wedding also had the right soundtrack on the big day, while Apex’s own Food & Beverage Projects Manager, Susan Reid specially designed the couple's cake.
Commercial Director at Apex Hotels, Michael Stott, explained that having heard so many stories of sacrifice and hardship from NHS workers doing their utmost to keep us all safe during the pandemic, Apex Hotels wanted to say thank you.
They came up with the idea to give away five dream wedding packages to front-line NHS workers whose lives had been disrupted because of COVID and partnered with Operation Recuperation to make it happen.
Operation Recuperation worked with 20 of the hardest-hit hospital trusts throughout the pandemic and has gifted holidays, overnight stays and experiences to over 1,000 NHS staff and their loved ones.
Mr Stott said: “I can’t imagine what it must have been like for Rebekah, a mother of two very young children, to have to go into work in a hospital every day fearing that she might bring a potentially fatal disease home to her family.
"To then having to cancel her dream wedding in Italy where she and James wanted to declare their love for each other in front of their family and friends. It must have been quite the roller coaster of emotions for the couple for the last two years.
“I am absolutely delighted that, together with some great suppliers, were able to give them a fantastic wedding day to remember. Apex Hotels is a family-owned business and family values are important to us. Rebekah and James truly deserved a wonderful family celebration and we are thrilled to have been able to make it a reality for them.”
Founder of Operation Recuperation, Rachel Sherwood was thrilled the couple were able to finally celebrate their big day in style.
She said: "This is something we have been working on together for some time now and it is wonderful to see it come to fruition.
"A very deserving couple will have lifelong memories of a wonderful day and that is an incredibly special gift to be able to give.”
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