It was meant to be the happiest day of their lives. But an early morning phone call on Friday, June 17, threatened to turn a fairytale into a nightmare for Lowri Jones and her husband-to-be Mark Bernard.
The Dunvant, Swansea, couple's wedding day had finally arrived, and they were due to tie the knot at Ocean View in Gower. That was until a large fire at the Llanrhidian venue threw the whole day into jeopardy. But, like all fairytales, for the couple at least, this story had a happy ending.
Lowri was staying at one of her parents' houses when she received a call breaking the news of the incident. The fire broke out at Ocean View at 5.27am and six fire appliances were sent to tackle the blaze, which started at 5.27am. The public were warned to avoid the area and local residents were told to keep their doors and windows closed. An investigation is currently underway into the cause of the fire. You can read more about that by clicking here.
Lowri could not get hold of Mark, as they followed the tradition of staying apart the night before their wedding, so she had to go and see him in person to break the news to him herself.
The situation looked bleak, and the couple had virtually resigned themselves to the fact they would not be getting married that day. That was until Lowri's make-up artist, Farhana Ali, who turned up ready to glam the 34-year-old up for her big day, put her contacts to good use. Farhana explained: "I could see them panicking. As I went into the house I could see Lowri crying. I gave her a hug and I held her hand.
"I knew Oldwalls was free today and so I went with my gut and made some calls. I told the bridesmaids not to tell Lowri until I could confirm the wedding could be at Oldwalls. After 15 minutes or so it was confirmed that it could be done. As a make-up artist, time is everything, so instead of getting everyone ready in four hours, I managed to get the bride and mum and bridesmaids ready in two and a half hours." You can get more Swansea news and other story updates by subscribing to our newsletters here.
Meanwhile, at Oldwalls, senior management team member Lauren Hole and her team of 60 staff, who were meant to be having a day off but volunteered to come in and work, immersed themselves in the task of getting everything prepared for the happy couple's arrival. Lauren said: "Farhana called me up at 6.30am this morning and told me she was with the bride and asked if there was any way we could do something. A few years ago we went through a fire ourselves so knew what that situation was like. The first thing I did was get up and phone around our family to see what we can do. We didn't have a wedding here today. I have to say a massive thank you to Jack, Shannon, and Hannah from Fairyhill who were the first I phoned and helped. We could not have done this without our team. The chefs arrived at 7am and stuck to the same hog roast menu that they had planned at Ocean View." You can read more stories about Swansea here.
The guests arrived slowly, but surely, and among them were Lowri's mum and dad, Gareth Jones and Diane Jones. Gareth explained: "Everyone was distraught. We cannot emphasise our gratitude for what Oldwalls has done. To having nothing, to having all of this, is just incredible." Diane added: "When we were getting ready and the phone call came, the look on Lowri's face, it was almost as if someone had died. When we heard about the fire at the venue, we could not believe it."
Outside the venue, there were cheers as groom, Mark, turned up. Still wearing a t-shirt and sunglasses and holding his wedding suit in hand, it was clear how last minute everything was. He told us on the way in: "At 7am this morning it was all off. It was a feeling of great sadness. I woke up and had breakfast and I had a call to say the place had burnt down. From that moment it was off. Within an hour phone calls were flying everywhere and all of a sudden we were going to Oldwalls. We’ve been set up in a great venue, they’ve got us here and pulled off something amazing. Let’s get this wedding on!" Read here about the couple who missed their £4,000 honeymoon after they switched to a 2am flight without warning.
About 20 minutes later, Lowri arrived. As the car pulled up, she wound down her window and said the simple words: "Thank you so much." She wiped away the tears as she told WalesOnline as she entered the venue: "I'm just so blown away by it." The weather could not have been any better. The sun shone down on Oldwalls as guests sat in their seats for the outdoor ceremony.
After a final few hiccups with the PA system which stuttered as it tried to play a Welsh version of 'Falling In Love With You' for the bride's wedding walk, it was finally time for the wedding to go smoothly. The pair wed under an archway in a beautiful ceremony surrounded by their family and friends, before Ed Sheeran's 'Perfect' played out of the speakers.
The new Mrs Bernard's bridesmaids on the day were Jennie Quirk and Hannah Edmonds, together with Mark's daughters, Aynsley and Grace. Jennie and Hannah said: "When the news came through this morning, our first thought was that Mark had paid someone to play a sick joke! The amazing thing about this is the amount of people who have come together to make this day possible. Because there was so much drama, Lowri didn't have time to be nervous. It was such an amazing day. We could not have asked for any more for them."
The happy couple summed up the day after they made their way past a guard of honour throwing confetti over them in celebration. The new Mrs Bernard said: "We're extremely relieved and grateful to Oldwalls. First of all, they don't have to do this, and secondly, to pull it off, it's almost as if the wedding was always here. They have got their family here, not all staff. I can't say enough for how amazing they've been.
"Obviously we're devastated for Ocean View, but again they've been brilliant to bring in registrars, ringing me, they've saved all of our favours, all our decorations - everyone has been marvellous. When I first had a call and I received the news, I was devastated. Mark wasn't answering his phone so I had to go and see him. I said the wedding venue has burnt down. My bridesmaids said, 'Everyone stay calm', but I felt, I just wasn't going to get married today. And then it was like, even if Oldwalls can hold the ceremony it would be massive, but for them to do everything was extra special."
Mark, aged 52, said: "As you can imagine this morning, your emotions were just blown apart. You can't analyse those words straight away (being told of the fire). We're relieved to be man and wife, which we really wanted to do. We were so keen to be married today. It was a beautiful ceremony. Exactly how we saw it actually. It's a story to tell. You can't write stuff like that."
Lowri added: "This was the wedding of my dreams. They've just pulled this off and it has been no issue, it was as if we were always meant to get married here. After what had happened, I said to Mark: 'If you didn't want to marry me, you could have just said - this is a bit extreme!' It's just beautiful. It would have been a lot worse if there wasn't somewhere, but we cannot complain. We are the lucky ones, we've got a place."
The happy couple are now off on a weekend away before spending their honeymoon on a cruise. Lowri pondered: "I don't know, is that bad luck to go on a cruise after all that's happened? Should I avoid water? It's very biblical isn't it." But Mark reassured her: "I think we've had our bad luck now."
