Five brides whose 2020 weddings were postponed say 'I do' to virtual wedding celebration at work

Alexander Grace Law said ‘I do' to a company-wide wedding day celebration for Jasmine Baker, Danielle Burnie, Kerry Gudgeon, Laura Wilson and Jessica Turton to lift their spirits.

The celebrations ran across the solicitors’ three offices in Blackpool, Lytham and Hapton, and saw the teams dressed up in their finery for the occasion.

Donnamarie Sturrock, co-founder of Alexander Grace Law, said: “2020 keeps throwing curve balls at us all and we really felt sad for our five brides-to-be who had no choice but to

postpone their big day.

“I personally wanted to do something because as the boss of over 100 female staff, I felt we needed to give the brides something to look forward to until their actual weddings next year.

"So, we decided on a Big Alexander Grace Wedding – socially distanced of course!”

The day started out with a speech and a song from Michael Quigley, of Kataholos, followed by a prayer from Chartered legal executive Kate Kendall.

The conveyancing and private matters solicitors provided wedding cakes, bridal bouquets, cupcakes, fizz and favours to its 110 strong team and, at lunchtime, everyone was invited to join

a virtual ceremony featuring videos of family, friends and colleagues.

In the afternoon, each bride and their colleagues stepped outside for the traditional bouquet throwing.

Laura Wilson, a solicitor at the company’s Blackpool office, was due to marry partner Jamie Silver on March 28, but the couple have a new wedding date set for August 29 next year - and

a new addition on the way.

She said: “We got to a week before the wedding day before we had to postpone, so the lead up to that was absolutely awful.

“I have honestly never felt stress like it, I was constantly waking up thinking ‘is today the day it gets cancelled’? In fact, when it did get cancelled, it was like a weight had been lifted.

“I was so excited for the AGL wedding day – it was a brilliant idea and we really needed it to lift our spirits.

“Yet the best bit for me is Jamie and I will have a little addition to the wedding in August – I’m pregnant! Our little boy is due in January. So, I guess everything does happen for a reason!”

And Jess Turton, solicitor at Alexander Grace Law’s Lytham office, was due to marry partner Danny Penswick on September 18 and has reorganised it for the same date in 2021 next year.

She said: “I was absolutely devastated when we had to make the difficult decisions to cancel our wedding when Croatia was added to the quarantine list 3 weeks before the wedding date.

“It’s nice that we can put a positive spin on what has been a very tough year for people for lots of different reasons.”

Every person participating was asked to donate £5 to the Boot out Breast Cancer, of which Alexander Grace Law’s Lytham receptionist Debbie Dowie is co-founder and for every pound

donated the company matched it. The total was £1,300.