Hayleigh and Scott had several reasons for wanting to keep their September 13th 2020 wedding date; not only is 13 their lucky number, but earlier in the year Hayleigh had some finishing touches added to her sleeve and filled a small gap with the wedding date in roman numerals… a few weeks later the world shut down completely! “I had a bit of a mild panic at the thought of potentially having the wrong date tattooed for life but it would have been a funny story and the crisis was averted by managing to go ahead anyway.”

Once they decided they were going to go ahead with a small ceremony on their date, they wracked their brains for different locations, eventually deciding that as home is their favourite place to be, they knew it could be nowhere else! They were surrounded by their favourite things, they totally stripped everything back down to being who they are – a no frills, metal couple! “We didn’t feel the need for fancy outfits or drinking champagne when we don’t even like it,” the bride explained. “It ended up feeling so much more natural and relaxed.”

They planned everything with about two months to go, spending less than £1,000 in total, and that included adding a pergola and decking in their back garden so they had somewhere for their ceremony! They both wore favourite band tshirts, and ate pizza together the night before the wedding – a surprise delivery from a friend. They toasted with custom designs of their favourite beers and had a custom cake topper made of the pair of them which even incorporated their tattoos. “If we had any theme it was ‘fuck COVID!’ We are in love and there’s nothing you can do about it”

Thee couple picked their humanist celebrant because she carried out their friends wedding the previous year. “We liked Vanessa’s no bullshit, straight to the point style and she got us straight away! She suggested adding a piece to the end of the ceremony where our parents wrote a top tip for marriage or a comment about how we are together as a couple and this was the bit that created the most emotion and tears, including from the celebrant! She also found the perfect reading for us about marrying your best friend and we couldn’t believe just how spot on it was!” 

Hayleigh’s family live in Ohio so couldn’t be there for obvious reasons so they joined in on Skype so they could be involved. “It was so relaxed – sometimes I get so anxious and panicky about things,” Hayleigh told us, “but I have never been so chill in my life! Scott and I found that we weren’t even paying attention to the ceremony as we just stood chatting to each other.”

“Your day will be special to you regardless of with route you go down – whether it’s 200 guests and a huge fairytale wedding or a handful of special people in an intimate setting,” the bride concluded. “As long as you make the day revolve around the things you love, it will be perfect.” We couldn’t agree more!