Kirsty Slone and fiance John Canning, from Paisley, had travelled more than 200 miles for their big day in Cumbria and were looking forward to celebrating with 60 family and friends.
But only 30 minutes before they were due to get married, they were met by the registrar who told them the legal documents that allowed them to marry had gone missing.
John, 47, told the Daily Record: ‘We booked Barrow because Kirsty’s dad came from there and he passed away just years ago so we thought it would be a nice way to remember him.
‘When the registrar arrived and said she couldn’t marry us, I thought she was joking. Then the situation began to sink in.
‘We had 60 guests expecting us to marry and I had to tell my fiancee our ceremony couldn’t go ahead. It was awful. She was devastated.’
The wedding was due to take place on Saturday, June 18, but the couple will now have to rearrange.
John said: ‘The registrar, Louise McKenna, was very apologetic but it was small comfort. Kirsty was devastated. We had been planning our wedding for some time and it was completely ruined.
‘We’re still not husband and wife and our honeymoon is now a holiday we have to take otherwise we’d lose even more money.’
The couple have planned to have an alternative ceremony in Paisley later this month and have asked Cumbria council to pay for it.
The 42-year-old added: ‘Kirsty will wear her wedding dress again and the only people there will be my dad and Kirsty’s mum.
‘The registrar wrote a letter apologising and said, “I hope you are still able to enjoy the moment when you make your vows. It’s a special moment regardless of where you are and who is witnessing.”
‘She may think that but our wedding day was not just the joining of two people, it was the joining of two families and the place of the marriage was important to us because of Kirsty’s father’s connection to the area.
‘It was extremely important we marry in Barrow.’
Cumbria County Council said: ‘We offer our profuse and sincere apologises to Mr Canning and Miss Sloan for the stress and inconvenience caused by their wedding not taking place.
‘We are working to identify suitable compensation and to resolve the matter to their satisfaction.’
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