Wedding bells were replaced with the sounds of a truck air horn on Saturday 8th May, when Sarah Hunter, activities coordinator at Finney House Care Residence run by L & M Healthcare in Preston, married her Fiancé and truck driver, Dave Thomas.
Keen to ensure that her residents were able to see her resplendent in her wedding dress, she arranged to pop round from the Rose Suite at Preston Registry Office, to Finney House immediately after her ceremony.
Her arrival caused quite a stir as her wedding car was a fabulous Peterbilt bonneted tractor unit, belonging to Paul Fox (Dave’s Boss who runs Fox Brothers transport).
What they didn’t know was that fellow activities coordinators, Jen Stutter and Lisa Kimble, had been planning a little surprise - pulling out all the stops to make this a day to remember both for Sarah and for the residents.
Finney House’s reception area was transformed into a pop-up wedding party venue (Covid restrictions observed of course) complete with decorations, afternoon tea, sugared almond favours, wedding gifts, Bucks Fizz and even a wedding cake.
Residents had even made their own fascinators in the days building up to it!
‘We were both shocked and amazed,’ said Sarah, who added, ‘I couldn’t believe the amount of trouble everyone had gone to.
One of our residents cried tears of joy when she saw me. I would have loved to have had them all at my wedding ceremony, but this really was the next best thing. It really helped to make this a magical day to remember.’
The new Mr & Mrs Thomas have made their home in Great Eccleston and plan to honeymoon in Krakow once travel restrictions have been lifted.
They would like to thank everyone at Finney House for their special surprise and Paul Fox at ‘Fox Brothers’ for the generous use of their ‘wedding car’.
Thank you L & M Healthcare for sharing your wonderful stories #captaintom100
This blog is a contribution towards my 100 positive care home stories for my Captain Tom 100 challenge.
Please click here if you would like to contribute your care home story too.
Special thanks to Louise at The Brand Sculptor for supporting my Captain Tom 100 Challenge.
