Nice day for a white wedding

Gareth Hughes and Melanie Hughes at the Talking Point, Scouthead

IT was all-white on the night for a pair of newly weds whose big day was almost ruined by the Arctic blast.

Melanie and Gareth Hughes tied the knot on Saturday against a backdrop of frosted Pennines, but not before a few touch-and-go situations which might have left them remembering the day for all the wrong reasons.

Melanie (30), who wed her sweetheart Gareth at the Talking Point Exhibition Centre, Scouthead, said: “Planning the wedding for the end of March, we certainly hadn’t considered that the weather would be like it was. When we saw the forecasts we thought it might be cold, but didn’t expect a full-on blizzard.”

The chaos started when Melanie’s hair and beauty stylist was massively delayed, leading to fears she’d have to do all the work herself. Then, the panic set in.

Melanie said: “My wedding car was actually a VW camper van with rear-wheel drive. When we tried getting up to Scouthead via Platting Road, the wheels started to spin and we were sliding all over the place, so had to take a massive detour down through Lees and then up Huddersfield Road.”

Melanie arrived in one piece, but the Humanist celebrant leading the ceremony hadn’t had such a sheltered journey.

Melanie said: “Our celebrant Hannah had to travel from Marsden to Scouthead, and she actually ended up hiking across the tops to make it there. She made a real effort.”

From then on, things started to improve and Melanie and Gareth shared their vows in front of their loved ones before celebrating into the night.
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