What do you do if coronavirus restrictions prevent you inviting all your family and friends to your wedding day?
Well according to Romanée and Sam Rondeau-Smith it’s certainly not change the date and sulk.
The couple, from Bramley in Surrey, asked their guests to send them cardboard cut-outs of themselves instead to join them at their Sussex wedding.
And while the stand-ins might have been a bit one dimensional and short of conversation, they certainly kept smiles on their faces throughout the special day last Friday.
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Romanée, 34, said: “We always knew our wedding would be different, but we didn’t quite expect this.
“The venue staff were so flexible and we ended up having the most perfect day with our immediate family.”
She added: “Although we wanted to celebrate with all our friends and family, having just immediate family was very special.
“Now our first task as a married couple is to spend the next year or so slowly torturing our nearest and dearest with their own cardboard likenesses.”
The couple had booked their wedding at The Bell in the Ticehurst, East Sussex, “pre coronavirus” in January and had intended to invite around 120 guests.
In the end, only 14 attended in person.
“We had 48 cut-outs, which were mostly couples, families and close friends.
“We told everyone we wanted them to attend in the form of cardboard,” said Romanée who lives with Sam, 30.
Weddings were banned when lockdown began on March 23.
Since early July, 30 people were allowed to attend ceremonies, but this included people such as a photographer and the person conducting the ceremony.
There are many other rules surrounding the special gatherings, with receptions at private venues now being allowed as of August 15.
Tessa Stewart, wedding and events manager at The Bell, managed to snap some photos of the cut out guests waiting for the bride.
She told KentLive: “We’re hoping we don’t have to rely on cut-out culture for much longer but we love that our couples are thinking outside the (cardboard) box!”
This content was originally published here.