AN Anglesey couple have agreed for better and for worse as they got married while the country goes into lockdown over the spread of coronavirus.

Len Carter and Carol Clegg had made arrangements to wed at the Valley Hotel on the island in May, however a shadow of doubt had been cast over their special day since the outbreak of Covid-19 in the UK.

With their honeymoon to Mallorca all but cancelled the couple, aged 64 and 57, thought that Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s order for pubs, restaurants and leisure centres to close was the final straw – however it turned out they really were the lucky couple.

Such was their desire to tie the knot that their registrar had spoken with the village hotel near Holyhead which said it could stage the wedding the following day, though there would be a few strings attached.

While family and friends could not be present due to social distancing restrictions, the couple were amazed to find that the ceremony room had been transformed into their planned colour scheme. General manager Jon Craven was even able to play the role of father and best man, as he took Carol down the isle and two members of staff acted as witnesses.

Other hotel staff also gathered outside to witness the couple’s special moment and are now considered “like family”.

Carol, who moved with Len from Hertfordshire to Anglesey for retirement in 2018, said the wedding was a “completely unusual situation” but it could not have gone better.

“We could have delayed the wedding until next year but we wanted to get married as soon as possible,” she said.

“It would have been much nicer if celebrated with friends and family and usually to not have your nearest and dearest with you would feel like disaster, but these aren’t normal times.

“We had watched Boris Johnson’s presentation and he ordered the closure of pubs, clubs and restaurants and we thought it was not going happen.

“Our registrar said that one option was get married straight away at the Valley because that is where we were registered

“The staff were brilliant and went above and beyond to make it special. Our only expectation was a room with two witnesses and registrar, but they dressed the room in colours right and even organised a bouquet for me and a buttonhole for Len and threw confetti when we left.

“We felt particularly grateful as it has been such a bad time for these people but they focused on making it our special day.”

Carol said she and Len will stage another ceremony at the venue next year when family and friends can attend, and they will likely rebook their honeymoon around that time.

Christina Thackray, event manager at Valley Hotel, said: “Their wedding was booked a year ago but due to the whole coronavirus situation it had been cancelled and churches have closed too.

“They really wanted to get married and while they weren’t allowed guests they felt it was a perfect intimate ceremony and could not be happier.”

“Congratulations to Mr and Mrs Carter,” she added.