WHEN Woking couple Bianca and Mark decided to visit Bianca’s great-grandmother in her care home, little did they realise that just a week later they would be celebrating their wedding day.
Seeing Margaret Rapley, who is approaching 100 and under end of life care at Kingsleigh in Old Woking, gave Bianca Suarez and Mark Rodgers the push they needed to tie the knot after a 12-year engagement.
Bianca’s sister, local business leader Dueyna Chinere, was closely involved in the lightning preparations, and explained the speed with which the big day came together.
“Our great nan has dementia and sadly the doctor has told us her body is starting to shut down, so time is getting shorter,” Dueyna said.
“She is still sharp in the moment, though, and she’d said when she saw them how much she wished that she could go to their wedding.
“Well, then it was, ‘That’s it, we have to do it, we have to have a wedding’. Family, friends and the community rallied round to help, and Kingsleigh kindly let us stage the celebration there so nan could give Bianca away. It was an incredibly emotional moment.
“The staff at Kingsleigh were amazing, rallying round, getting everything ready to make the day perfect. One staff member even made the cake! They also bought a beautiful gift for nan to give to Bianca to wear.
“Bianca and Mark saw nan on Friday, and by the following Friday they were married. That was including missing days for the bank holiday!
“Bianca was dashing round trying on wedding dresses until she found one supplied by Woking & Sam Beare Hospice warehouse, there were flowers from Floral Alchemy, chairs from Meadow Sports and chair covers from Ether Events.
“So many individuals helped by providing chairs, decorations, food, gazebos, even a marquee!
‘‘Bianca found the dress on Tuesday, the marquee went up on Wednesday, the decorations were done on Thursday and Friday was the big day. So less than a week, really.
“We contacted Guildford Register Office, who told us just to go ahead and treat the day as though they were married, and to come in afterwards for the regulations to be observed.”
Bianca and Mark, who were both brought up in Woking, have known each other since they were teenagers. Despite their lengthy engagement, they had never been able to organise a wedding, as there always seemed to be greater demands on their time and money.
They have two children, 12-year-old Chloe and Liam, nine.
“It was the most wonderful day of my life,” said Bianca, who had worked at Kingsleigh so knew how well they would all be treated.
“It was a whirlwind of a week and I was so overwhelmed and extremely grateful for all the support we received to help it come together. I knew that Kingsleigh would take care of nan but going to these lengths was beyond my wildest dreams.”
Mark added: “It was an amazing day and super special that nan was able to be at our wedding. I’m so grateful to everyone that supported us to make it happen.”
A spokesman for Kingsleigh said: “It was a privilege for all of us at Kingsleigh to be part of such a special day. Making dreams come true is the reason we love working at our amazing home.”
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