The Bournemouth couple, who met through an online dating site, had planned to marry on May 25 last year - exactly a year after they first met.

Then last February Damien started feeling unwell but put off seeing a doctor.

Samantha said: "He felt ill for several weeks. I told him to see a doctor as he was seeing stars in his eyes and had blurred vision. The doctor discovered he had very high blood pressure. He was sent for a brain scan and was told he'd had a mini stroke. He's fine now but on medication for life. He'd had no health issues before. It just put everything into perspective and we felt life is too short."

They had planned a big wedding reception at Canford Magna Golf Club for around 80 guests but Damian suggested they bring the wedding forward and keep it simple. So they tied the knot at Bournemouth Registry Office on March 12.

Covid restrictions meant they could only have six guests - Samantha's parents, auntie, her two best friends and Damian's mum. Samantha's children, Connor, 11 and twins, Lilly and Lucas, 4, were unable to attend despite having bought special outfits for the day.

There was no honeymoon abroad as planned but they did spend the night at the Harbour Heights Hotel in Southampton where they were give a free upgrade to a top suite which was fabulous.The wedding dress remains unworn.

Samantha said:"I had a wedding dress and everything sorted out but because it was a registry office we decided to do it very casual. We were still planning to have the wedding reception on the Good Friday and we planned to wear our whole wedding attire then but in the end we had to send a block message to everyone saying we had to postpone it.

A year on the couple have still not been able to have the big celebration and Samantha says: "It's gutting because we never got to have our first dance and celebrate with the people I wanted to. In a way I don't feel like we are married because of that. We will probably do something eventually but we won't book anything right now - not until we are finally out of the lockdowns- maybe on our second wedding anniversary.

"We now hope things will get better. Damien still gets tired easily and forgets things at times. For me it's hard because he says he hardly remembers the day because he was so ill - so I would love to do it again!"

Looking back Samantha says the most stressful part of organising the wedding was "The not knowing whether it would all go ahead and the upset of not being able to have a reception and celebrate with everyone," but she says the best memory was "Saying our vows and being with the people who matter the most."

During this time Samantha also lost her job working at Dorothy Perkins at Castle Point after the business closed.

But on the bright side she has taken the plunge and started a new career she had been considering for a while - as a carer and it's given her a new perspective on life:

"I just started working as a carer a month ago and I see people a lot worse off. I go to people's homes and help with whatever is needed; I help put them to bed and make dinner. I just thought why not give something back. I think Damian being ill did inspire me and I feel I should have done it long ago."