A WOMAN whose wedding was cancelled due to coronavirus restrictions still marked the day in her own way-- and plans to raise money for much-needed Personal Protective Equipment at the same time.
Donna Savage, a coastguard volunteer from Youghal in County Cork, was due to be married to her partner-- also a front line worker-- last Friday, but current restrictions due to coronavirus means the big day was called off.
Wanting to mark the occasion however, Donna, who lives behind the church, got dressed up in her gown and took it for a spin around the church car park on a gloriously sunny day-- weather which, ironically, would have been perfect for a wedding.
"I texted my sister and said 'I am going to go up to the church in my wedding dress'", she told Cork's 96FM.
"When I arrived up there at 3pm she was standing up there with my two other bridesmaids keeping their distance. People were stopping taking pictures. People were saying we put a smile on their faces."
A video of Donna's almost-wedding day made it to video sharing site TikTok, which shows the bride-to-be twirling around the car park to the song 'Chapel of Love' by the Dixie Chicks.
GOING TO THE CHAPEL - This is Donna Savage’s “wedding video”. The Youghal bride-to-be was due to get married last Friday so she decided to have a twirl around the church carpark in her wedding dress instead! She will now sell the dress to buy PPE equipment for the hospitals. pic.twitter.com/6a59F5h5IX
— Neil Prendeville (@NeilRedFM) April 27, 2020
Now that the dress has had its big day out, and with the wedding postponed for at least another year, Donna decided against keeping the size 12 dress as she had lost too much weight and didn't want to damage the dress by taking it in too much.
Speaking to local radio show Cork's 96 FM, Donna explained to PJ Coogan of the Opinion Line that she has instead decided to auction off the dress, worth €3,500, in order to buy and donate PPE to front line staff fighting against the coronavirus.
She told the Opinion Line:
""I have decided it to donate it or to give it a frontline worker. The veil that matches it is stunning, the tags are on the veil and on the dress. It's worth about €3,500. I would love some ideas on what to do with it."
Anyone interested in buying the dress-- a size 12 made from Carrickmacross lace-- to raise funds for the front line heroes fighting coronavirus in Ireland can contact [email protected].
