A COUPLE have spoken of their heartbreak after their wedding was postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Katie Gordon-Wilson and Aaron Partridge, both 29, were due to tie the knot on Saturday (March 28) at Hylands Park in Great Baddow.

The couple, who live in Goldingham Drive, Braintree, had been planning their big day ever since they got engaged 12 months ago.

But like many couples across the UK, they were given the dreaded call from their wedding venue to inform them of the postponement after the Government announced all social gatherings and events should be cancelled to stop the spread of Covid-19.

Katie said: "It was awful when we got the phonecall and there were a lot of tears.

"We have been given a new date in November but it's not straightforward because Aaron is in the RAF so we don't know if he will be able to get the time off.

"I'm also due to give birth in August so everything is completely up in the air.

"It has been such a stressful couple of weeks because of the uncertainty, we had no idea if we were coming or going. I was on the phone to my mum every night saying 'what should we do?'.

"I guess in some ways it was easier the decision to postpone it was made for us but we were prepared to do it with just a couple of people.

"I'm desperate to get married before by 30th birthday next year."

The couple's honeymoon to Portugal had already been pushed back six months before they learned their wedding would need to be postponed.

Katie says nearly a third of the 75 guests expected to attend the big day had already been forced to pull out due to restrictions on travel and the threat of contracting coronavirus.

She admits she and her fiancée are looking for the positives from the situation and the new date will at least give key family members the chance to attend.

Katie added: "We are trying to find some silver linings despite the disappointment.

"Aaron's grandparents weren't going to be able to come over for the wedding because they were stuck in Spain.

"I also had friends abroad who said they couldn't make it because of the travel restrictions and we had one guest pull out because they had symptoms of the virus.

"There's nothing anyone can do about it now so we just want to remain positive and hopefully the new date will mean more people can come."