Weddings resumed in England on Monday following a lockdown ban, and two sweethearts that couldn’t wait any longer to tie the knot were a Scotsman and an Australian who have made Stroud their home.
Newlyweds Amanda and Peter Girvan were married at Stroud Register Office and photographed in Stratford Park with their eight-week-old baby, Bear, as soon as restrictions were eased.
The pandemic had delayed their big day for months, but all that was forgotten when they finally exchanged their vows.
“It was fantastic,” said Amanda, 31, who moved from Melbourne to Stroud for a job in publishing.
“It was a bit sad that my family couldn’t have come over and celebrated with us and that we couldn’t have friends there, but it just felt so amazing to finally be marrying this man that I’m completely in love with.”
She and Peter met in a house-share at what was once the Old Swan pub in March 2019.
Even though Amanda thought he was a bit loud at first, she said they quickly became best friends.
Peter, 42, who works for the Brimscombe building firm K Yateman and Sons, took Amanda for their first date at the Bear of Rodborough, and within a week they were talking about getting married.
“We were thinking about getting married straight away,” said Amanda.
It was just that you knew you had met the right person and everything clicked, everything just felt right. So we knew that it was forever.”
“The spark was the conversation really, he was so friendly and we got along really well - he’ll tell everybody that it was me tapping on his door to get him to come out and chat, but I think it was him chasing me.”
After a few months they moved into their own accommodation at the bottom of town and by Christmas Eve of 2020, Peter was down on one knee in front of their Christmas tree asking Amanda to marry him.
He proposed with a ring purchased from J F Hinds in Five Valleys Shopping Centre while their favourite song played in the background.
Above: Love You So Bad by Ezra Furman, Peter and Amanda's favourite song
By that time Amanda was pregnant with their son, Bear, something she never thought was possible.
At 17 she was told she had polycystic ovary syndrome, meaning she was very unlikely to conceive a child even with medical help.
“I’ve been telling myself for 12 years that it wasn’t possible so it was just surreal and the entire pregnancy I didn’t believe it. I kept waiting for something bad to happen.”
“Now I’ve got four step-kids and a baby - I hit the jackpot,” she laughed.
After their summer honeymoon in Brixham (Covid-19 permitting), Amanda and Peter plan to stay in Stroud for a few more years before moving to Australia.
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