A COUPLE in York, who had been planning their wedding for around 18 months, chose to go ahead with it despite current measures set in place.

Andrew Allcorn and Emily Garcia chose to go ahead with their wedding at the St Michael le Belfrey church near York Minster on Saturday.

Despite the current measures set in place by the Church of England after the coronavirus outbreak, the couple were determined to get married on their set date, which they booked in autumn last year.

The measures from the Church of England state that no more than five people can be in a church during a wedding service.

This includes the bride, groom, vicar and two witnesses.

Andrew and Emily were so keen to go through with the wedding on Saturday as Emily’s family had flown over from America for the occasion.

Her family had flown from areas in the US including Los Angeles, where Emily, 30, originates from, and Massachusetts.

Andrew, 35, said: “This was our one chance to get married with everyone together. We might not get this chance again.

“We knew we had to do it now, no matter how sterile we needed to keep.

“We have just tried to take everything on the chin.

“We knew we had to do it now, no matter how sterile we needed to keep it.

“We’ve known each other 10 years and I can’t believe this is the weekend we managed to pick.”

On the day of the ceremony, the couple said that the church were “very accommodating,” despite the rules set in place.

The family and friends of Andrew and Emily stood on public ground outside the church doorway as the couple were married.

However, the church allowed for the doors to be open during the service so they could observe from a safe distance as Emily’s dad walked her down the aisle.

A lot of the people that were originally invited to the wedding were unable to attend due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Therefore, those in attendance streamed the service live on social media for people unable to be there.

Afterwards, they had a small reception at the York Pavillion Best Western Hotel based in Fulford.

Andrew said: “We managed to have an amazing day anyway, and doesn’t everyone want a memorable wedding?”