Any wedding planner worth their salt will tell you that the golden rule for nuptials is this: if something can go wrong at the ceremony, then it will go wrong: and probably at the worst possible time. Maybe the bride will struggle to fit into their dress, maybe the maid of honour has got food poisoning, or the best man has lost the ring.
Maybe the groom will freeze up in front of everyone and forget the words of their vow. Navigating the narrow channels of disaster on what's supposed to be the happiest day of your life is an absolute nightmare, and that's before you take bickering relatives and feuding friends into account.
However, the big thing you want to avoid at a wedding is a serious injury. Nobody wants to spend their special day in hospital, yet unfortunately, it does happen. One person who knows this all too well is jewellery business owner Kirsty Bridges, who ended up toppling over at her wedding to her partner Phil, and accidentally broke both her arms. The couple had their wedding at a cosy wedding at The Hermitage, a country house on the Isle of Wight in the UK, in August 2016, organising the whole event in the space of one week. Kirsty's father had been diagnosed with cancer, and so they rushed to have the wedding quickly so Kirsty's dad could walk his daughter down the aisle.
Tragically, Kirsty's father passed away in September, and Kirsty wanted to have another ceremony with friends to celebrate her quick marriage in the summer. They booked a lavish event to be attended by their many friends. But on the day of the ceremony, things went catastrophically wrong. At first, everything was going perfectly, until a guest accidentally knocked into her and she fell. When her shocked guests realised that she'd broken both arms, she was rushed to St Mary’s Hospital on the outskirts of Newport in her wedding dress, and spent a further six weeks in casts.
Commenting on her unlucky accident in a recent interview, Kirsty stated: "It was a total accident, but I fell awkwardly, going face forward and putting my arms out to stop myself. I landed and shouted out for Phil as I was in pain. I hoped he’d tell me that I was being silly and to get up, but when I saw his face, I knew something was wrong. Everyone was crowding around me looking really panicked. My arm was quite bent and very obviously broken."
She added: "When Phil and I first walked in, in all our finery, everyone was looking at us. I had to go back to the same hospital a few times to attend the fracture clinic, and eventually, it became a notorious story. Staff would see me and say, ‘You’re the one who came in in your wedding gear. They didn’t have any beds that night, though, so they told me I could either wait in A&E or go back to my sister’s house and try and get some sleep. I ended up leaving about 4am, then getting a call around 8am to say it was time to come back."
However, Kirsty is just happy to know be married to Phil, and to know that her dad had a chance to support her before the end. The couple has even jokingly dubbed their wedding anniversary date the "wristiversary." So if you're planning your nuptials and are freaking out about something minor, then just remember that things could be much, much worse.
