After making it to the final four, this LGBTQIA couple needs your help to secure their dream day
BY DIVA STAFF, IMAGE BY SARAH AND SIÂN
Your wedding day is supposed to be one of the highlights of your life. A day of joy, support, and a celebration of your love. When Siân proposed to her partner Sarah, she wanted to make sure that they had the best possible wedding.
And that’s where you come in. Sarah and Siân are down to the final four couples in a bid to win a wedding at Oldwalls. Voting closes on Monday, and you can help the happy couple with just one click of a button. To vote, check out https://www.competition.oldwallscollection.com/.
In Sarah’s own words, this is why winning this wedding would change their lives.
“The reality is that we simply can’t afford a wedding. I have several jobs all related to young people (and in particular LGBTQIA young people) and do a whole host of charity and volunteer work. Sian works for the council maintaining supported living accommodations and spends a huge amount of time encouraging and empowering me in all my endeavours!”
“We have four children between us, two of which have been diagnosed additional needs and the other two have their own challenges and needs as well. We have a chaotic and busy home which is filled with love and laughter but the cost of keeping a roof over us and feeding our children is challenging enough at the moment. Sian has done nothing but support me since we met. She is the first partner who I feel actually accepts all of me; even the annoying bits of which there are plenty!”
“Since we’ve been together, we have weathered numerous storms including ill health and broken bones, ongoing challenges with trying to meet the needs of our children, redundancy, navigating my journey with understanding my own neurodiversity, mental health struggles, financial tests, cars breaking down, death of pets, health issues with family members and even a flood in Sian’s house before we moved in together! All of this is on top of the day-to-day dramas and family life whilst juggling all our other commitments.”
“There was a lot that isn’t said in our story on Oldwalls Website. We could never afford a wedding at Oldwalls and in reality if we did have the money we would feel extremely guilty spending it on ourselves but it is our dream venue. We happened to drive past it on the way somewhere else and decided to just have a look, it turns out they were having an open day! There were so many aspects of it that made us fall in love with the venue. We’ve attended a few wedding fairs and so many people jump to heteronormative presumptions asking about Grooms, who was the bride and so forth (even if we are holding hands etc!)”
“We encounter so much homophobia in our day-to-day lives, especially Sarah with the work she does, but Oldwalls felt truly inclusive. We are desperate for our children to be a part of our day as it is their family that is being formalised and they are so important within that, but with their additional needs, this is challenging. Oldwalls had solutions to everything! From finding spaces that were safe away from noise and people, to where they could stay overnight. It really felt like they wanted to help ensure that all six of us get the day we need.”
“I really wish I could give Sian the wedding she deserves but financially it just isn’t possible. She has saved me from myself time and time again since we met and I want nothing more than to stand in front of our children, friends and family and start the next chapter in our adventure together. I once promised Sian that life together would not be boring and it most certainly isn’t but to have one day that is truly ours to celebrate all we have overcome and achieved together would mean everything to us. It would be a culmination of our enduring love and shared journey.”
“Through life’s challenges and triumphs, we have stood by each other’s side, unwavering in our commitment. A wedding that is truly a celebration would symbolise not just the union of two individuals, but a merging of our aspirations, families, and futures. We would love to create a day that not only reflects our love story but also honours the unwavering support of those who have cheered us on too.”
“Being selected as one of the final four couples out of a pool of over 12,000 holds profound significance for us. It’s not only a validation of our love story’s uniqueness but also a testament to the healing power it carries. As the sole LGBTQIA couple in the final, this achievement represents a beacon of hope for both ourselves, other queer couples and in particular young people. It sends a powerful message that acceptance, love, and inclusion truly are possible. We hope our journey inspires young LGBTQIA people to embrace their identities without fear and to believe that acceptance and love await them too.”
“On a personal level, having faced so much homophobia in my life seeing people who haven’t even met us vote for us as well as seeing friends and family members share the links with emotional messages that they have taken the effort and time to write has completely blown me away. With huge issues with self-esteem and not feeling accepted for who I am, although a cliche it might be, I feel like I’ve already won. One day I will be Sian’s wife, one way or another, we have four inspirational children and friends and family who have shown up for us in ways I could never have asked. For that and for the reasons mentioned above, this journey and experience have been completely worth it already.”
Vote now!
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