Groom has a close shave on his wedding day

Stephen Clarke committed in more ways than one on his wedding day, when he allowed his new wife, Victoria to shave off all his hair during the speeches.

Steve from Colchester, tied the knot to Victoria from Blackwood, at Fairyhill earlier this month with an Idyllic ceremony in our K Room (An iconic glass reception space attached to the 300-year-old, Grade II listed property)

Steve Said: “My dad was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2000. Before his diagnosis he frequently gave blood and when this was no longer an option, he started to raise money for charities instead. He volunteered for door-to-door donations, shaved his head at a fundraiser and sailed around the Isle of Wight raising thousands for Parkinson’s UK in the process. He was later diagnosed with Dementia and was unfortunately too ill to come to the wedding.”

Newlywed Victoria said: “We wanted to do something to honour Steve’s dad and raise money in the process, my husband is very precious of his hair, as you will see from the earlier wedding photos! So, I suggested the ultimate sacrifice would be to shave it off – on his wedding day!”

A week before the wedding, Steve and Victoria had a scare when the hospital called and said they needed to visit Steve’s dad. The went to say their goodbyes but Dad pulled through and is now back in his care home.

Victoria continued: “A wedding is one of the most emotional days of your life, but it was even more poignant for us as we’d had such a turbulent week. However, Fairyhill was absolutely magical and everything about the day was perfect, albeit bittersweet as Steve’s dad couldn’t be with us. We’d like to thank Uncle Brian for representing Steve’s dad on the day and joining us on the top table.”

All 63,of Steve and Victoria’s closest family and friends were not aware that Steve was going to get a ‘skin head’ on his wedding day and it raised a few laughs, as well as over £1,500 in donations from their wedding guests and wider circle via Just Giving. The fund was topped up by the Fairyhill team when they learnt of the campaign.

Steve said: “The team at Fairyhill were amazing on the day and it was lovely when they got in touch after the wedding to wish us congratulations and to say they wanted to learn more about our story and cause. The kind donation of £500 from our wedding venue is truly appreciated and means we’ve now met our £2,000 fundraising target. Hopefully we can go on to exceed it.”

To donate visit: Steve Clarke is fundraising for Parkinson’s UK (justgiving.com)