Fiance Cancels Wedding 4 Times - Wedding Still On

‘Frank suggested we get married at a little church in Notting Hill - St Francis of Assisi - where his father is buried,’ says Susan. ‘He said: “Let’s just make it a small affair - our families and a handful of friends - and do it around your birthday.” ’

Neither Susan nor Frank was flush with cash. Indeed, Susan had sold her Elizabeth Emanuel wedding dress because they were short of money and a low-budget affair seemed to fit the bill.

She duly bought a wedding dress in a charity shop for £80 - a corseted cream number - and prepared for a pared-down, but intimate, event.

‘I even wrote to retail companies offering to work for nothing for a couple of weeks in return for something - a bridesmaid’s dress, shoes, jewellery - for the wedding,’ she says.

But once again, unsurprisingly, Frank let her down. 

On the day of their final appointment with the priest, he cancelled.

‘He said his mother was unwell, and I accept she was,’ says Susan. ‘But she was elderly. She was often unwell.’

This time, Susan’s patience had worn thin. In February this year she relocated to Bedford near her mother and siblings, and refused to sleep with Frank until he made a commitment.

‘He was angry, although my friends all congratulated me on seeing sense at last,’ she says.
But this April, she softened again, and gave him one final chance in circumstances that would be comical if they weren’t so pitiful.

She suggested he write to Don’t Tell The Bride, the BBC show in which the groom organises every detail of a surprise wedding in exchange for £12,000. It seemed an unorthodox but perfect solution to their troubles: Susan would get the wedding she wanted and the TV company would foot the bill. She even succeeded in persuading Frank to write to the BBC, putting forward a cogent case.

All that remained was to film an amateur video for the show in which the happy couple would speak about their hopes and aspirations for the big day. A date was duly arranged for Frank to go to Susan’s home in Bedford and make the film.

Susan dressed with care, put on make-up and set up her camera. Then she waited. And waited. 
But Frank did not show up.

He later apologised, saying he’d clean forgotten because he was watching football with his brother. 

Unbelievably, it would seem Susan may give him a fifth chance. ‘I know I’m naïve, but I believe I’ll get him to church one day,’ she insists.