A GROOM named Thomas Cook who almost had his dream wedding ruined by the collapse of doomed holiday firm of the same name has shared snaps from his beautiful day.
Thomas, 29 and his wife, Amelia Cook, 27, had their romantic Greek island wedding saved at the last minute when the Lindos Princess Hotel stepped in to help re-organise their big day.
The four star hotel on the island of Rhodes were on hand to provide flowers and champagne and help with the marriage license paperwork at the town hall after their dream wedding was cancelled at the last minute.
The couple had to cover most of the costs themselves, but say they got help from a local wedding company and incredible staff at the resort who worked for free to help them put their big day together.
Family and friends also helped with costs by setting up GoFundMe pages.
Thomas and Amelia said they were delighted with the ceremony – the only downside being that a few of their wedding party were unable to make it due to the Thomas Cook travel chaos.
The happy couple said: “We were extremely relieved.
“We were happy that most people were there but we were still missing a few people.
“We’d like to thank Princess Lindos beach resort, especially Dora. Hatty, the Thomas cook wedding co-ordinatar, for working for free.
“Lindos Wedding Karen Harvey, for offering for services for free make up and photography by Antonis Giannelis.
“And Charlotte Samantha for the GoFundMe page.
“We are looking forward to our wedding reception when we return home and seeing all of our family and friends.”
The pair, from Hucknall, Notts, flew out last week and were due to marry at the hotel on the Greek island of Rhodes, but their plans were thrown into chaos when Thomas Cook announced it would cease trading.
The couple had paid out £10,000 with the now bust travel firm to plan their big day and fly out family and friends.
The Thomas Cook package the couple had paid for was set to include the wedding ceremony, flowers, cake, decorations and entertainment.
But the devastated couple were left stranded on the Greek Island and told the ceremony may not go ahead.
Thomas, who works for Rolls-Royce, told Nottinghamshire Live on Monday: “Thomas Cook promised us a surprise on our wedding because of my name but this was not the surprise we were expecting.
“I am just devastated. We have got more than 30 friends and family coming out, half are stuck at home in limbo. My best man is still in England. No one here knows anything.
“I have been planning this for two years and it has all gone to pot. We have paid for everything. It is shattering.
“We don’t know what we can do. Thomas Cook staff have been good but they lost their jobs.”
The couple, who have been together for 12 years, decided to marry abroad because it was cheaper to marry in Rhodes than having a wedding in the UK.
However, when the hotel heard the news, they stepped in to save the couple’s dream wedding, pulling out all the stops to ensure Thomas and Amelia had their special day after two years of planning.
Giorgos Bakas, manager at the Lindos Princess hotel told Sun Online:
“He just looked so disappointed and we didn’t want him to leave like that.
“We are honoured that he has come to our hotel, our island and Greece.”
Many guests were already in Rhodes when the news broke, with only the best man having to book an alternative flight, with the whole wedding party will be flown home on repatriation flights after the big day.
Thomas Cook went bust in the early hours of Monday morning after failing to secure a last-ditch rescue deal, with all future flights and holidays cancelled.
As many as 9,000 Thomas Cook employees among 21,000 staff around the world have also lost their jobs – many who have bravely ploughed on today to help the holidaymakers affected.
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