A Norfolk woman has enjoyed her dream Caribbean wedding a year after she had to postpone it following a breast cancer diagnosis.
Chloe Bailey, 34, from Costessey, a packaging designer at Kinnerton Confectionary in Fakenham, had finalised her St Lucia wedding on May 18 2018 to her partner of over ten years, Harrison Bailey, 32, from Old Catton, when she found a pea-sized lump in her left armpit in the shower.
Following tests and an MRI scan at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, she was told by doctors a month later in January 2018 that she had stage two breast cancer.
Mrs Bailey was then recommended a course of radiotherapy and a lumpectomy as treatment, as well as the removal of six lymph nodes as a precautionary measure.
She said: "My health should have been on my mind, when actually it was my wedding.
"I was convinced if I didn't need chemotherapy I would be able to marry."
However, doctors advised Mrs Bailey that increased skin sensitivity after radiotherapy exposure meant that her sunny Carribean wedding wouldn't be possible.
With just four months to go until the big day, Mrs Bailey was devastated at the prospect of postponing her wedding.
She said: "It was horrible. I thought I'd have to wait forever. It took Harry ten years to propose to me so it had already been a long time coming."
At this point, the couple had already footed up the £12,000 bill for a beach side wedding ceremony at the Sandals Grande St Lucian Luxury Resort.
The sum also included a once-in-lifetime honeymoon to Peru in South America where they were due to hike the Inca Trail to Macchu Picchu - a trip that Mrs Bailey had dreamed of since she first got a taste of the travelling bug in 2009.
But with support of family and friends, and two check-ups in March 2019, Mrs Bailey was given the all clear and finally rearranged her wedding for the same date this year.
She said: "I loved every minute. It was the most perfect day. It was really special."
While they stuck to their original ceremony, the newly-weds decided not to go to Peru for their honeymoon and went to Barbados.
Mrs Bailey added: "After the year we've had, we just wanted to relax."
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