A groom stranded from his own wedding still appeared and wed via iPad – and was even photoshopped into the official pictures later.
Ross Evans and Drew Hoffman saw plans for their $47K (£35K) big day left in turmoil when Drew’s visa delays saw him stuck in the USA.
They realized unexpected red tape would leave them thousands of miles apart.
But as they had already booked the venue, with guests turning up from around the world, they made the “difficult” decision to go ahead.
Drew, 28, sat on his hotel bed in LA in his “extravagant” wedding outfit being live-streamed on two screens – one at the top table and the other being passed around amongst the guests.
He featured in the official wedding photos through the screen – and a gap was left for him to be “photoshopped” onto precious family shots.
And he was still able to give his speech and take part in the first dance as the couple said they did “the best they could” to make it a memorable day.
Ross, 29, said: “We spared no expense. But what was a $46,000 wedding for both of us, it ended up just being me and Drew had to experience it on an iPad.
“I did not actually want to go through with it. It felt just way too hard, but as all friends and family were coming from all over the world, we knew we would never get them all in one place again.”
They decided not to go ahead with the formal ceremony as Ross said, “it would have been too awkward walking down the aisle with an iPad.”
Instead, they cut straight to the drinks reception, followed by dinner and evening party.
Ross added: “It was really difficult – I put on my outfit and sobbed my face off – I could not believe Drew was still not here.
“But I knew I had to be strong with all our friends and family, and everyone was really supportive.
“At first, the mood was a bit weird. People did not know what to say, and everyone was a bit gobsmacked, I think. But we made the most of it.
“When we got to dinner and speeches, Drew said he didn’t want anyone to be sad. He wanted it to be a happy, joyous celebration, and that really uplifted the mood. It was emotional, and everyone was crying.
“Everyone got really drunk and had a great time. The food was amazing. I carried Drew around the whole time on the iPad.
“But it was still like being punched in the gut constantly that he was not here. But we tried to make the most of it.”
The couple met while working together on cruise ships, where they were both performers, and have been together for nearly a decade.
They had already been “officially” married in front of just three witnesses at the end of 2020, but wanted a big wedding to celebrate and declare their love in front of family and friends.
They had booked the Hopetoun House in Edinburgh for July 23, 2022, featuring everything from Highland Cows, full bespoke outfits, a 20-man pipe band, and a lavish reception.
Drew already had an outfit that had been custom-made for about a year, while Ross had ordered a tartan and kilt. They also had a custom-made tartan pattern with their last names on it.
But huge delays in the visa processing system at the Home Office, as a result of COVID and the Ukrainian war, saw them receive an unexpected “delay alert” in April – three months before the big day.
They then faced an anxious wait to see if Drew’s visa would arrive, and he said he held onto the hope until the day before the wedding itself.
He added: “We actually withdrew the first application as the Home Office looked at the wrong and current guidelines after Covid. Our second application went in at the end of 2021, which should have been plenty of time.
“But we actually found out on April Fools Day 2022 that the visa had been delayed and just had to wait. There was no real system to check the application or find out how it was progressing.
“Everything for the wedding was already set in stone, and we decided we will go through with it, whatever happened, in the hope Drew would be able to come.
“But when we got to around June, those hopes really started to dwindle, and we feared we were not getting there in time.”
Drew added, “I honestly did not accept defeat until the day after the wedding happened.
“When we were getting close, a lot of people started getting their visas quickly. If I had got it the day before, or even on the day, I would have found a flight to get me there and showed up to get into the party. I did not accept I wouldn’t make it up until the day I wasn’t there.”
Drew said he woke up at 5 am on the morning of the wedding after booking himself two nights at a fancy hotel in LA.
He then put out a plea for help to get his elaborate wedding outfit on and said he cried the whole time.
He facetimed Ross as they got ready together, bought himself some alcohol, and spent his wedding day sitting on the edge of his hotel bed.
“I experienced my whole wedding day on the iPad from the hotel,” he added.
“A big part of me wanted to try and embrace the absurdity of it and thought, ‘let’s just do it. I think it is still really hard to enjoy and accept the parts of it I was missing.
“I was being passed around and obviously missed a lot of what was going on. Interacting became a bit harder as people were drinking. As they became more intoxicated, the camera certainly jiggled around a lot more.”
Drew said the whole day was full of ups and downs, and he still had some sadness that he couldn’t be there in person.
He added: “Ross called me the day before and said I can not go through with it and continue, and that ‘I don’t want to do it without you.’”
“I told him all friends and family had flown over to Scotland and love us – we love each other so much, and people, regardless of us both being there, were really rallying behind us and wanted to celebrate our love.
“I cried a lot during the first dance, cutting the cake, and I so wanted to say my vows in front of everyone.
“But it ended up being amazing. Because of the time difference, everyone went to bed all drunk, and I came off the party eight hours behind them.”
And being passed around on camera meant he was able to speak to everyone there,
He added: “It was quite nice as you’d normally not be able to say hi to every person. But I was able to see everyone, and it was nice to talk to them all again.
“My brother cut the cake with Ross, and the first dance was with my mum and me on the iPad.”
The couple said the sad irony was that Drew’s visa came through just two weeks after the wedding, and he was on a flight straight over to join Ross in Scotland.
Ross added, “The photographer agreed to come back and allow us to do some photos together.
“He was also photoshopped into the family photos. They left a gap so he could fit in seamlessly. Honestly, looking at the photos, you could not tell he wasn’t there.
“We can laugh about it now. The irony is if the wedding was just two weeks later, he would have been here. It was all just meant to be.”
The couple have now settled in Falkirk and run a dance studio, Slay House Glasgow.
