Thousands of would-be newly-weds have found their special days hanging in the balance, as the nation waits to find out on Monday whether or not Covid-19 restrictions will come to an end.

Earlier this week, Chancellor Rishi Sunak said he would be "willing to accept a short delay" to the end of the lockdown, whether it is a fortnight or a month.

There have also been rumours that the Prime Minister may decide to make weddings and receptions exempt, even if the delay is put in place.

But the uncertainty is enough to bring some couples to despair after waiting so long to finally be married.

Lisa Counsell should have been celebrating her first wedding anniversary with her partner Kevin in May.

The 27-year-old from Headcorn is one of thousands of people in the UK who have booked their wedding in the first four weeks after June 21.

But this is the third time Lisa and Kevin have arranged the day - the first date, May 23, 2020, was cancelled due to the first Covid-19 lockdown.

The second was arranged for September 5, but the restrictions on the number of wedding attendees was still in place.

Lisa said: "I'm so anxious about Monday, very very anxious. I suffer really badly with anxiety too, so the whole wedding was quite a big event anyway and I really built myself up for it just to be let down so many times.

"This will be the third time we've moved our wedding now - Boris said for such a long time that restrictions will be lifted on the 21st.

"We've moved our suppliers for our reception so many times, so we're probably not going to be able to have the reception if it is moved again and he doesn't lose the restrictions."

Lisa and Kevin have invited just shy of 150 people to the reception - the number eclipses the current guidance of up to 30 people five times over.

"I'm so anxious about Monday, very very anxious..."

The pair are considering giving up on the reception if they have to postpone it for a third time.

The mum of two said: "We're at a point now where I don't think I can physically go through booking it again, it's been a real struggle. I think we'll have to potentially hold off the reception which is so disappointing because that's a huge part of a wedding.

"Our suppliers have been really good and changed the date three times already. I don't think financially we can go through that again.

"We also had a lot of stuff with our dates printed on, which we reprinted on the second date and lost money on. This time I said 'let's not put a date on it.'''

With flower arrangements, wedding cars, suit hire, caterers and decorations, the task of rearranging everything with just under two weeks to go would be mammoth.

And it's not just couples losing out if the restrictions continue.

The UK Weddings Taskforce calculates the wedding sector will lose £325m for every week of delay if the government does not stick to the planned relaxation of rules on June 21.

They estimate around 50,000 weddings are planned in the four weeks from the 'freedom day' date.

Of those weddings, they claim roughly 550 tonnes of food currently on order between June 21 and July 8 would go to waste, affecting the entire supply chain and threatening hundreds of businesses.

They also believe around 150 tonnes of flowers and foliage could be wasted.

Facing the prospect of yet another delay, Lisa's frustration principally falls on the Prime Minister and his promises.

She said: "We were thinking, 'oh the first Saturday out of lockdown, Boris said everything is definitely going to be lifted on the 21st', really hopeful it would have been the first Saturday out of lockdown and everyone can have a really good time and enjoy themselves.

"Boris said he wasn't going to go back on it, now other dates are coming into the mix and its so disheartening - we've come such a long way with the vaccination roll out. Is there really much more we could be doing as a country to be on top of things?"

Lisa joins a chorus of others who believe the lockdown should now be lifted regardless of the current status of Covid-19 across the country.

She added: "I feel like we're at a point now where the government should put it down to an individual's choice - if you feel like you're not safe out around other people, then personally don't put yourself in that situation.

"Boris said he wasn't going to go back on it..."

"We've been locked down for long enough now, it's time to ease out."

Weddings Taskforce spokesperson Sarah Haywood said: "A hugely expensive, irrecoverable investment has been made by the decimated weddings sector in the ramp-up to full reopening on June 21 – the only date we have been given to work to. That investment is in infrastructure, consumables - such as food and flowers - and on retraining and hiring new staff. For wedding businesses, the loss is not just the £325m for each week’s delay to full reopening.

"There is no data to support us having been so heavily penalised throughout the recent restrictions and now the very survival of our world-class sector is in doubt. If it is lost it will take a decade or more to rebuild, affecting over a quarter of a million couples every single year and with a devastating societal impact."

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