Couple got tattoos of future wedding date before coronavirus cancellation: 'All you can do is laugh'

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In sickness, health and even a pandemic, true love will see you through.

An engaged couple from Northern Ireland was devastated when their wedding was postponed amid the coronavirus health crisis – after they got the date tattooed on their arms.

Fionnuala Kearney and Francis Donald got engaged in December 2017, and set their wedding date for Oct. 16, 2020, South West News Service (SWNS) reports. During a vacation to Turkey in June 2019, Kearney and Donald spontaneously got the Roman numerals of their anticipated anniversary inked after some bar hopping.

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The future Mr. and Mrs. eagerly looked forward to their special day – and then, the pandemic hit.

"Ever since Francis and I got together, I knew I wanted to marry him – so when he proposed on New Year's Eve in 2017, I was thrilled,” Kearney said. “I had always dreamed of my wedding day, so started planning it straight away.”

The college sweethearts, who first met at Ulster University, booked the October 2020 date for Hugh McCann’s hotel in Newcastle, County Down. Then, they made it official with the impromptu ink while vacationing with friends last year.

"We had an amazing holiday, and on the last day we did something crazy,” Kearney said. "Our check-out time was about 9 a.m., and we had lots of time to kill before our flight home that evening. So, we all decided to go on a little bar crawl.”

"We got suitably tipsy, and then we walked past a tattoo parlor,” she continued. "Francis and I often make spur of the moment decisions – we're quite spontaneous – so we decided to go for it and get matching tattoos.

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"We walked into the shop without even knowing what we wanted, until I had the idea of getting our wedding date."

According to Donald, it was his idea to get the special date in Roman numerals, and insisted that he and his fiancée were “extra careful” to ensure the tattoo artists got it just right,

"The staff in the shop kept teasing us and saying things like 'Are you sure that date is right?' and we all laughed it off,” he recalled.

All was well on the road to the altar, and Kearney had finalized the guest list, band and dream dress she would wear.

In April, the bride-to-be was heartbroken to learn from the venue that their wedding would have to be postponed because of the COVID-19 crisis.

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"I was devastated," she said, describing the “stressful” reorganization process as a “nightmare.”

After much discussion, Kearney and Donald decided to say “I do” on April 22, 2021, and finally felt content – until they looked at their arms.

"We looked down at our arms one day and realized – they said the wrong date,” the bride-to-be remembered. "I have a few small funny tattoos that I've got on drunken holidays, so I wasn't too fussed, but it was the cherry on top of the cake.

"If you don't laugh, you'll cry!" Kearney joked, musing that “all you can do is laugh at situations like this!"

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Now, the future bride and groom plan to do something epic on their original wedding date of Oct. 16, turning to family and friends for fun ideas.

“Somebody suggested that we do a skydive, other people have said we should lie and tell people the tattoos say the right date,” Kearney said. "I love the skydive idea and would like to use it to raise money for the Crohn's disease charity, as they have really helped me.

"Whatever we do, we're going to make it memorable."