Loved-up couple marries on the spot amid southern Tasmania’s snap Covid lockdown

“At the end of the day, we adore each other and we just wanted to get married. It wasn’t just the right thing to do, it was the perfect thing to do.”

THE bride didn’t get time to look in the mirror, and the groom almost turned up at the ceremony still in his jeans.

But while Lauren and Greg Coote’s wedding wasn’t what they expected – just hours before southern Tasmania went into a snap lockdown – it couldn’t have been more wildly romantic.

The loved-up Ranelagh couple was holding a wedding rehearsal in the pine forests at Ramada Seven Mile Beach on Friday, 24 hours ahead of their expected big day.

When they heard Premier Peter Gutwein announce Hobart and surrounds would go into lockdown for three days, they decided to bite the bullet and get married on the spot – with just two hours to spare.

“It was a comedy of errors,” Mrs Coote said.

She said the day became even more complicated when her mother, who was driving down with her wedding dress and the gents’ suits, got stuck on the Southern Outlet behind a car that caught fire.

“We got there in the end. Everyone was a bit flustered and manic,” Mrs Coote said.

“At the end of the day, we adore each other and we just wanted to get married. It wasn’t just the right thing to do, it was the perfect thing to do.”

Mrs Coote said the pair had arranged plenty of styling and decorations, but didn’t have time to take them all – but that didn’t dent just how romantic the occasion was.

“The celebrant turned up at 3.30pm and said ‘Greg are you going to get ready?’ He was still wearing jeans. I didn’t even have time to look at myself in the mirror,” she said.

“It wasn’t what we had planned, but at the end of the day I got to marry my best friend so it was perfect.”

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