Couple fear £30k Greek wedding will be ruined by 'nightmare' passport delays

A couple preparing to tie the knot abroad fear their £30,000 wedding could be ruined by "nightmare" passport delays. Reanne House, 27, and Patrick Corbin, 29, got engaged in June 2020 and are set to jet off to Santorini, Greece, on June 1, before sharing their big day on June 17 with 30 guests.

On March 13, Patrick submitted an application to replace his lost passport and said at the time he was told it would be a five-week wait. That gave the application plenty of time to go through before the wedding.

However, the passport office is currently experiencing significant processing issues following an influx of post-Covid passport applications.

Read more: Woman left facing huge bill and could miss flight to best friend's wedding in passport fiasco

The waiting time for a new passport has doubled, rising from five to 10 weeks and the government's passport website crashed due to demand earlier this week. The pair from Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, now fear they might not make it to their own wedding if Patrick doesn't get his new passport back in time - which would result in their special day being cancelled, leaving them heartbroken and out of pocket.

They risk losing the £30,000 they saved "religiously" for as companies stopped providing wedding insurance when the Covid pandemic hit. Speaking to The Mirror, Reanne, an artist, said: "It would cripple us, it would be absolutely heartbreaking. Patrick sent his passport within 13 weeks of our wedding, plenty of time. If we don't get it who takes responsibility?

"I was in an absolute state on Sunday, I was in tears and I didn't sleep. We have got 30 guests coming out to Santorini, and it's not cheap. My 83-year-old nan is coming with us. What happens if we can't get out