Sarah Hunter and Greg Turner are both nurses at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh (RIE). Sarah cares for premature babies and Greg looks after patients in the Acute Medical Unit.
They are engaged to be married, and now thanks to winning a competition run by Eskmills Venue they will have the wedding of their dreams there next year. This is all courtesy of Hickory who manages Eskmills Venue and a portfolio of other wedding locations.
The couple won a competition open to NHS Scotland hospital based workers and those involved in Covid-19 caring.
Sarah and Greg live in Leith and although they have been together for nine years they have both been busy working in the last couple of months, often on opposite shifts.
They have been working hard to help patients in hospital who have missed the emotional support of friends and family while hospital visiting is suspended.
Sarah and Greg’s prize is worth around £12,000. The wedding includes exclusive use of Eskmills Venue, a converted riverside mill building in Musselburgh, for 80-day guests and an additional 40 evening guests. Drinks, canapes, a 3-course wedding meal are included, alongside photography and videography from Tony Marsh Photography, classic wedding car from Edinburgh Classic Wedding Cars, a wedding dress from Christina Rae, a bagpiper from GD Bagpiping, kilt hire from 8 Yards, stationery from 2Flux Stationery Studio, flowers from Liberty Blooms, anda 3-tier wedding cake from Truly Scrumptious.
Sarah, who qualified as a nurse in 2015, and Greg who qualified in 2018 after several years as a support worker, met at Sarah’s mum’s wedding. They got engaged in March last year during a trip to Venice to celebrate Sarah’s 26th birthday. They began viewing wedding venues at the start of the year and are now looking forward to creating a rustic, laidback-style wedding, with lots of flowers and fairy lights.
Sarah said: “Working during the Covid-19 pandemic has been very tough, so finding out we’ve been lucky enough to win this prize is amazing and has really lifted our spirits. As well as the challenges at work, it’s affected us personally. We’ve been passing ships in the night due to our shift patterns and we have both been missing our friends and family too. Greg’s brother recently became a Dad for the first time and we haven’t been able to meet our new nephew, Theo, which has been sad.”
“Our friends and family are a huge part of our lives so knowing that we have this to look forward to and can all be together on our big day at such a great venue gives us something to look forward to.”
Stephanie Stubbs, Deputy Managing Director of Hickory, said: “Sarah and Greg are great examples of the amazing NHS frontline staff who are doing such incredible and selfless work during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We’re so pleased for them and we’re looking forward to working with them to make plans for their big day at Eskmills Venue.”
All those who entered the competition will be invited to a free party at Eskmills Venue later in the year, for an evening of food, drink and fun, once the lockdown restrictions have been lifted and guidance on social distancing provided.
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