A bride was forced to call in a metal detectorist at her wedding — after her ring flew off her finger mid-ceremony.
Abi Clark, 32, was tying the knot with Tony Clark, 32, when she tried to swat away a bee.
Her engagement ring went flying and landed on the beach at St. Brelade’s Bay Hotel in Jersey in the Channel Islands.
Around 15 guests immediately jumped from their seats and began searching for her ring — to no avail.
Tony, a mechanical engineer from Hull, said he suggested the pair carry on and get married without the ring.
But different wedding guests mentioned a local metal detectorist called Steve Andrews from Jersey Lost Ring Metal Detecting.
Steve, a firefighter, came straight to the beach and found the ring within ten minutes.
Tony said: “We were getting married on the front lawn, just above the beach.”
“Just before Abi came down, the celebrant told her to put her engagement ring on a different hand for when we did the ring passing.”
“Then during the ceremony, bees kept getting in the way, getting in her face — they must’ve liked her perfume!”
Abi, who was holding her engagement ring in her right hand, said her ring went “flying” when a bee flew right into her face and she tried to swat it away.
The teacher from Jersey said: “At first I didn’t know what to do.”
“I hoped it was in the garden, but I knew from the force I used to swat the bee away the ring would have traveled far and suggested to guests it would have landed below on the beach.”
Abi said: “I was absolutely gutted that the ring could not be found, and desperately wanted to continue searching for it after our ceremony had finished, but I knew I had to continue our wedding day and celebrate with our family and closest friends.”
“During conversations and throughout the day, I would talk about the missing ring but tried to block it out as I didn’t want it to ruin our wedding day — which we had worked so hard to save for over two and a half years.”
Tony said: “Abi was overjoyed — to get the ring back was so special.”
“It certainly was quite eventful!”
“We are very grateful to Steve, who does this all on a volunteer basis.”
Abi added: “When we were about to cut our wedding cake, the toastmaster said that our guests Callum and Jess had an announcement.”
“In that moment I knew they had found the ring, I instantly felt really emotional, but so thankful it had been found.”
“I am so grateful to our close friends and to the metal detector for doing this for us, but also the way they revealed it had been found made it extra special as everyone was cheering and clapping and it was just an extra celebration on top of what was already a really special day.”
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