Surprise for Sarah and Ian from Asda South Shields on what would have been their big day

When the wedding of our colleagues Sarah Dennison and Ian Armstrong was postponed due to the lockdown their friends at our South Shields store decided to make what should have been their big day one to remember.

They formed a guard of honour for Sarah and clapped and cheered as she walked down the shopping aisle to customer services where Ian was waiting with a rose, and then they presented them with flowers, chocolates, a bottle of Prosecco and a voucher for a cream tea which was delivered to their home the next day.

Home shopping section leader Sarah said: "On the day my manager came over to me just before the store opened and told me the deputy was doing a huddle at the front of the store and wanted everyone there. I walked along with her and when I turned the corner everyone was all lined up down the aisle and Ian was at the other end with a rose! He hadn't know anything about it either! He'd been told he had to do something in the foyer.

"As I walked down the aisle colleagues were were giving me flowers and clapping and some were even waving windmills. I was in tears. By the time I'd got to Ian I was all blurry.

"It was lovely. When I sent my mam pictures she was crying as well.

"I had no inkling at all that they were going to do that. They are a fantastic bunch the lot of them and have given me a lot of support over the last couple of weeks because obviously it was coming up to the date and I was a bit down."

The surprise was organised by the store's community champion Mavis Maughan and colleague Ashleigh Powell.

Mavis, who played the Wedding March on her phone as Sarah came down the aisle, said: "It was so lovely. We wanted to do something special for them. Half the team were in tears as she walked down the aisle."

Sarah has worked at the store for eight years and warehouse colleague Ian for 20, but they only started talking about two years ago.

Sarah said: "He overheard me talking about Star Wars in the warehouse and, as we're both Star Wars geeks, started to have a conversation. We began dating and fell in love. I knew after the second date that I would marry him. I knew I'd found the right person."

The couple, who live five minutes away from the store, will now be holding a family wedding at South Shields Town Hall in September, a reception for friends in February and then honeymooning in Rome the month after.