By Gillian Loney,Tom Bevan

Copyright glasgowlive

A groom who ended up stranded thousands of miles away from his own wedding still managed to tie the knot via iPad – and was even photoshopped into the official pictures.

Ross Evans and Drew Hoffman – who live in Falkirk and run dance studio Slay House, in Glasgow’s Merchant City – saw their £35k big day descend into chaos when Drew’s visa complications left him trapped in the USA.

The pair discovered that unforeseen red tape would keep them thousands of miles apart on their special day. But since they had already booked the venue and guests were flying in from around the world, they took the ‘difficult’ decision to go ahead and get hitched.

Drew, 28, sat perched on his hotel bed in Los Angeles wearing his ‘extravagant’ wedding outfit while being broadcast live on two screens – one positioned at the top table and another being passed around amongst the guests.

He appeared in the official wedding photographs through the screen – with space deliberately left for him to be ‘photoshopped’ into treasured family snaps.

He was still able to deliver his speech and take part in the first dance as the pair said they did ‘the best they could’ to ensure it remained a special occasion.

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Ross, 29, said: “We spared no expense. But what was a £35k wedding for both of us, it ended up just being me, and Drew had to experience it on an iPad.

“I did not actually want to go through with it. It felt just way too hard but as all friends and family were coming from all over the world, we knew we would never get them all in one place again.”

They chose not to go ahead with the formal ceremony as Ross explained: “It would have been too awkward walking down the aisle with an iPad.”

Instead, they cut straight to the drinks reception, followed by dinner and the evening party.

Ross added: “It was really difficult – I put on my outfit and sobbed my face off – I could not believe Drew was still not here.

“But I knew I had to be strong with all our friends and family and everyone was really supportive.

“At first the mood was a bit weird. People did not know what to say and everyone was a bit gobsmacked I think. But we made the most of it.

“When we got to dinner and speeches, Drew said he didn’t want anyone to be sad. He wanted it to be a happy, joyous, celebration and that really uplifted the mood. It was emotional and everyone was crying.

“Everyone got really drunk and had a great time. The food was amazing. I carried Drew around the whole time on the iPad.

“But it was still like being punched in the gut constantly that he was not here. But we tried to make the most of it.”

The pair first met while working together on cruise ships where they were both performers and have been together for nearly a decade.

They had already been ‘officially’ married in front of just three witnesses at the end of 2020, but wanted a big wedding to celebrate and declare their love in front of family and friends.

They had booked Hopetoun House in Edinburgh for July 23, 2022, featuring everything from Highland cows, full bespoke outfits, a 20-man pipe band and a lavish reception. Drew had already commissioned a bespoke outfit a year in advance, while Ross had ordered tartan fabric and a kilt. They had even created a custom tartan pattern featuring their surnames.

However, massive backlogs in the Home Office visa processing system caused by Covid and the Ukrainian war, resulted in an unexpected ‘delay alert’ arriving in April – just three months before their wedding day.

The couple then endured an agonising wait to discover whether Drew’s visa would materialise, with him clinging to hope right up until the day before the ceremony itself.

He added: “We actually withdrew the first application as the Home Office looked at the wrong and current guidelines after Covid. Our second application went in at the end of 2021 which should have been plenty of time.

“But we actually found out on April Fools Day 2022 the visa had been delayed and just had to wait. There was no real system to check the application or find out how it was progressing.

“Everything for the wedding was already set in stone and we decided we will go through with it whatever happened in the hope Drew would be able to come.

“But when we got to around June those hopes really started to dwindle and we feared we were not getting there in time.”

Drew added: “I honestly did not accept defeat until the day after the wedding happened.

“When we were getting close, a lot of people started getting their visas quickly. If I had got it the day before, or even on the day, I would have found a flight to get me there and showed up to get into the party. I did not accept I wouldn’t make it up until the day I wasn’t there.”

Drew revealed he woke up at 5am on the wedding day after booking himself into a plush hotel in LA for two nights.

In desperation, he sought help to put on his elaborate wedding attire and admitted to shedding tears throughout.

He Facetimed Ross as they got ready together, bought some booze and spent the wedding day perched on the edge of his hotel bed.

“I experienced my whole wedding day on the iPad from the hotel,” he added. “A big part of me wanted to try and embrace the absurdity of it and thought ‘let’s just do it. I think it is still really hard to enjoy and accept the parts of it I was missing.

“I was being passed around and obviously missed a lot of what was going on. Interacting became a bit harder as people were drinking. As they became more intoxicated the camera certainly jiggled around a lot more.”

Drew admitted the day was a rollercoaster of emotions and he still feels a pang of sadness that he couldn’t be there physically.

He added: “Ross called me the day before and said I can not go through with it and continue and that ‘I don’t want to do it without you.’

“I told him all friends and family had flown over to Scotland and love us – we love each other so much and people, regardless of us both being there were, really rallying behind us and wanted to celebrate our love.

“I cried a lot during the first dance, cutting the cake and I so wanted to say my vows in front of everyone.

“But it ended up being amazing. Because of the time difference everyone went to bed all drunk and I came off the party eight hours behind them.”

Being passed around on camera meant he managed to speak to everyone there.

He added: “It was quite nice as you’d normally not be able to say hi to every person. But I was able to see everyone and it was nice to talk to them all again.

“My brother cut the cake with Ross and the first dance was with my mum and me on the iPad.”

The pair said the sad irony was that Drew’s visa came through just two weeks after the wedding and he hopped on a flight straight over to join Ross in Scotland.

Ross added: “The photographer agreed to come back and allow us to do some photos together.

“He was also photoshopped into the family photos. They left a gap so he could fit in seamlessly. Honestly, looking at the photos you could not tell he wasn’t there.

“We can laugh about it now. The irony is if the wedding was just two weeks later he would have been here. It was all just meant to be.”

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