EXCLUSIVE: A bride reveals how her dream wedding day turned into complete heartbreak when she was left unable to reach her husband at the altar12:41, 28 Jul 2026It was meant to be the happiest day of her life, but this bride's wedding brings back painful memories.‌Jenni Pettican, a 30-year-old wheelchair user with two chronic illnesses, spent months making sure every aspect of her £16,000 wedding was accessible - only to discover the ramp she needed to reach her husband at the end of the aisle had been forgotten by staff.‌The humiliated bride, from Basildon, Essex, was left making jokes to break the tension as family members scrambled to work out how to assemble the ramp while guests watched on.‌Although the delay lasted only a couple of minutes, Jenni says it still haunts her. "I had 100 people watching me," she says. "It was a once-in-a-lifetime moment I'm never going to get back."The couple, who have been together for six years, got married on 16 May at Newland Hall, near Chelmsford, Essex - a picturesque venue nestled in the countryside. They chose to make the most of the stunning garden at the venue, complete with a gazebo and marquee. But it ended in complete disaster.‌On the morning of her wedding, Jenni says she personally tested a newly-installed ramp which led up to the ceremony gazebo. Staff then temporarily moved it so it would not obstruct other wheelchair users but assured her it would be repositioned before the ceremony began.Instead, when she reached the front of the aisle, the ramp was nowhere to be seen. "My heart just sank," she recalls. "The ramp had been left where they'd moved it, tucked inside the gazebo."Trying to lighten the mood, Jenni joked to the crowd: "How am I supposed to get up there?". Guests laughed awkwardly before she spotted where the ramp had been left.‌With no staff member immediately available to help, one of Jenni's wheelchair-using friends directed her father and the couple's best man as they attempted to position it correctly."They got it upside down, got it the wrong way round," she explains. "That could have been a massive problem. If I'd fallen off that ramp, again the venue would have been liable." Only once the ramp had been assembled could Jenni finally reach her husband Ian to continue the ceremony.‌Jenni has hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (hEDS), a group of rare genetic conditions that affect the connective tissue in the body. It can cause unstable joints, chronic pain and digestive and organ problems, as well as extremely fragile skin.The bride has also been diagnosed with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), a condition that causes a fast heart rate, dizziness, and extreme tiredness when you get up from sitting or lying down. It's caused by your nervous system not properly controlling your blood flow and heart rate changes.She says the remainder of the day passed without further accessibility issues and the couple were able to enjoy their wedding. But afterwards she realised how deeply the incident had affected her. "It tainted the day for me," she admits. "We have a beautiful picture of us going back down the aisle, but all I can focus on is the ramp."‌Jenni says that problems with accessibility at the venue began months before they even reached the big day. After first viewing the venue with Ian, she returned with her support worker specifically to assess accessibility. "I mentioned I had guests with a variety of disabilities, and they said it wouldn't be a problem," she says.‌However, while planning the wedding she discovered the venue planned to lock the Grade II listed Tudor house located on the property during the reception – something she says would have blocked the only step-free route between the garden marquee and the car park.Concerned about disabled guests' independence and emergency access, she challenged the decision. "I was explaining the importance of disabled people being able to be independent, not having to ask to unlock the door," she explains. "It ended up being about a month of back and forth."Jenni claims she was initially told the doors could remain unlocked but only if she paid a larger deposit because of insurance concerns. "I called out the Equality Act," she says. "They tried to charge me more for accessibility."‌Eventually, an agreement was reached allowing disabled guests to use the route through the house. By then, Jenni had lost confidence in the venue but felt unable to move the wedding elsewhere, having already paid thousands of pounds in deposits while guests had booked accommodation.Jenni submitted a formal complaint to the venue, saying she wanted an acknowledgement of what had happened and reassurance lessons would be learned. "I said no one has acknowledged this, no one has apologised for this, and I need to make sure you're going to do better," she explains.‌In the bride's view, the venue failed to accept responsibility in their responses to the complaint, and communication eventually stopped after she shared a video of the incident online.For Jenni, the biggest disappointment was the lack of accountability afterwards. "I deal with access issues every single day. It's a very frustrating and sad part of disabled life," she says. "But the one day I didn't think I would have to deal with it was my wedding day."My husband has been really shocked by how the venue has behaved afterwards. If they had apologised and taken accountability and explained how they would do better, things would have been so much better. We're only going to do better when we take accountability and learn from it."Article continues belowIn a statement, Newland Hall said: "The events referred to took place before Newland Hall came under new ownership on 1 June 2026. The current owners had no involvement in the management or operation of the venue at that time and therefore are unable to comment on the circumstances surrounding this wedding."As the new owners, we are committed to ensuring Newland Hall is a welcoming, inclusive and non-discriminatory venue where every couple, guest and member of the wider community is treated with dignity, respect and fairness."Accessibility and inclusion are incredibly important to us, and since taking over we have already begun reviewing our policies and procedures. We are arranging a professional accessibility assessment and investing in disability awareness and customer service training for our team as part of our ongoing commitment to continually improving the experience for all visitors."