Big-hearted Bermudians stepped in to make sure a visiting couple’s wedding day was truly memorable.

Newton Adcock spotted Alex and Maria Shandrokha, from Belarus, Eastern Europe, in their wedding clothes at Albuoy’s Point and invited them on board the Spirit of Bermuda after discovering that they had not planned a reception.

“It was like a two-hour wedding reception for them, he said. “Speeches were made for and about them. Everyone had a great time.”

Mr Adcock, from Paget, was attending an event on the sail training ship when he saw the couple and approached them to offer his congratulations.

When he found out that they had no further plans, he told the captain and the event organiser, who welcomed the couple on board.

Mr Adcock added that Malcolm Kirkland, one of the co-founders of the Bermuda Sloop Foundation, drove the couple back to their hotel after their trip.

The couple had settled on a Registry Office wedding and had planned to plant a Bermuda Cedar to celebrate their big day.

But a chance meeting with Anglican Bishop of Bermuda Nicholas Dill led to a church wedding last Friday at the Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity in Hamilton, celebrated by Canon Norman Lynas.

Mr Kirkland and Mr Adcock later helped the couple to get permission from the Corporation of Hamilton to plant their tree in Queen Elizabeth Park.

Mr Adcock and a Corporation official met the couple on Saturday morning and they planted the tree next to another Bermuda Cedar in the southwest corner of the park.

“I promised to look after it for them until they returned,” Mr Adcock said. “They promised they will be back, they had such a grand time.”

After the planting, Mr Adcock had lunch with the couple at The Pickled Onion on Front Street “where we enjoyed the view of sailing boats in the harbour”.

Mr Adcock hailed them a cab to transport them to the airport just in time for their late afternoon flight to Newark, New Jersey — the beginning of their month-long around-the-world honeymoon.

Mr Adcock thanked everyone who helped to make the young couple’s start in life together a “most happy and memorable occasion”.

“It was very easy for us to make it real special. We all had fun making it fun for them,” he said.

Mr Adcock said that the couple are certain to return, having told him that he will be their first child’s godfather.

“Most often it is more rewarding to give than to receive — this certainly was rewarding for me,” he added.