Thinking of my dad on my big day (From Kidderminster Shuttle)

Thinking of my dad on my big day

8:38am Thursday 7th March 2013 in News By Becky Carr

A STOURPORT couple are asking for charity donations instead of wedding presents after the bride’s father was diagnosed with prostate cancer.

Paulette Sedgwick, 44, and Keith Waldon, 46, have abandoned the idea of a traditional wedding list and have, instead, asked people to wish them well with donations for Prostate Cancer UK.

Miss Sedgwick’s 63-year-old father, Patrick Sedgwick, was diagnosed with the disease in December, the same month that her grandfather on her mother’s side, Danny Hughes, died of cancer, aged 85.

Mr Sedgwick, a retired warrant officer with West Midlands Police, now lives in Lancashire and is too ill to attend the wedding.

Miss Sedgwick’s mother, Madeleine, will be replacing her father as a witness at the ceremony when the couple tie the knot on Friday, May 24, in Worcester.

Miss Sedgwick, a health care assistant, said: “I’m extremely sad he can’t attend because he’s my father and I love him to bits.”

The couple will be having a small wedding, with about 20 of their family and friends attending, followed by a reception. They hope to spend less than £500 on their wedding so more money can be given to the charity.

Miss Sedgwick does a lot of charitable work herself and runs a facebook page and a twitter account, where she lists local charity events and news.

She has also taken part in Race for Life, for Cancer Research UK, for the last seven years.

At the wedding, Miss Sedgwick will be wearing the same blue dress she previously wore at her sister Victoria’s graduation in 2008.

Light blue is also the colour used by Prostate Cancer UK.

She added: “I already have a photo of my dad with me in my dress so now that he can’t attend, that photo means the world to me. I’m having it enlarged and framed.”

To make a donation, visit facebook.com/CharityWedding List or justgiving.com/ Paulette-Sedgwick