A YOUTH charity leader swapped plans for a huge wedding for a small gathering with 10 people amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Saeed Atcha, CEO of Youth Leads and deputy lieutenant of Greater Manchester, married his childhood sweetheart Maryam Kara at Bolton Town Hall with the Mayor, Cllr Linda Thomas present.

Mr Atcha was planning something much bigger, with a small religious ceremony in February, an English registry in April and a traditional reception with 1000 people in October.

When the pandemic hit the couple rescheduled their wedding to June and again in September before finally holding their wedding last week.

Mr Atcha said: “The little ceremony was really nice and small and with the simplicity comes a bit of class.

“There was no aisle and no chairs, we stayed standing, with no entry or exit music. It was a really stripped back ceremony and it felt quite warm.

"We do not think that Covid-19 is going to go away any time soon, so I would not plan something with a couple of hundred people even early next year."

In attendance were Mrs Kara’s parents and grandma, Mr Atcha’s uncle, aunty, grandma, the photographer plus the Mayor of Bolton, who was invited due to the 24-year-old’s history in care.

He said: “I spent a large part of my childhood in and out of care and I felt a close connection with the council and asked if she would be able to attend."

The couple went to primary school together in Bolton, but parted ways when leaving for high school. They met again in 2018 after finding each other on Instagram and got engaged in November last year.

Mr Atcha said: “We are not doing anything else now and would rather spend the time focussing on setting up the rest of our lives than put on an event, because that’s what Asian weddings are.”

As the CEO of Youth Leads, Mr Atcha is working on getting the message of coronavirus across to young people in Bolton to do things in a safe way.