Abi Clark, 32, was in the middle of her wedding ceremony to Tony Clark, 32, at St. Brelade's Bay Hotel in Jersey when a bee flew at her. As she swatted the insect away, her engagement ring slipped off her finger and landed on the beach below. Approximately 15 guests immediately began searching for the ring on the sand but were unsuccessful.
Tony suggested they continue the ceremony without the ring, but guests recommended contacting a local metal detectorist, Steve Andrews of Jersey Lost Ring Metal Detecting. Andrews, a firefighter by profession, arrived at the beach and located the ring within ten minutes.
"We were getting married on the front lawn, just above the beach," Tony said. "Just before Abi came down, the celebrant told her to put her engagement ring on a different hand for when we did the ring passing. Then during the ceremony, bees kept getting in the way, getting in her face—they must’ve liked her perfume!"
Abi, a teacher, was holding her engagement ring in her right hand when the bee approached her face. She said she didn't know what to do at first but suspected the ring had landed on the beach due to the force with which she swatted the bee. She was "gutted" that the ring could not be found and wanted to continue searching after the ceremony, but she focused on celebrating with her friends and family.
"During conversations and throughout the day, I would talk about the missing ring but tried to block it out as I didn’t want it to ruin our wedding day—which we had worked so hard to save for over two and a half years," Abi recalled.
Later, during the reception, toastmaster Callum and guest Jess made an announcement that the ring had been found. Abi described feeling emotional and thankful. "I am so grateful to our close friends and to the metal detector for doing this for us, but also the way they revealed it had been found made it extra special as everyone was cheering and clapping and it was just an extra celebration on top of what was already a really special day," she added.
Tony expressed his gratitude to Andrews, who volunteers his services. "Abi was overjoyed—to get the ring back was so special. It certainly was quite eventful!" he said.