This is the moment an entire wedding was evacuated at The Grand Hotel in Brighton last Sunday due to a bomb threat – just as the bride and groom were due to exchange their vows.
Exclusive footage shows the moment sirens rang out as Gaby and Dan Rosehill stood under a chuppah – a Jewish wedding canopy – just two minutes into the ceremony.
Speaking to MailOnline today, Dan, 31, said at first he thought it was a prank – and joked it might have been ‘divine intervention’.
‘You couldn’t write the timing of it with the alarm going off just as Gaby was walking up the aisle,’ he added.
Gaby, 29, a digital marketing manager, said: ‘We thought it was a routine fire alarm. Then the rabbi joked someone had burnt the potatoes.’
But the couple quickly realised it was no laughing matter when they were told police were contacted, at 4.30pm, with news of a bomb threat.
The pair and 218 guests were evacuated, and relocated to the Hilton Brighton Metropole, where they remained for five hours while the Army and police scoured the building.
This is the moment Gaby and Dan Rosehill’s wedding ceremony came to an abrupt halt at The Grand Hotel in Brighton last Sunday when alarms sounded due to a bomb threat
‘You couldn’t write the timing of it with the alarm going off just as Gaby was walking up the aisle,’ Dan, 31, told MailOnline
Exclusive footage shows the wedding party – including 218 guests – being evacuated and relocated to the Hilton Brighton Metropole. They stayed there for five hours while the Army and police searched the premises
Some guests assumed the wedding would be cancelled but the ceremony – and festivities – continued, thanks to some improvisation.
The video shows four men holding a sheet above their heads to form a makeshift chuppah, under which the couple stood.
And so, the bride walked down the aisle for the second time that day – and got to enjoy a second ‘first dance’.
Eventually, they were allowed back to The Grand, and partied the night away on a slightly grander scale.
The pair were quizzed by officers about whether either of them had a jealous ex who might be out to ruin their big day.
At one point during the chaos, guests could be seen rallying around in good spirits, making the most of the situation.
Gaby said: ‘I had a really tearful moment in the toilets with my sister and mother when I just thought, “This isn’t how it was supposed to go” but I quickly pulled it together and the way everyone rallied round was amazing.’
Some guests assumed the wedding would be cancelled but the ceremony – and festivities – continued, thanks to some improvisation
In a room at the neighbouring Hilton Metropole, the couple were able to get married and share their first dance to the aptly titled track I Would Do Anything For Love by Meatloaf
Dan, a musician, said: ‘It was upsetting. There were some disastrous things that happened during the day including the fact my father – who suffers from Parkinson’s – didn’t have his medication as it was left inside the hotel. It was a nightmare situation.’
And his brother’s wife was forced to miss out on most of the celebrations because a babysitter they had booked wasn’t allowed inside the building.
In a room at the neighbouring Hilton Metropole, the couple were able to get married and share their first dance to the aptly titled track I Would Do Anything For Love by Meatloaf.
Their wedding band didn’t have their instruments so they used cocktail shakers and glasses as makeshift musical items.
Gaby said: ‘We’d been planning meticulously for 18 months and just when you think you’ve thought of everything that can possibly go wrong’
The Rosehills’ wedding band didn’t have their instruments – which they’d had to leave at the Grand – so they used cocktail shakers and glasses instead
Gaby said: ‘We’d been planning meticulously for 18 months and just when you think you’ve thought of everything that can possibly go wrong.
‘The next thing we knew we had police saying it was a credible threat and even questioning us if we knew anyone who might have not wanted the wedding to go ahead.
‘It was a bit of a race against time. Because we’re Jewish we also had to have the ceremony before sundown. At one point I was afraid we wouldn’t be able to get married.’
After their wedding day chaos, Gaby, a digital marketing manager, and musician Daniel headed off on their honeymoon to Tenerife
‘I kept wondering whether I’d ever get to see the room where we had planned our wedding for the last 18 months… I had tears running down my face in shock.’
‘I didn’t want the guests to know I was upset but it kind of hit home it was going wrong when the photograph was taking pictures. I pulled it together though.’
Sussex Police chief superintendent Lisa Bell said in a statement: ‘It was important that this report was thoroughly looked into, and we are grateful for the patience and understanding of staff, guests, and people using the nearby car parks, whose afternoon and evening was disrupted.
‘A comprehensive criminal investigation is underway to trace the person responsible for the call.
‘We are not disclosing any details of the call, but certain lines of enquiry are being actively followed.’
After the day of drama, Gaby and Daniel headed off on their honeymoon to Tenerife where they are now taking it easy.
But even at the airport their luck didn’t change. Dan thought their disastrous day might see the pair bumped up into business class, but the check-in assistant had other ideas.
‘She told me not only was the flight fully booked, but we wouldn’t be able to sit together and we embarked on our honeymoon sitting at opposite ends of the plane,’ he said.
The iconic Grand Hotel was attacked by the IRA attack in 1984 during the Conservative party conference.
The blast killed five people, including Tory MP Sir Anthony Berry.
The wedding videographer used by the Rosehills was Mulhern Media.