text: A terminally-ill landlord whose dying wish was to marry his partner of 26 years saw their special day descend into farce after a series of blunders. Geoff Haigh, 61, from Oldham, Greater Manchester, wanted to marry his long-term partner Heather after being diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer and the pair settled on a venue close to their home. But, instead of having the magical day they had planned, the couple were left reeling after a number of bungles thwarted the ceremony from running smoothly. Guests were forced to listen to the wedding song 10 times while it played over and over, and the couple were left with three marriage certificates after officials got crucial details wrong on the first two. Geoff Haigh, 61, from Oldham, Greater Manchester, wanted to marry his long-term partner Heather, 54, after being diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer but the couple's special day (pictured) was full of blunders . Guests at the couple's (pictured) wedding were forced to listen to the song 'Wonderful Life' 10 times in a row due to a blunder and their marriage certificate was recorded with the wrong date on, rendering it invalid . Mr Haigh, who died weeks after the ceremony in November last year, was left so devastated by the day that he told his wife that he felt like he'd let her down. In fact, the day was so full of blunders that all 11 guests wrote a separate letter of complaint to Manchester Register Office, which is based at Heron House in the city centre, where the pair said their vows. Mrs Haigh, 54, said: 'Geoff was heartbroken by it all. He kept apologising to me and saying he'd wished we'd got married years earlier and done it properly. 'He was devastated, as the way he saw it, this was his final gesture for me and it had been ruined by their thoughtlessness.' The couple had initially dreamed of getting married abroad once Mr Haigh discovered his advanced pancreatic cancer was terminal. However, the landlord of The Ram's Head pub, in Oldham, was distraught to discover that his tumour was too large for him to fly safely. The pair then settled upon the Manchester venue as it was not too far from their home. It took three people two hours to get Mr Haigh ready for his big day and, determined to make the day perfect for his bride-to-be, he battled through pain to make it to the venue. Mrs Haigh, 54, said every guest at the ceremony -  held in November last year in Manchester  -  wrote a letter of complaint. She has three marriage certificates (pictured) as the first two were riddled with errors . The couple had an examiner testing the registrar doing their ceremony (pictured) and were given an invalid marriage certificate as it featured the wrong date. An amended version posted later was full spelling errors . However, it was upon their arrival at the venue that the catalogue of errors began. They said they found the register office dirty and claimed they were forced to wipe dirt from the seats before they sat down. Then they noticed a woman sat at the back as they said their vows, which turned out to be an examiner testing the registrar. Mrs Haigh, a mother of three, said: 'There was some random woman sat at the back who none of us knew and it was only after I asked I was told she was assessing the registrar to see how she did on the day. Geoff Haigh and his wife Heather endured a catalogue of blunders during their wedding day. 'It felt like they were merely using us a practice go, like our special day was not the real thing or of any importance to them.' After the bride and groom said their vows, guests were left on their own to the sound of their bridal music 'Wonderful Life' while the registrar went out of the room. Unbelievably, almost half an hour passed before she returned and the song played 10 times over before Mrs Haigh was compelled to take action. She said: 'Everyone was groaning when the song kept coming back on. We couldn't believe it. 'It had been a special song for us but it is definitely tainted by that day now.' After the ceremony, as they went off to enjoy their wedding reception at city centre restaurant San Carlos, the couple were informed that they would have to return to the register office as officials had logged the wrong date on their marriage certificate. They were instructed to go back to the venue to have the gaffe corrected, otherwise their marriage was invalid. Mrs Haigh told officials that her husband was too ill and could barely walk so they would have to post the amended certificate instead. However, when the second certificate arrived in the post, it was addressed to Mrs Haigh in her maiden name 'Taylor' and included spelling errors on the document. A third certificate then had to be posted out to the couple. Mr Haigh (above) passed away in January this year, just weeks after his wedding to long-term partner Heather. The couple decided they wanted to get married when he was diagnosed as terminal late last year . Mrs Haigh (left) said her new husband (right) was left devastated by the series of blunders and said he felt like he had let her down. She has received £137 from the Manchester register office following the calamity day . Mrs Haigh said: 'It felt like they didn't recognise we were married and that really hurt Geoff before he died. 'It made if feel like the whole thing didn't happen, like it meant nothing at all. It was devastating. 'The guests were all in tears for us. They were all absolutely disgusted and no one could believe the day could have gone so atrociously.' The newlyweds were offered a £137 refund but Mrs Haigh said they were told by the register office that there was not a significant enough 'loss' to warrant compensation. She said: 'It wasn't about the money, but to say there was no loss ignores the emotional cost it took on my husband. 'It was the arrogance and flippant attitude that hurt even more. They said "we all make mistakes and we are only human". 'That's fine when you make mistakes in a restaurant with someone's food but when you are dealing with a terminally ill man's dying wish and the most special day of our lives, that attitude is not acceptable.' The wedding day was so full of blunders that all 11 guests wrote a separate letter of complaint to Manchester Register Office, which is based at Heron House (pictured)  in the city centre, where the pair said their vows . The family has since received an apology from Manchester City Council, which runs the register office based at Heron House. A spokesman said: 'I'd like to offer our sincerest apologies to Mrs Taylor as the ceremony did not meet her expectations. 'These types of problems are thankfully exceptionally rare and our registry staff are incredibly conscientious. They understand that they play a vital role in the most important day of a couple's life and would never knowingly do anything to spoil or delay a wedding.' However, tragically, Mr Haigh died on January 4 this year before receiving the apology. His wife added: 'Geoff was determined not to die over Christmas because he said it would ruin it for everyone after he was gone for years to come, and he didn't want that for us. The energy it took from him to hang on, I couldn't believe.'
target: Geoff Haigh, 61, wanted to marry partner Heather after cancer diagnosis .
  Couple married at Manchester register office but day was full of blunders .
  Guests forced to listen to wedding song 10 times in a row and venue dirty .
  Marriage certificate had spelling errors and wrong date and names .