This winter wedding had it all - a beautiful bride, a handsome groom, a wonderful church, a stunning wedding venue … and drama!The morning preparations had gone without a hitch and Jonathan and best man Gary were in place in the church as were all the invited family and friends. Jonathan's dad Roger had helped light the church candles and the groomsmen Timothy & Martin had helped the arriving guests into the church out of the wind and rain.
The first of the 2 wedding cars carrying Nicole's Mum Lauraine and Maid of Honour Nicola had arrived and after all the months of planning everything and everybody was in place ... but where was the bride?
I joined the very friendly Rector Deiniol Heywwod outside the church and sharing an umbrella we both looked down the long drive to the church and waited for the 2nd wedding car carrying Nicole and her dad Trevor. Deiniol was getting worried as he had another commitment he would be late for and he asked me to call Marianne who was also in the car with Nicole - alas none of us could get a signal on our mobiles.
30 minutes later we saw a battered up VW Golf driving up the lane flashing its lights and honking its horn, Deiniol looked at me and his expression was priceless.
At first it was difficult to see who was inside as all the windows were steamed up - suddenly Nicole emerged with a beaming smile - their chauffeur driven Rolls Royce had broken down in the rain! this Former World, European, Open British, UK & International Champion and Strictly Come Dancing professional dancer certainly knows how to make an entrance.
Marianne told me later that Trevor had flagged down a passing car who's driver knew where the church was and was happy to drive them there - it turned out that this chivalrous knight was the well known concert pianist Philip Fowke.
The ceremony went very well and the readings were given by Trevor and Nicole's brother Paul.
Just as the they were about to leave the church the rain stopped and the sun momentarily shone - great timing. As the bell ringers rang the 17th century bells Nicole and Jonathan left the church and were showered in pink and yellow rose petals thrown by their friends and family.
The Wedding Breakfast was held in the magnificent 12th Century Monks’ Refectory at the exclusive wedding venue Notley Abbey which was once the home of Sir Laurence Oliver and Vivien Leigh.
Jonathan is a professional cricketer and plays for the Glocestershire County Cricket Club. The tables for his cricketing friends were named after cricket fielding positions such as 'Long On' & 'Silly Mid Off' whilst Nicole's friends including Strictly Come Dancing dancers were given tables with dancing names such as 'Cucarachas' & 'Alemana' - amusingly their own head table was named 'Bowled His Maiden Over'.
The dinner was excellent and the speeches were very good.
Most groom's are little worried about the first dance ... If Jonathan felt the pressure of leading a former World Champion on to the dance floor in front of watching professional Strictly Come Dancing dancers he didn't show it - they had a great first dance.
As they finished the live band increased the tempo which saw everyone else taking to the dance floor and as you can imagine there were some very good moves being shown.
