Andy & Sheila
St Mary's Church
Todmorden, West Yorkshire
St Mary's sits high above Todmorden, and on a sunny August afternoon the guests climbed the path to it in their good suits and bigger hats, taking their time about it. Flower girls in flower crowns had already got their bouquets sorted before anyone else had found a seat.
Inside, under the stained glass, the groom waited with his best man, ring box held steady in one hand. When the bride came down the aisle the whole church turned to look, and nobody seemed to mind the wait.
A ring was placed carefully onto a waiting hand, a kiss at the altar got a proper round of attention from the rafters, and two people walked back down the aisle married, looking rather pleased about the whole arrangement. Outside, confetti went up in handfuls and came down everywhere except where it was aimed.
Group photographs followed on the church steps, the family lining up obligingly in the sunshine, before the bride and groom had the gardens to themselves for a while — a kiss under the willow, foreheads together, a walk along the path with the West Yorkshire hills doing exactly what they're paid to do in the background. They even took the scenic route back into town, hand in hand past the road signs for Hebden Bridge and Halifax, entirely unbothered by the traffic.
Then it was off for a meal locally, where the day carried on into the evening — a speech delivered standing up in braces and a red tie, with the bride looking on from beside him, and at least one guest who couldn't get through the toasts without reaching for a napkin.
