JOHN CANNING

We decided we wanted to get married in theTown Hall.We fell in love with the building right away. We knew that this was where we wanted to get married. After booking, we got a call about a VVVIP who would be coming on the same day as our wedding. We didn’t know who it was, and the people at the Town Hall weren’t told either, for security reasons. Turns out it was the Queen...and our wedding could still go ahead!

I had a moment of madness and decided to write to her. I wrote a letter and wished her all the best for her Jubilee and asked if she had five minutes spare, she could knock on next door and we could get her a couple of stools. We got a response from Buckingham Palace, from the lady-in-waiting. The Queen wished us all the happiness for the future and that was it. The letter didn’t say if she would or wouldn’t be coming. It was still a lovely blessing in letter form from the Queen.

On the day, the flags were waving, there was paparazzi and cameras for the Queen’s Jubilee visit. When she was arriving, me and my guests were coming in from a different entrance. While the Queen was waving at the audience, Frances (my bride) turned up. The paparazzi caught on and asked her to wave and were wondering who she was. After a fairly quick service, we were asked if we would like to meet the Queen.

At that point we were a little dumbstruck, we said yes, of course. Frances asked how to do one of those dippy things, and we spent 5 minutes rehearsing before we met her. It was a perfect wedding. The Town Hall made it for us and with the extra decorations and paparazzi it just took our wedding to another level.