Wedding Bells

- changing styles

Jeremy and I have been a couple for nearly fifty years. We were one of the first British gay couples to become Civil Partners, on the first day allowed by UK law, 21 December 2005. We were also one of the first gay couples to convert our Civil Partnership to a marriage, on the first day allowed by UK law, 10 December 2014.

Our Civil Partnership was conducted by a registrar at Westminster City Hall. As required by law two witnesses attended, in our case two male gay friends. No family or other friends were present. This important event in our lives, delayed so long by British law, meant that none of our parents were still alive to witness this happy occasion.

As is well known, in the normal course of events, at a traditional church wedding, the father takes the arm of his daughter, the bride, and escorts her up the aisle to the altar and her betrothed.

Recently I received a touching image of a dear lady friend, sadly deceased, an unmarried single parent, escorting her daughter up the aisle to the altar and to her husband to be.

I mentioned this happy variation to tradition to a journalist friend who responded: ‘When my gay friend Bells got married, her wife was the one who came down the aisle because Bells has always been the more masculine one in their relationship and wanted to be in a suit, whereas her wife wanted the big white dress and the walk down the aisle so that kind of naturally resolved itself. When Clare and SJ got married out here in Spain last year, they both walked towards the celebrant with their small son between them which was VERY sweet.’

For your further consideration on the subject:

© Text Derek Frost 2025