Church and Pub Celebrate 800 Years of Marriage

40 couples celebrated Royal Wedding with service reaffirming their vows

More than 40 Chiswick couples celebrated the day of the Royal Wedding with a service reaffirming their wedding vows at St Michael & All Angels Church, followed by drinks at the Tabard pub over the road.

The vicar of St Michael’s, Father Kevin Morris, and Tim Rider, the landlord of the Tabard, both reaffirmed their wedding vows with their wives, Miriam and Tosh, together with other couples.

Tim had suggested the service to Father Kevin, as a way of marking the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton.

“It was a wonderful afternoon and we were delighted that so many couples took part in the church service, and then came over the road to the pub” said Tim.

At least 40 couples attended the service, celebrating a total of more than 800 years of marriage between them. Ten of the couples have been married for over 40 years, and seven for over 20. There were also comparative newly-weds: six of the couple had been married for five years or less.

Father Kevin said: “It was a very happy occasion and people told us they found the service very moving. It was great that so many couples wanted to come and celebrate their marriage and reaffirm their loving commitment to each other, and then continue the celebrations at the Tabard!”

Father Kevin and Tim Rider were interviewed on BBC London before the service took place. You can hear the interviews here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/p00g5wzg (at 1hr 38 mins in, and 2hrs 06 mins in).

St Michael & All Angels and the Tabard pub are situated opposite each other in Bath Road, Chiswick, London W4, two minutes' walk from Turnham Green tube station. The church and the pub were designed by the influential architect Richard Norman Shaw, as focal points of Bedford Park, the world’s first garden suburb.

Both buildings were praised by John Betjeman, who was the first patron of the Bedford Park Society. You can read more about the history of the area at: http://www.bedfordpark.org.

May 3, 2011