A Wanstead couple accidentally became one of the first to get married at Redbridge Town Hall.
Laura Holden and Alex Dixie, 31, registered for a ceremony in Victoria House, Barkingside in 2016 after they became engaged.
When the bride-to-be called up the venue days before her wedding to confirm a detail, staff told her that she would actually be getting married at the town hall, High Road, Ilford, as Victoria House was no longer open for ceremonies.
Not one to be a bridezilla, a calm Laura accepted the change, saying the location was actually nearer to her house.
Of the wedding last week, she told the Recorder: “When we first heard the ceremony was in the town hall, we thought it would be in a person’s office with a desk and files.
“But it was fantastic and the registrars were great.
“It was an intimate, nice room and I would recommend getting married there.”
The couple first met 10 years ago at the University of Warwick when they both chose to do an optional French language module.
“Alex studied physics and his dad told him to take a language to meet girls,” Laura said.
“I sat next to Alex and we got talking – his dad was like, ‘I told you so’.”
As well as being one of the first couples to wed in the town hall, the pair also took beautiful photos in the room and on the iconic stairs.
The bride then rode around London with her husband in a vintage car, before having a dinner with loved ones in Covent Garden.
They later had a big party in Suffolk before flying abroad for their honeymoon.
The council offers a range of different rooms at the town hall for wedding ceremonies, including a more intimate room, a space for 40 people and the council chamber for up to 70.
A council spokesman said: “We are delighted that the newlyweds have enjoyed their wedding at the town hall and we are pleased to be able to offer a choice of rooms for civil ceremonies in this renaissance style Grade II lsited building.”
Visit redbridge.gov.uk/births-deaths-marriages-and-citizenship/ceremony-at-the-register-office/
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