Celebrating one thousand years of married life!
An unusual number of wedding dresses graced the aisles of the Holy Ghost Church, Raddenstile Lane, Exmouth on Saturday 18 April, as couples who had been married in the church renewed their marriage vows. The couple with the longest wedding history were Violet and Maurice Brown, who were married in Holy Ghost sixty years earlier, in 1955. Violet and Maurice travelled from Paignton to take part in this special Mass to honour the Sacrament of Marriage. Violet’s parents, Thomas and Enam Teague were themselves married in the same church on 6 August 1931. During the Mass many other parishioners renewed their wedding vows, and received a Blessing. Between them, they accounted for over 1000 years of married life.
Great joy was felt by all the couples as they processed out of the church after mass to the wedding march!
After Mass there was a reception in the Parish Hall, of sparkling wine and wedding cake, made by Tracey Cheyne and decorated with the logo of the Centenary Year. Many couples also took the opportunity, despite the cool north-easterly winds, to pose for photographs beside the resplendent Wedding car loaned by Bill and Mary Nash. The church ‘family’ of the brides gathered beside the brides and grooms for family photos – a wonderful record of the occasion.
The first wedding to take place in the Holy Ghost church was that of George and Marian Baker on 15 April 1914. This particular event was one of a series of to commemorate a special year for the Holy Ghost Church, whose centenary will be celebrated on 6 May 2015, one hundred years after its official consecration.
The event was truly memorable bringing together generations of families whose photos were displayed beautifully in the Cloister in a collection brought together by Jacky Doak.
— Siobhan Canham