Mass vows renewal as church celebrates 400th anniversary

Published on Monday 31 August 2009 09:59

IT'S unlikely to be a wedding any guests will forget – hundreds of couples renewing their vows together, many wearing their original marriage outfits.

Around 400 people are expected to turn out to the unusual wedding service at South Leith Parish Church, forming part of its 400th anniversary in the community.

The event, on Sunday, will be the culmination of a week of marriage-related celebrations, including fashion shows featuring wedding dresses and suits donated by parishioners which span the decades.

Associate minister Louise Duncan said: "It's been great fun organising these shows – lofts around Leith have certainly been turned upside down in the search for dresses, naval uniforms and bell-bottomed suits.

"We've got everything from demure high necked dresses to fairytale off-the-shoulder big skirted numbers. The styles reflect the fashions of the times – some look like something Audrey Hepburn might have worn, others are more like Sarah Ferguson's dress, and then we've got bang up-to- date modern ones too."

Couples will renew their vows at Sunday's service, standing in exactly the same position at the altar where they first tied the knot. All guests have been encouraged to dress for the service as though they were attending a real wedding and will enjoy a celebratory cake afterwards.

Ms Duncan said: "Couples will have the chance to collectively renew their vows and widows and widowers can remember their spouses in a special way. People who were married over the years can stand in the very spot where they took their vows and show their children, grandchildren and even great grandchildren where they were married. Some brides who still fit into their dresses will also put them on after the service for a group photo."

An exhibition, open to the public, paying tribute to the hundreds of couples who have said "I do" in the historic church begins today, including 150 wedding photographs and wedding day stories from couples still associated with Leith.

The stories include tales of fainting best men, ministers being replaced at the last minute through ill-health and organists playing the wrong music, being late or not turning up at all.

Ms Duncan said: "Some of the stories are great. There is one about a dress that was singed by a nervous bride's cigarette, another about Japanese tourists stopping proceedings to get photographs and another about a groom being delivered to the wrong church.

"One couple had to wait for the Suez Canal to be opened before they could get back for their wedding date and another could not get the rings off their cushion because they had been tied on far too tight.

"You name it, it's happened, but despite all the mishaps everyone has happy memories of their big day and that's what we are celebrating."

Pupils from Leith Academy will be among those modelling the outfits for the wedding fashion show, held on Saturday.