"You won't believe this"
We see plenty of surprises at weddings, but this one genuinely caught everyone off guard. When celebrant Lisa returned to the office after Bev and Neil's wedding, she walked in saying: "You won't believe this..." , naturally, we needed to know more:
"They were a lovely couple and clearly very much in love. I knew they had written their own vows for each other, so I was looking forward to that".
But neither Lisa nor bride Bev, had any idea of what was to come:
Neil, unbeknown to most guests and definitely unbeknown to Bev, had something else up - or rather, under - his sleeve:
I had the idea, leading up to the wedding, to tattoo the vows on my arm.
As the ceremony began at Isaacs on the Quay, everything seemed normal.
Neil started reading his vows from a card.
Then halfway through, he appeared to lose the second page.
Guests looked confused.
Bev looked puzzled.
Then Neil took off his jacket and rolled up his sleeve.
The wedding moment nobody expected
Tattooed on his forearm were the rest of his wedding vows.
Instead of reading from a piece of paper, he carried on reading directly from his arm.
He took off his jacket, rolled up his sleeve, with me looking very bemused, and continued reading his vows from his arm. How I held it together I do not know. I was truly shocked.
Keeping the secret was the hardest part
Getting the tattoo was easy compared to keeping it hidden.
Neil's original idea was to cover it with a bandage and pretend he had injured his arm.
The tattoo artist quickly ruled that out, explaining it could damage the fresh tattoo.
So Neil switched to long sleeves instead. Not ideal when your wedding falls during one of the hottest weeks of the year, but despite Bev's questioning he pulled it off.
Neil even slept with his tattooed arm hidden under the duvet to avoid giving the surprise away.
An unusual start to their wedding day
As if hiding a tattoo wasn't enough, Bev and Neil also started their wedding day in a way few couples would:
They ran a Parkrun dressed as a bride and groom.
The problem?
Neil still needed to hide the tattoo!
I told Bev to make it look more authentic I would wear a long-sleeved black top under the very thick T-shirt. Unfortunately, the only long-sleeved black top I had was a thermal ski top. So running Park run on another scorchingly hot day wearing a thermal ski top and thick T-shirt wasn't the easiest run I had ever had to do.
We're inclined to believe him. What a legend!
Many congratulations again from all of us, Bev and Neil!
Bev's and Neil's Team:
Celebrants: Lisa Brook and Amanda Oliver, Ipswich Register Office
Wedding Venue: Isaacs on the Quay, Ipswich
Photographer: Andrew Capel Photography
Music: Ian Knight, Relevance
Flowers & Makeup: bride
Cake: Couple's friend
Hair: Bride's friend
Bridal dress: Vinted
Groom's attire: Moss Bros
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