Here comes the bride, on platform two

Nowadays you can get married at a football stadium, a comedy club, a sea captain's cabin - or even at Ashford International Rail Terminal.

At 11 o'clock this morning, on this most romantic of all days, Yvonne and Barry will stare deeply into each other's eyes, exchange rings, repeat solemn vows and be joined in wedded bliss. But at this particular ceremony there will be no church bells or bridesmaids; nor will friends and family have to file into a register office. Instead, guests with acute hearing may just be able to pick up faint loudspeaker announcements concerning the arrival of the Waterloo service on platform two. Because Yvonne and Barry's wedding is taking place at the Ashford International Rail Terminal, from which the honeymooners can make a fast escape to Paris or Brussels by Eurostar.

Since the marriage laws were relaxed in England and Wales in 1995, hundreds of venues have applied for a licence to hold civil marriage ceremonies. Most are unsurprising choices for weddings - luxurious hotels and stately homes. But couples who fancy doing something rather different can also elect to get hitched in museums, football stadiums, race courses, zoos - even nightclubs.

For couples who aren't turned on by the striking glass and steel facade of Ashford's terminal, there are plenty of more historical alternatives. Those with a love of the sea might opt for Brunel's iron masterpiece, the SS Great Britain, permanently moored in Bristol docks. Ceremonies can take place in the dining saloon or former boiler-room, although the boiler itself has long since disappeared. Similarly, on board HMS Warrior, a restored 1860s warship at the Portsmouth naval base, the captain's cabin is used for marriage ceremonies.

If venues such as these are still too predictable for you, why not go clubbing? The Comedy Store, which has launched the careers of dozens of stand-up comedians, is branching out into nuptials. Not only can the club provide a bit of a do for several hundred people, but its technicians can also film the ceremony as it takes place on stage. Although the Store's civil wedding licence has only just been granted, its owner, Don Ward, has already fielded half a dozen calls. "If the bride and groom want to stay on and see the show later they'd get a lot of fun poked at them, but they'd probably be up for that anyway," he says.

When Kevin Sands and Gaynor Sexton were planning their wedding last year, they were determined to do something different. They had initially talked about getting married in Australia, where Kevin's father lives, but then someone mentioned that the Blackpool tower had just been granted a licence for civil ceremonies. Kevin liked the idea of making history.

"It was the first time anyone had got married there, so our wedding was always going to be unique," he says. "Everyone has heard of the tower. It's a national landmark, and very special to so many people."

The couple exchanged vows in a typical register office ceremony, which was held in the tower's grand ballroom. Gaynor will never forget the entrance she made, walking down the specially created aisle to the strains of the Wedding March, played on the ballroom's famous Wurlitzer organ.

"The sound effects were incredible," she says. "We were very nervous, because we were getting married in such amazing surroundings, but it was the most fantastic day."

Football clubs were quick on the kick-off when the new marriage laws came into effect. Loyal fans of Portsmouth, Norwich City, Port Vale, Stoke City, Newcastle United and Manchester United can get married in the hallowed surroundings of their team's home grounds. But many of the couples who celebrate their love match there aren't even football fans. "I'd say that up to 40 per cent of couples have nothing to do with football or Chelsea," says Debra Ware, who organises ceremonies at Stamford Bridge. "They just think it's novel to come and get married here."

Andrea and Alun Chappell's Stamford Bridge wedding was held on a Friday in August. "We had a fully escorted trip round after the ceremony, everywhere from the directors' box to the home dressing-room, and I had my photograph taken coming out of the players' tunnel and getting out of the team showers in my wedding dress," says Andrea. "We stayed on for the match the next day. Our names were mentioned over the loudspeaker at half time. Alun was just astounded by it all."

So astounded that the Chappells have named their baby daughter Chelsea, in honour of their dream wedding.

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