If you look at my Mum and Dad’s Marriage Certificate you’ll see that they were married at The Salvation Army Citadel in Beverley on the 2nd April 1950. They were aged 32 and 42 respectively. In case you don’t recognise them – they’re 2nd and 3rd from the right in the photo.
There’s a story behind this though … this was the second time that they were married. They were married first on Saturday 1st April in the same place!
On the first occasion the Registrar didn’t turn up at the wedding. It was decided that they would continue without him as everyone else had turned up.
So – despite going through the Salvation Army Ceremony they were not legally married. The Registrar was eventually contacted and agreed to turn up the next day and the ceremony was performed again in his presence but with a smaller congregation. The Register was duly signed and certified.
Why was it planned for April Fool’s Day in the first place? Well, Mother always said they’d gone for the first Saturday in April without checking when that was. When they realised the date it was too late to change things.
And what happened on the wedding night? Grandma insisted that they sleep in separate rooms until they were “properly married” – not perhaps something you’d hear said nowadays!