Guest at a christening were gobsmacked when the service turned into a wedding for the proud mum and dad.
Cerys Mair Barrett, 29, and Gareth Young, 40, got their son Freddy christened at St Peter’s Church in Henllys Cwmbran. Their secret plan saw them tell guests in the pews they had to go into the back of the church to sign the paperwork for their 19-month old son.
Minutes later the Wedding Chorus started up and Cerys appeared at the top of the aisle now wearing a wedding dress and holding hands with her dad, Richard.
WATCH the goosebumps moment in this video!
Cerys and Gareth (know as Edd) have been together for five years and engaged for two and a half years. Cerys said: “I had been waiting for a while for the church to become available. I always wanted to get married in St Peter’s so thought while all the family are together for the christening wouldn’t it be lovely to do both on the same day and even lovelier if we could pull off a surprise! “
Twenty-five guests were invited to the christening and the only ones in on the secret were Cerys’ mum Maria, Gary the best man and the Reverend Elizabeth Kerl
She said: “Reverend Elizabeth Kerl has been amazing. At first she needed to make sure that legally both services could happen on the same day, when she had the go ahead she was really excited and supportive. She has even thought of a way to distract guests whilst I change into my dress.”
Their plan was hatched in April so they’ve only had eight weeks to pull of the surprise.
“I’ve never wanted a big traditional wedding so the idea of doing something a little different just seemed to put a fun twist on the day. I’ve loved keeping it a secret from people. I went into a separate room and changed into my dress. Reverend Kerl then asked my dad to sign some of the paperwork, he walked in and saw me in my dress for the first time!
“The door then opened, the organ started to play and we walked down the aisle. We asked evening guests to help celebrate the christening with us in the Cwrt Henllys from 5pm. They also had no idea so got a surprise when they turned up too. It’s been great fun knowing we surprised both sets of guests.
“I’ve been to so many weddings where I’ve stressed about what to wear and what to buy for a gift. I hope that this way the guests simply just had a lovely time, just how it should be.”
The happy couple plan to follow up their big day by having a post-wedding stag and hen do.
