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October 22, 2009
Star struck

Apart from the colours and hedgerow foraging, the other reason I love the Autumn is that it is Wedding Show season and I absolutely love the glitz and glamour of it all. The NEC was particularly spectacular for me because I was onstage alongside Jackie and Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen.

March 6, 2009
Is adultery the end of marriage?

I was intrigued by a comment that popped up on the side of my computer screen this morning saying “Adultery is not the end of marriage.” The link led to an American MSNBC news article about a website called Ashley Maddison, which is causing a few ripples across The Pond. The website is the brainchild of Noel Biderman, an American businessman who is making a crock of gold out of a crock of … Well, out of promoting serial infidelity. Enough said.

October 8, 2008
That was the Week that was....

I bet no-one else reading this website is old enough to remember the TV programme with the title above...it was a roundup of all the happenings in the week. Anyway it has been an amazing week in the Church of England and I'm delighted to be part of it! The long awaited Marriage Measure became law on October 1st and we've been celebrating. Hopefully you'll think it's a cause for celebration too as you now have much more freedom in your choice of venue for a church wedding.Hurray!

April 26, 2008
Shepherding the 'Bride'

Yesterday I was at York Minster to watch the Consecration of 3 new Church of England Bishops - two of them to my home diocese of Manchester. During the service I was struck by the similarity to a wedding. Not really surprising as the Bible refers to the Church as the Bride of Christ...

March 27, 2008
Happiness is...in the DNA (who wrote yours?)

What is it that creates a happy person and hopefully a happy marriage? What is the secret ingredient?

Well according to the downbeat newspaper reports on the tenth anniversary of the invention of Viagra it's dawning on people that happiness has nothing to do with membership (sorry Bishop couldn't resist that) but everything to do with belonging.
Every survey seems to agree that having a solid network of loving family and friends around us is the top ingredient to happiness.

November 26, 2007
The Queen of Diamonds

I've been travelling the globe in the last few weeks and I've missed the opportunity to comment on some news stores while they were 'hot' but, however late, it would be remiss of us not to celebrate somewhere on these pages the diamond wedding anniversary of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip.

October 16, 2007
“Je ne regrette rien”.

Brave words by Edith Piaf – yet most of us feel we have something to regret and a new book entitled ‘The Book of Regrets’* has been published. It’s a compilation of contributions by celebrities who talk about the thing they regret in life, with proceeds going to charity. Most of them (like the Archbishop of Canterbury who wished he had approached W.H Auden in a teashop) regretted things they didn’t do. Both Libby Purves and Bel Mooney wished they had been more adventurous and both (unsurprisingly) quoted Edith Piaf’s signature tune.

May 29, 2007
Smile and enjoy the day

There are some weddings that will be engraved forever on the memory - for various reasons. Last Saturday's ceremony falls into that category...

The couple had said they didn't want any hymns in case it was 'too religious' and the Bride asked me on the phone how long the service would last. I must confess that I was beginning to wonder why they wanted a church wedding at all.

The plan was to have 2 Best Men, 1 grown-up Bridesmaid and 5 tiny flower girls - the eldest being the four year old daughter of the Bride & Groom and the youngest being their ten month old baby.