Church helped ease stress before wedding
Olympic medallists Nick and Sarah Dempsey
Team GB Olympic medallists Nick and Sarah Dempsey shot to fame after their outstanding success in the Beijing Olympics. Read more on Sarah’s and Nick’s web sites.
The couple’s wedding plans had been delayed because of their Olympic training, but they finally walked up the aisle in October 2008 with national press photographers capturing the wedding day smiles.
“We were not really churchgoers but we both knew what we believed in and we wanted to get married in the traditional manner in the eyes of God,” said Nick.
The couple explored churches across Weymouth to find one that felt right and decided on Holy Trinity, Fleet.
The couple had no family or other connections with Holy Trinity and it had just 1 service each month, so they weren't able to regularly attend. Instead, they attended another church in the same team, St Mary’s, for 6 months, which enabled them to legally marry at Holy Trinity.
Sarah told Hello! Magazine: "In the last year the sailing has been very stressful and we've been going to church every Sunday when we've been home and it's really helped. I've always found it hard to relax, but I find I do when I go to church with such lovely people who are so welcoming and warm. It's inspiring."
Speaking to yourchurchwedding.org, Nick added: “Our actual wedding went very well and the Vicar, the Rev Richard Press, was great. He made our ceremony very special by spending time getting to know us. This meant he could reflect our characters in his chosen words, which had all our guests laughing and smiling.”
The couple have been together for 10 years and engaged for 7 but Nick says married life seems a little more special than before. “We don’t know why, it just seems better,” he said.
He added: “Our wedding was a dream day made very special by having all our family and friends there. With the church being so small it was full with around 80 guests, but it made for a warm and close ceremony. It’s a day we’ll never forget.”
Photo taken by Hello! Magazine.
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