The wedding Bells that made BBC history
Steve and Zoe
For the first time in British history, a non-royal wedding was broadcast live on the BBC. Thousands of listeners heard Steve and Zoe Bell take their vows on Radio 4’s Sunday Worship programme, and this is their amazing story.
They heard about an appeal by Radio 4 for a church wedding taking place in August 2008, and decided to respond.
“We talked about it and thought it would be a laugh” said Steve, and confessed they thought they wouldn’t be picked.
“When someone from the BBC called to talk about our application, I was gob-smacked! When I eventually got a call to say they were going to record our wedding, you could have knocked me over with a feather!” said Steve.
The wedding broadcast went out on 31st August from St Andrew’s Church, Rugby. It was the happy result of a romantic relationship that began at a Salsa dancing class where Steve taught. Zoe was the first to turn up to the class and as the months went by, they started dating, moved in together and soon decided to marry.
Our radio wedding was an amazing experience and we both feel so blessed to have been part of that historic day.
On the night they got engaged at a town centre restaurant, they were walking to a bar afterwards and came across St Andrew’s, which they hadn’t noticed before.
The church was open for clubbers and others in the town to go in for refreshments and quiet. When Steve and Zoe went in to take a look, they were warmly welcomed, and after their visit, they felt they wanted to return.
As time went on, they investigated the Christian faith and took an opportunity offered by the church to think through the wedding vows and the commitment they were going to make. It was a commitment that would be heard more publicly than they could ever have imagined.
Steve added: “Our radio wedding was an amazing experience and we both feel so blessed to have been part of that historic day.”
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