Luss Church: A magnet for “Cuckoo brides” Image: Google
A MINISTER has banned cheeky newly-weds from having pictures taken outside his church when they did not marry there.
The Rev Dane Sherrard has criticised “cuckoo brides” who use picturesque Luss Parish Church, near the banks of Loch Lomond.
He claims couples who pay 600 to be married at the church are being upset by the interlopers posing outside.
Celebrities including supermodel Kirsty Hume, TV presenter Sarah Heaney and game show host Noel Edmunds have picked the location for their own weddings.
Rev Sherrard complained: “One day we opened the door for a newly married couple and there was another bride and groom on the steps having photos taken.
“Our bride and groom were considerably upset.”
He added: “Another time, a bride and groom arrived with their photographer and started taking pictures just as our bride arrived.
“Our bride thought something dreadful had happened and the wedding before her had overrun.”
Rev Sherrard said the panicked bride actually drove off, wrongly believing she had been cheated out of her alloted wedding time.
And in that case it was only modern technology that avoided a disaster. He said: “The situation wouldn’t have been resolved if we weren’t in the age of mobile phones.”
The church takes care to avoid making couples who have arranged to marry at the church feel like they are on a “conveyor belt”.
“We’re very careful that there’s two hours between start times,” he said.
Rev Sherrard is mystified by the phenomenon of cuckoo brides at Luss.
“Why would anyone want to pretend to be married in Luss Church if they weren’t?” he asked.
And he warned: “We’re taking a very strong line with cuckoo brides.”
Rev Sherrard insists that no couple is denied the chance to get married at the church.
“Anyone who wants to be married here is made more than welcome,” he said.
“If you want to be married in Luss, we’ll be delighted to host your wedding.
“And you can have as many photographs as you like.”
Deal Or No Deal host Noel Edmunds’ second marriage took place in Luss Church in 1986 to Helen Soby, although the couple split eight years later.
Kirsty Hume and her groom Donovan Leitch tied the knot there in 1997, accompanied by numerous celebrity friends.
And Sarah Heaney wed jewellery designer Edward Adams at the church in 2005, accompanied by 100 family and friends.
