Bride's Unique Tidal Island Wedding: Guests Wear Trainers to Reach 'Little Church in the Sea'
Alex Spall and Jonathan tie the knot at St Cwyfan's Church on Anglesey, timing their ceremony around high tide
Auf einen Blick
- A bride married at St Cwyfan's Church on the tidal island of Cribinau off Anglesey, Wales, requiring guests to wear trainers to cross the sand at low tide.
- Alex Spall, 48, and Jonathan, 43, planned their wedding for 18 months, carefully checking tide times to ensure guests could reach the 'little church in the sea'.
- The 12th-century church, which was restored in 2006, can only be accessed at low tide and was threatened by erosion in the late 19th century.
KI-generierte Zusammenfassung
Warum es wichtig ist
St Cwyfan's Church dates back to the 12th Century and is located on Cribinau, a tidal island off the western coast of Anglesey. The church was built at the end of a peninsula between two bays, with a causeway created for access. In the late 19th Century, erosion caused graves to fall into the sea and the building became roofless and disused until architect Harold Hughes raised money for restoration.
It is a running joke on many wedding days, with guests speculating if a bride will get to the church on time. Reasons for a late-show can range from traffic, to pre-ceremony nerves, or a last-minute visit from an old flame. But at St Cwyfan's Church off Anglesey, the problems are altogether different - with guests wondering if high tide will cut the bride off from her big day completely.
Luckily, Alex Spall, 48, was on time, but requested her guests wore trainers not stilettos, so they too made it safely across the sand to the ceremony. "Thankfully when I managed to get hold of the tide book and it had released the tide times for that month, we knew we'd be okay," she said. "We knew that there were a good few hour windows that we could get away with it, we were very relieved.
"I think everyone was a bit gobsmacked really, everyone was blown away with the romanticism of it all and how beautiful it all was."
Known as "the little church in the sea", its picturesque location on a tiny island off the Welsh mainland make it a popular spot for weddings and christenings. However, its future seemed under threat in the late 19th Century, when erosion meant some of the graves surrounding the church begun falling into the sea.
St Cwyfan's dates back to the 12th Century, and is on a tidal island named Cribinau, off the western coast of Anglesey. It was built at the end of a peninsula between two bays, as shown on a map from 1636. A causeway was created so people could access the island and church. But even with this, high tides sometimes made it inaccessible, meaning services were sometimes held at a nearby house.
By the late 19th Century, the building was roofless and disused because another place of worship had opened in a more accessible location. Architect Harold Hughes started raising money to build a seawall and restore it. Work was carried out, and in 2006, the weather-stained walls were whitewashed, making it stand out off the coast.
Today, the island can only be reached at low tide - and people are advised to check the tide times before journeying over.
Alex, from Liverpool, and her husband Jonathan, 43, knew it was where they wanted to wed. They had both visited Rhosneigr, on Anglesey, for more than 40 years on holiday. She added: "Jonathan's mum was born and brought up in Caernarfon, so there was a connection on both sides, so it just seemed to fit."
They had also wanted a small and intimate venue, and described the location as "remote and so romantic". However, despite planning their big day for 18 months, they faced a nervous wait to find out if the tide would be low enough to make it over. Their relief at finding out they would be okay meant the bad weather didn't bother them, as she added: "It was blowing a gale. It was pouring down."
