Married just four weeks after meeting

November 1994

Love was in the air at the weekend as the fairytale romance of two Wexford Festival backroom workers ended in wedding bells on Saturday.

33-year-old Jane Colquhuon from Yorkshire and Simon Thomas (31) from Portsmouth staged their own version of ‘ The Marriage of Figaro’ when they tied the knot in St Iberius Church at 3 p.m. on Saturday afternoon, in front of their colleagues and friends from Wexford Festival Opera.

The couple met only four weeks previously, when they started work on this year’s Festival. Jane was working in the wardrobe department, while Simon was employed as an assistant electrician.

Their paths crossed, they fell in love, and the rest..as they say...is history.

The wedding itself on Saturday caused quite a stir around Wexford town, as well-wishers congregated outside in the hope of catching a glimpse of the beautiful bride prior to the ceremony.

And they whistled and clapped as Jane, looking every bit the innocent sweet Juliet, arrived in a gorgeous white gown which she made herself. Inside, Simon waited anxiously by the altar rails with Scotsman Colin Cuthbert, another Festival electrician, who wore a traditional kilt for the occasion.

Rev. N.T. Ruddock performed the ceremony, and offered some words of advice to the couple, saying that marriage was not to be undertaken carelessly or lightly, but responsibly. One couldn’t help but think that he may have been referring to such a short engagement.

However, he assured the couple that love conquers all, and he went on to pray for them and Wexford Festival Opera for bringing them together.

The highlight of the ceremony was of course the singing, undertaken by a choir which combined professional opera singers with the Wexford Festival Chorus. The brightest song of the day was the recessional, ‘I’m in Heaven’. The couple surely thought that they were!