A wedding bonus

‘For Gawd’s sake, get me to the church on time”, sang Stanley Holloway as Alfred Doolittle in My Fair Lady. But while the groom is expected to appear at the appointed hour, it has long been the bride’s prerogative to be fashionably late. Or so we thought. Canon John Corbyn is so fed up with tardy arrivals that he is imposing a £100 fine on those turning up more than 20 minutes after their allotted time at Holy Cross Church in Bearsted, Kent. Etiquette experts say that between 10 and 20 minutes late is acceptable for the bride. Anything longer than that is beginning to suggest second thoughts; so Canon Corbyn is not being unreasonable. In any case, the £100 is included in the overall cost and is then refunded to the couple if they make it on time. So it is not so much a fine as a bonus – a good way to start married life.