Western Daily Press (Saturday)
Tanks for the memories: pair tie knot at museum
SOMETHING old, something new, something borrowed and something that blew things up...
An unusual West wedding took place where the turrets in the background of the photographs weren’t on a picturesque stately home, but on dozens of mighty tanks.
And while heavy metal doesn’t usually feature on wedding soundtracks, there were tonnes and tonnes of it as military machinery sat alongside guests.
Military-loving couple Wanda Armstrong-Bridges, 53 and Steve Ellis, 58, have a real passion for the Tank Museum in Dorset.
Not only did they stage their wedding there, but they have also moved from London to live within easy striking distance of it and Wanda even proposed there.
The museum is home to the world’s biggest collection of tanks, with examples from around the world, including Shermans, Panzers and Chieftains.
So keen were they to wed at the attraction in Bovington that staff applied for a special wedding licence for them.
The wedding was delayed due to Covid but has now taken place with more than 60 friends and family attending.
Steve spent 13 years in the 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards and Royal Dragoon Guards on Chieftain tanks, finishing his military career as a corporal.
They each have two daughters from previous relationships and their shared love of tanks brought them together eight years ago.
Wanda said: “I had always wanted to be in the RAF but just before I was due to join I suffered a fractured skull and was deemed unfit for service.
“However, I have always loved military history and when I met Steve we realised we had a lot in common.
“A few years ago I was made redundant and we decided to go travelling for six months.
“When we returned we wanted to live near the Tank Museum because we loved it so much.
“So we got out a map and drew a circle around the museum within which no point was more than an hour away – and we ended up in Yeovil.
“It was just before Covid when I proposed to Steve at the museum on February 29, 2020.
“I gave him some dog tags that matched his real ones – and on one I’d had engraved ‘will you marry me?’.”
Steve added: “Unfortunately Covid meant our wedding was delayed and it kept being delayed because we had guests coming from all over the world.
“But finally we had the perfect wedding at a place we both love and visit all the time.
“The museum staff were brilliant and even got the wedding licence for us because no one had been married there before.
“We showed our guests around the museum and we’ll keep returning, but now as a married couple.”
Steve, a facilities manager who trained in Bovington at the start of his military career, and Wanda, a radiological compliance manager, are planning a honeymoon to the Pacific Northwest of America.
Rosanna Dean, visitor experience general manager, said: “Wanda and Steve have been supporters of the Tank Museum for a long time and we were so pleased when they decided to get married here.
“They chose to have a full day with us, including a ceremony overlooking the Tank Story Hall, afternoon tea and a buffet and reception in the evening, in sight of the kind of tank that Steve served on.
“It was a fantastic day and I know I speak for everyone at the museum when I wish them every happiness.”