Page 17 - OO_2018

FEATURE
Chapel a ‘cool’ place for a wedding
Dotty McLeod (L 05) talks to School Chaplain Brian Cunningham about weddings in the Chapel and to two OOs about why they chose to get married there
Proposing to your beloved: a moment for keen anticipation, high romance... and falling
over! “We were skiing off-piste in France and Greg started bending down, trying to get on one knee, but the powder was so deep, he just looked really weird,” says Libs Browne (née Holmstrom, L 02) of her husband’s proposal. With their decision to get married in Oundle School Chapel in August 2011, however, Libs and Greg were both on more solid ground.
“The Chapel is breathtaking, one of the most beautiful buildings and spaces I know,” Libs adds. “It’s heavenly inside and it was a calm, happy place to go to when I was at School. I wanted the ceremony to be really musical and the Chapel’s acoustics are phenomenal. We had singing during the signing of the register, a family friend playing the organ and Richard Kaufman (an honorary OO) played a trumpet voluntary from the balcony by the organ loft as I walked out. It was so cool.”
Libs and Greg met at Newcastle University. Having trained as a scuba-diving instructor while at Oundle, Libs taught Greg diving in the university’s Officer Training Corps. Greg comes from Northern Ireland, but Libs, whose parents taught at the School for years, pointed out: “Oundle was home. Having our wedding in the Chapel felt nice to be able to show off that part of my life to my friends.”
Brian Cunningham, the School Chaplain, has been by many couples’ sides as they make their decision to wed there. “It’s usually that the Chapel has resonated in some way,” he said. “It’s a place of
positive feelings or memories - or there’s some kind of personal connection with the place. A bride might have sung in the Choir, for example. I think some people are a little overwhelmed by the size of the building - it seats 600 - but you can tailor it to your own particular needs and make it a more intimate space.”
The Chapel’s unique position - a place of the School, but of Oundle town as well - is reflected in the arrangements made for marriages there. It is a privilege open to both OOs and staff, and the process for couples stretches right to the top of the Church of England.
Brian explains: “Normally, when you’re married in a church, you’re married by banns of marriage and traditionally your banns are called three times in the parish church where you’re going to be married or in the parish where a couple lives. But the Chapel is outside the parish system, so the banns system doesn’t apply. In the Chapel you get married by special licence and you have to apply for that from the Archbishop of Canterbury. The physical licence is given before the marriage takes place and it contains the Archbishop’s special seal. It’s a fine
document.”
It was Rev Cunningham who
conducted the service for Steven Franklin (L 05) and his wife, Alice - who met at the ripe old ages of five and four at Oundle Primary School, just opposite the Chapel. A couple of decades later, Steven told Alice he was taking her on a hiking trip in the Lake District. In fact, he had booked them on to the Eurostar to France, where he proposed in a Parisian hotel.
Their wedding came in July 2015 and the size of the Chapel was part of its appeal. “It meant our close friends’ families and other local people who had seen us both grow up could attend the ceremony and be part of our wedding,” Steven explained.
One of the Chapel’s more recent additions - the stained-glass windows installed along the nave to mark the Millennium - also helped make the wedding memorable. Steven recalls: “It was an afternoon wedding in summer, so there was lots of light coming through the windows. As Alice walked in, it literally turned the Chapel multicoloured. It was genuinely amazing.”
It is a sentiment you hope - even expect - to hear from married couples. But what about from a man who has been a key part of more weddings than most? “It’s a wonderful moment in time,” says Rev Cunningham. “It’s a time of great celebration - celebrating a couple’s love for one another, their opens to the blessing of God on their marriage. All those things come together to make it a very special occasion and one that lives long in the memory.”
The School’s Chaplain, Brian Cunningham
THE OLD OUNDELIAN 2017 –2018
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