LAST WEDDING AT “THE PRESS”

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31784, 14 September 1968, Page 1

LAST WEDDING AT “THE PRESS”

The last wedding in “The Press” building—the only newspaper office in the country which has such a “service”—took place yesterday, but only after the Registrar of Births, Deaths, and Marriages (Mr R. A. Aitken) had become almost as anxious as the bridegroom. Closing time was 4 p.m. and the staff were starting the office move. Timed for 3.45 p.m., the wedding did not begin until 3.55 p.m. The bride was not exercising her prerogative to be late—she was held up by busy Friday afternoon traffic. Mr William Johns, an M.E.D. linesman, and Miss MaryAnne Mcllroy, a biscuit maker at Aulsebrooks, both aged 19, “fixed the date” some time ago and did not realise that interest in the event extended beyond their family and friends.-

Mr Aitken said that, in the four years the Registrar’s Office has been on the ground-floor corner of “The Press” building, nearly 2000 weddings had taken place. Many couples, he said, had remarked that they liked the situation—the environment of Cathedral Square.

the Gothic arch of "The Press” entrance for photographs, and the feeling of being married in the heart of the city.

“The Press” staff has taken a friendly interest in the weddings but will not complain that the occasional congestion at the entrance during weddings is now a thing of the past.

The snowy carpet of confetti _ outside “The Press’ on most days was also swept up for the last time last evening.

A nearby hamburger bar proprietor has a modest stock of confetti on his hands. He noticed that many friends of wedding parties had forgotten to buy it, so recently displayed boxes in his window. Mr Aitken said he was not sure how wedding parties would manage their photographs when the Registrar’s Office re-opens on an upper floor of the Manchester Unity building on Monday. There was not much room in the foyer and the street corner was busy. “They may go to Cathedral Square, Latimer Square, or elsewhere,” he said. The photograph shows Mr and Mrs Johns after their wedding.