A NORTH East wedding couple plan to turn tradition on its head, by making a dash from the altar …to the starting line of the Great North Run.
Guests at the nuptials of Nik Lamont and Tracy Young, at the Great North Museum:Hancock, Newcastle, on Sunday 13 September, will be left standing, as the couple ditch their finery and don their trainers to take part in the race – just seconds after tying the knot.
The couple, from Hamsterley, County Durham, got engaged shortly after finishing the world famous half marathon in 2013 – and now they’ve planned their big day around their fifth entry in the race.
“We’ll have to do the whole wedding backwards,” said 43-year-old Nik, who owns a gardening business, “and we’ll have to run like mad to get to the start on time, but we’re pretty sure we can do it.”
Their big day will begin at 9am, when the museum’s Sodexo Prestige Venues & Events catering team will serve them and their 30 guests with a specially created buffet wedding breakfast.
They will then pose for their photographs – before exchanging their vows in the venue’s Clore Suite at exactly 11am.
“That’s the very earliest you can get married on a Sunday in this country,” said Nik. “But if we keep the ceremony to no more than 20 minutes, we should be able to run to the starting line in around three minutes then we can start the race with minutes to spare.”
In a move that will amaze most brides-to-be, for whom the dress is all-important, Nik and 35-year-old teacher Tracy, plan to wear just token wedding finery over their running kit with Tracy likely to opt for “something lightweight she can take off really quickly when the ceremony’s over.”
The couple, who will run together, are hoping to finish the 13.1 mile run in around two and a half hours and then meet up again with their friends and family.
“So, with any luck, by the time we sit down in the evening we’ll have two reasons to celebrate,” said Nik.
Samantha Doyle, sales and marketing manager for Sodexo Prestige Venues & Events at the Great North Museum: Hancock, said: “The Great North is a hugely popular wedding venue but this is the first time we’ve been asked to organise the reception before the ceremony.
“Nik and Tracy are in very safe hands though. We have an expert team of staff and chefs and they are already on the starting blocks to make their special day absolutely as perfect – and as precisely timed – as it can be.”
For further information about weddings at Great North Museum:Hancock call 0844 856 1074 or e-mail events@twmuseums.co.uk.