If you’ve been a regular reader to our humble pages, you may have remembered a little while back there was a story we heard about where an online bingo portal had offered the chance of a dream wedding – in return for sponsorship space. We said we’d keep you updated, and sure enough, it seems there has been a spot of trouble when it came to online bingo getting the bride to the church.
Unfortunately for Suzanne Latta, 28 and Matt Brown, 37, their vicar took offence to the logo’s that were offered in return for £5000 towards the cost of the wedding. The promotion, run by online bingo portal Online Bingo Club, was a nationwide competition, with over 100 entries. However when it comes to the church, it seems there has been a bit of a (bingo) balls up, with Rev. Tony Watts putting his holy foot down and firmly banning Online Bingo Club’s logo from his church.
The competition was to offer £5000 in return for sponsorship of the wedding, with the company logo featuring on the bridal dress, the groom’s suit and the underside of the couple’s shoes, so that the congregation could see it when the couple knelt at the altar.
When the promotion was launched, it had come under fire from The Church of England officials, with a spokesman saying “It seems like the latest in a long line of themed weddings, presumably at the end.someone shouts ‘House!”
“But it might not be the best way to start out in what should be a permanent relationship.
And echoing the concerns of some other people, the Church went on to say “It would be worrying if people decided to marry according to how much sponsorship was on offer.”
However, many argued that the sponsorship money would no doubt come in handy during a time when many people are counting their pennies. Most certainly it seemed to appeal to Suzanne and Matt, from Newcastle-under-Lyme, who planned to marry in Scotland in Ballater. Unfortunately for them and indeed for Online Bingo Club, it seems the church operates a strict no logo policy – particularly for online bingo sites.
Speaking about the unfortunate turn of events, Suzanne said: “We were both absolutely delighted to have been chosen as the winners of the Bingo Bride competition.
“But our minister is not allowing any photos in the church during the ceremony, it is a sacred place and he wants no distractions, on speaking to him he didn’t approve of gambling being advertised in his church.”
And another disappointed voice came from Rob Hutchison of OnlineBingoClub.co.uk, who said: “We are very disappointed that the vicar won’t allow our logos inside his church.
“We wanted to sponsor a wedding because we thought it would be great fun and a popular way to get our name out there.
“At the end of the day it is all just a bit of harmless fun and five grand would have helped Matt and Suzanne pay for their special day.”
Seems like a case of here comes the bride, but there goes the bingo sponsorship. We hope that Matt and Suzanne still manage to have a special day, logo or no logo.
