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Gay villageYou are in: Birmingham > People > Gay village > Gay 'wedding' first in B'ham  James and Brynn tie the knot Gay 'wedding' first in B'hamBy Sarah Loat James and Brynn Tudor have made history by becoming Birmingham's first gay couple to tie the knot and form a civil partnership. James and Brynn became the first same sex couple to participate in a Civil Partnership a Birmingham Registry Office on Wednesday 21st December 2005. Twenty five close friends and family witnessed the ceremony, and James' sister Katie was there as a 'groomsmaid' to support her brother. "It's nice to be here for them, I'm so proud - it's not everyday you get to be a groomsmaid!"  At Birmingham Registry Office Proud as punchJames' parents Dawn and Colin were equally thrilled to be witnessing their son's wedding, "We're absolutely proud as punch. Very happy. We're just so glad that they can finally do it." "I feel absolutely wonderful, he's a lovely grandson" said James' grandmother "I love Brynn too - they're both gorgeous". The ceremony was the first of four civil partnerships set to take place today in Birmingham, and was conducted by Tom Skehan, the Superintendent Registrar and Jane Millin, the Civil Partnership Registrar. Following similar procedure to a marriage ceremony, rings were exchanged and the couple were declared "lawful civil partners", and signed a Civil Partnership Certificate.  James' mother, grandmother and sister Ceremony first"It was a very nice occasion", said Mr Skehan "I was very excited as it's the first time I've performed this ceremony. They're a nice couple and the atmosphere was nice, there were plenty of smiles and laughter." "I'm on a high", said James after the ceremony. "It was beautiful, it was fabulous, it went really smoothly - absolutely perfect!" Just before their ceremony, James wrote down his thoughts on his marriage to Brynn for the BBC Birmingham website;Brynn and I are thrilled that at last we can finally have our love and relationship recognized legally. It feels as if our two ceremonies on the 21st of December will be the end of a long, exciting (and sometimes stressful) journey.  James and Brynn with their groomsmaids Legally recognisedAs soon as we first heard that the government was considering the legislation, so many months ago, we began making plans. I myself already had an idea of how I wished our ceremony to look and after talking it through with Brynn it was decided that we would have a Henry VIII and his six wives theme. Firstly it seemed very appropriate because of our name, Tudor (We had both taken the same name a year or so ago); secondly I have always had an intense fascination with Henry’s six wives, especially Anne Boleyn. We began by making a great deal of inquiries on how to proceed with our planned civil partnership ceremonies. At first the information seemed more than a little confusing, legally it all seemed very much in the air but we continued in our planning for the big day.  James' sister and parents Two ceremoniesWe decided that we would have two ceremonies, the first a quite simple affair at the registry office to sign the register, the second a far more elaborate affair with our Tudor theme. We began by looking for suitable venues and after looking at several we decided on Birmingham’s own fantastic Aston Hall. Sinead the Deputy Curator Manager was amazingly helpful and we booked the great hall for our 16th century nuptials. From the moment we met with our celebrant, Kate Day, we knew we were in wonderful hands and with Pauline sorting out our wedding script we were able to relax knowing that that part of our day was going to be wonderful.  'Groomsmaids' Anita and Katie 'Grooms maids'By this time we had already decided on and invited our six ‘grooms maids’. Each was to represent one of Henry’s wives. Mary Wilson as Catherine of Aragon, Anita Robinson as Anne Boleyn, Fiona McKenzie as Jane Seymour, Lorely Burt MP as Anne of Cleves, Fran Robinson as Kathryn Howard and my own beautiful sister Katie Launchbury as Catherine Parr. We also asked the two fabulous Robinson girls, Carrie and Grace to portray Henry’s daughters, Princess Mary and Princess Elizabeth. Tudor costumesIt was then onto costumes. Each gown was individually researched, designed and made by myself. This was quite as task but finally everything was slotting into place. Our own outfits were based on Tudor paintings of male celebrities of the time, the most time consuming point being the attaching of the many jewels and pearls. By this time we had placed our names with Birmingham Registry Office informing them of our full intention to sign the Civil Partnership Register. They sent us our pack and we returned them the very same day.  The happy couple All through these two people were wonderfully helpful, Liz Comberlack at Birmingham Registry office and Bridget Bishop of Solihull Registry office, where we intended to give our notice on the 5th of December. With this now organized we went and brought our suits and asked Katie and Anita to be our Grooms maids at this more intimate event. Brynn and I can’t wait to receive our relatives and friends from round the country to share in our very special day. James and Brynn - picturesSee exclusive pictures of Birmingham's very first civil partnership ceremony betwen James and Brynn Tudor. Also take a look at pictures of their second ceremony, an opulent Tudor-themed service at Birmingham's Aston Hall. last updated: 06/08/2008 at 18:58 Have Your Say
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