15.08.2010

Its no surprise that weddings these days can set you back a pretty penny, and as a result there are many couples starting out on married life with a serious amount of debt having forked out for a wedding themselves. One lucky couple thought they had avoided the financial headache when they were selected out of 100 hopeful applicants to recieve £5000 from the Online Bingo Club. No sooner had they popped the champagne corks than vicar conducting their wedding put a stop to their dreams.
Matt, 37, and Suzanne, 28, both from Newcastle-under-Lyme, won the prize for the sponsorship deal on the basis that in return, they displayed the Online Bingo Club Logo on everything from the invites, to the place settings, dinner menus, clothes and shoes.
The church wedding was booked to take place in Scotland, with Rev. Tony Watts conducting the ceremony. However, the vicar put a stop to the proceedings as he didn’t want gambling associated with his church, meaning he didn’t allow the use of logos in the church, or any photos taken in order to publicise the bingo company.
We can only imagine how Suzanne felt – the biggest day of her life! She was understandably disappointed.
The founder of the Online Bingo Club, Ron Hutchings, said; ‘The story has been run by a number of nationals, who viewed the story as a clash between tradition and commercialism. Where, tradition came out the victor’.
Matt and Suzanne are still going ahead with their marriage, and now hope that the publicity the story attracted will help them reach a mutually beneficial compromise with the bingo firm, allowing them to receive at least a portion of the original sum.