All ready for the Big Parade
Master Lightmonger and his fancy hat
The groom, the bride and a Sheriff outside Mansion House
Lady Mayor, Sheriffs and Consorts waiting to begin the parade
Arriving at Guildhall to be greeted by the guests
In the church: we got there in plenty of time!
The back of my head
Opening the Temple Bar gates
A little wedding cake

Get us to the church on time!

30th August 2026

Mansion House, St Lawrence Jewry, Temple Bar, Happenstance

Please, please, get us to the church on time! With Stanley Holloway ringing in our ears, we boarded the 0915 train to Paddington on Sunday 30 August, en route to the Wedding of the Year, at which the Master Architect Chris Bicknell was to marry his long-time partner Sara Hilditch at St Lawrence Jewry, in the glorious final event of his term of office.

Carrying gown, chain, badges, wedding outfits and suitcases, we had hoped for a peaceful journey to London. Of course, this wasn't to be. A train packed with glittery and colourful Reading Festival-goers, Notting Hill Carnival pilgrims, Chelsea supporters heading for a home match and Portsmouth fans returning from an away match all conspired to make sure of that. After several unscheduled "emergency" stoppages, we arrived at Paddington later than planned and sprinted across the concourse to the sanctuary of the Elizabeth Line.

We assembled with the other Masters and Consorts in the tiny Architects' Hall to robe, put on high heels (well, I did), chain and badges, before heading out into Paternoster Square, to the surprise and delight of the tourists, who certainly weren't expecting a large gathering of Masters in colourful gowns and fancy Tudor hats to appear from nowhere. The City does have its eccentric moments and this was one of them!

We set off along Cheapside towards Mansion House, where we were met by the Company of Pikemen and Musketeers in their magnificent red coats and silver helmets. The Lady Mayor, Sheriffs and their Consorts emerged and, eventually, the bride and groom appeared dressed to the nines, to cheers and applause.

We were whipped into some sort of reasonable parading shape — bride and groom, Lady Mayor, Sheriffs and Consorts, then four abreast with Masters on the outside and their Consorts on the inside — and set off once again, this time for St Lawrence Jewry. It made a nice change not to have to shuffle around looking for our order of precedence!

The walk to Guildhall and the church felt like an early practice for November's Lord Mayor's Show, with tourists running alongside taking photographs, although I wouldn't normally do that particular parade in cerise pink suede high heels. There are some things one does for a fellow Master that one would not necessarily do for anyone else!

We finally arrived at the church via Guildhall Yard and were ushered inside to take our seats in the pews. It must have been a remarkable sight for the families gathering at the front: a sea of colourful robes, chains and badges, with rather a lot of grand hats and feathers.

The bride entered to the 18th century classic Prince of Denmark's March by Jeremiah Clarke, and a lovely wedding service followed, led by Father James Titley, Guild Vicar and Chaplain to the Corporation. The service was live-streamed to the groom's parents in their care home, allowing them to share in the occasion from afar.

We sang all the right hymns in the right order and listened to two excellent and most appropriate readings. The Master Chartered Surveyor told the story of the house built on sand, while the Lady Mayor followed with the wedding at Cana. It was a particularly fitting combination for a wedding involving an architect and a gathering of people, some of whom spend quite a lot of their time preserving old buildings, and most of whom occasionally like a drink.

At the end of the service we left in an orderly fashion, making our exit to Guildhall Yard through a guard of honour formed by the pikemen, before cheering the bride and groom as they appeared.

Then we formed up once again for the final procession back to Temple Bar, where the Architects' Clerk banged his silver staff loudly on the closed gates, demanding that they be opened for the new Mr and Mrs Bicknell. The pikemen did the deed, the gates swung open and we streamed through before assembling for more photographs in Paternoster Square.

Finally we were allowed to disrobe, remove our high heels (thank goodness!) and race across to the Happenstance for a well-deserved glass or two of fizz, followed by delicious small cakes, sandwiches, scones and speeches. After the exertions of the day, this felt less like refreshments and more like essential medical treatment.

Then followed a happy few hours of laughter and conversation before we made a judicious exit and headed for our hotel in Farringdon, leaving behind our gift of a few jars of honey made in our village in Bath from hives located in meadows around Claverton, where the groom was at University. The bride and groom remained to dance the night away at a ceilidh before returning to the Mansion House where they spent a second night as guests of the Lady Mayor.

The London Evening Standard published a story about the day, written by Editor Emeritus, Past Master Stationer Doug Wills. He managed to include a photo of the back of my head, showing my smoking cap in all its glory! I had decided to wear it as I couldn't wear a fancy wedding hat with my gown, and I thought I looked very smart!

It was quite a day, and what a way to end a Master's year! My feet may take a while to recover though, and we are doing the Livery Halls' Walk a week Monday!