IT IS A TRUTH universally acknowledged that all good soap weddings must be dogged by a series of mishaps.

Can you think of a wedding where everything's gone like clockwork both bride and groom have turned up on time without wedding car break-downs, lost rings and ex-lovers bursting in at inconvenient moments?

Of course not. That's no more likely to happen than a soap couple getting together without a series of hilarious mix-ups or someone dying without a baby being born across town.

If the bride and groom manage to survive the day, you can bet someone in the wedding party's going to come a cropper.

And so it was never going to be plain sailing for Billy Mitchell and his up-the-duff bride Honey in EastEnders.

Billy, Walford's unluckiest man (who bizarrely doesn't seem to have any problem attracting good-looking women) has lived a life made up of one long disaster.

Even on what was meant to be his happiest day, EastEnders scriptwriters weren't willing to let him have a taste of contentment.

It all started on Thursday when bride-to-be Honey got food poisoning.

They should have seen it as a bad omen and put the nuptials off after all, how much rearranging can a few sandwiches down The Vic take?

But no, they soldiered on.

Next Billy lost the wedding rings and before long Honey pricked her finger on the wedding bouquet.

It'll all end in tears. Don't say we didn't warn you, Billy.