IT WAS a case of "Cor-phew!" when couple Kathleen and David Pendlebury overcame a catalogue of catastrophes finally to tie the knot in a last-minute Greek island ceremony.
The pair, of Franklin Street, Darwen, achieved a mission impossible to arrange a wedding in three short weeks on their dream island of Corfu.
And despite a series of problems which nearly put the brakes on their walk up the aisle the couple refused to let it ruin their big day.
Harley Davidson biker David said: "I proposed to Kathleen just before we set off.
"We had both visited Corfu before and thought it would be a lovely place to get married but arranging it in three weeks was total madness.
"It all turned into pandemonium. Nobody believed we could do it in such a short time and they couldn't believe it when we did."
The mishaps which faced David, 44, and his bride-to-be Kathleen were:
Their documents were posted to the Greek Consulate to be translated into Greek for the ceremony but arrived back just two days before they jetted off.
Best man Dean McMahon, who lives in Corfu, arrived 20 minutes before the ceremony - by which time another holidaymaker was ready to step in.
They arrived with their wedding guests at Corfu Town Hall to tie the knot to find they had got the wrong day. The Greek Consulate forgot to tell them that this appointment was to book a ceremony.
The Mayor of Corfu had to leave a theatre show to explain to the couple that it was illegal in Corfu to marry on Wednesday and the ceremony was scheduled for the following day.
No wedding guests arrived for the re-scheduled evening reception because no-one had remembered to tell them.
The pair failed to get their marriage details translated into English because the translator was on his holidays.
Kathleen said: "We kept looking at one another and thinking 'surely we should be falling out by now.' Luckily we saw the funny side of it.
"No matter what went wrong we were determined to get married.
"It was all just so hectic but it all came together in the end. The ceremony was lovely and the island was beautiful. It was a dream wedding!"
Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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