Double wedding celebration

A RECENTLY united family had not one, but two weddings to celebrate on the same weekend, when Jonathon Rice married Emily Ockwell, the day after his Canadian cousin, Meghan Cassleton, married Shaun Birch - separated by one day and around 5,000 miles.
By The Newsroom
Published 9th Oct 2008, 13:57 BST
Updated 7th Jun 2018, 21:33 BST

Bexhillian Jonathon, 22, a sales assistant at B& Q, married Emily, a personal banker at Barclay's bank in Tunbridge Wells, at St Mary Magdalene's church, Bexhill.

The previous day, 23 year old seamstress Meghan, married stockbroker Shaun Birch, 24, in a ceremony held at Brock House; a heritage house situated on Vancouver's stunning Jericho Beach.

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But these weddings had not been intentionally planned to be a day apart, it was in fact an amazing coincidence, which was only revealed when the two families concerned made contact shortly after Jonathon's Dad, John Rice, discovered that his sister Sheila, Meghan's Mum, had not died at birth '“ as he had been lead to believe '“ but had in fact been adopted and raised in Canada.

Their incredible story, which tells how John finally discovered Sheila was alive and well - over fifty years after his Mum Myrtle told him she was dead - was told in detail in the Observer earlier this year.

And one of the amazing discoveries, which John and Sheila were to make about themselves when they were finally reunited, was that they had both married, had a child within few months of each other, and that, unbelievably, those children - now adults - were to be married within hours of each other.

Sadly, due to the distances involved it was impossible for the families to attend each others weddings, but they are all planning to get together in the not too distant future, in order to have a belated double celebration.

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John and wife Mary said Jonathon & Emily's wedding had been a joyous occasion, with John describing the proceedings as being, "all very successful - the family all really enjoyed it."

Of Meghan and Shaun's wedding, Sheila said it was an extra special day as Meghan had chosen to continue a family tradition by marrying on the same day as her parents and grandparents before her.

Sheila said: "Meghan and Shaun's wedding day was an auspicious occasion as it also marked my twenty eight wedding anniversary, and my adoptive parent's sixty fifth anniversary. So you can see we had a lot to celebrate that day."

She added: " I'm sure Myrtle would be amazed that both her grandchildren were married within a day of one another."

To read John and Sheila's amazing story search 'Bexhill man discovers 'dead' sister alive', on the Bexhill Observer website.