Weddings in the 1970s

A Family Tradition

By Carole Clarke

My family connection to St Peter’s is really strong. Several generations of my family, including my mother, my sisters and myself, and my daughter, were married in the church.

I was born in 1944 and lived in Pelham Square, very close to the church, for the first 25 years of my life. My most vivid memories, and there are many, is of hearing the church bells every Sunday morning. When we heard them on a Saturday afternoon, we knew there was a wedding taking place.

I was christened at St Peter’s. As a young child, I attended Sunday School at the church and can remember collecting coloured stamps depicting the church calendar, which we stuck in a book we were given. My Sunday School teacher’s name was Ann.

I also remember the huge Christmas tree that stood outside the main door every Christmas, which always looked amazing with so many colourful lights. It certainly gave everyone a real Christmas feeling.

Just inside the main entrance, the ceiling was painted with a beautiful image of a lamb. As a child, my youngest sister loved to stand there and gaze up at it.

I was confirmed at St Peter’s on 15 March 1959, with my sister Susan and my cousin Pat and many other young people. We stood in pairs a very long queue, waiting to be confirmed by, I think, the Archbishop of Canterbury, but I’m not definite about that.

In 1952, I was a bridesmaid at my Auntie Kit’s wedding at St Peter’s. Kit was my mother’s sister and lived with us at Pelham Square. My mother was a dressmaker and sewed Auntie Kit’s wedding dress and the bridesmaid dresses for me and my two younger sisters and my cousin. She made all the dresses at my sister Linda’s wedding in 1969, when me and my two younger sisters were bridesmaids once again. My mother also made the dresses for my wedding day on 7 March 1970, when I got married at St Peter’s, and again at my youngest sister’s wedding in 1976.

In 1965, I began working in an office on St Peter’s Place that overlooked the church. The church was surrounded by lots of beautiful trees and very picturesque. The storm of 16 October 1987 blew all the trees down. Sitting at my desk at work the following Monday morning, looking out the window, I couldn’t believe my eyes. The north end of the church was completely exposed.

In August 2004, my daughter Jennie, who was christened at St Peter’s, got married there, following in the family tradition. And my granddaughter was christened at the church. In 2007, we joined about 300 other people for a celebration at the church of people who’d been married there.

St Peter’s is significant to Brighton because it is a beautiful building inside and out. The church is definitely an asset to the town centre and should be protected for future generations to enjoy.

Carole’s sister Lorette marries Peter at St Peter’s 1976 copyright Carole Clarke

Carole’s sister Linda marries Robert in St Peter’s 1969 copyright Carole Clarke

Carole’s parents Lillian and George outside St Peter’s December 1943 copyright Carole Clarke

Carole’s daughter Jennie marries Gary at St Peter’s in 2004 copyright Carole Clarke

Carole’s daughter Jennie and husband Gary at the side door of St Peter’s copyright Carole Clarke

Carole’s daughter Jennie and husband Gary at the alter in St Peter’s in 2004 copyright Carole Clarke

Carole’s sister Lorette marries Peter at St Peter’s 1976 copyright Carole Clarke

The Church Where Everyone Wanted to Get Married

By Susan Ullah

I came to the church recently on my wedding anniversary to light a candle.

I got married to my husband Farid on 1 July 1972. We met each other when I was just 12 years old, and he was 14. Farid lost his mother when he was 15 – he was the eldest of six siblings – and his father was from Pakistan and took the family there to start a new life. However, their mother was English, and the children were all too ‘English’ to settle in a new and strange culture, at that time, so they returned six months later.

While Farid was away, I wrote to him. When they returned to England, we became friends. When I was 14, and he was 16, we started ‘courting’ as it was called in those days. When I was 16, we became engaged and when I was 19, and he was 21, we were married in the beautiful church of St Peter’s.

Our family already had a connection to the church. I had been a bridesmaid at the wedding of my aunt and uncle, Constance Mary and John Coppard, there in the winter of 1956/57. And later, my nephew, my sister’s son, was christened at St Peter’s in 1986/7.

Back then, St Peter’s was the church where everyone wanted to get married. My wedding day was sooooo special. We had the red carpet, the bells, the choir. It was perfect.

We had a daughter and a son in our 20’s, and we now have four grandsons.

Farid and I were married for over 50 years. Sadly, in April,2023, my beloved husband was taken from me, aged just 72. The dreaded cancer took hold of him. I am now broken-hearted but left with the wonderful memories we shared, the beautiful family we made, and the large family that we both come from. I am comforted by their love and support.

This is a very short story of our long and wonderful life together. I loved him with all my heart.