Tying the knot the gothic way

Graham Jenkinson and Angela Worbey took part in a gothic style Handfasting – an ancient pagan marriage ritual.

The bride and groom, of Earlsheaton, pulled up at the town hall in a white Bentley on Saturday before ascending the main steps.

The pair met just 11 months ago in the West Riding pub. Graham, 57, said: “People talk about love at first sight – and it was.”

Angela, 52, made her own wedding dress, did all her own floral arrangements and made the four tier cake.

The couple engaged in the symbolic act of tying a their hands together with a ribbon under the guidance of a pagan priest, who travelled from Whitby for the ceremony. They then pricked each other with a pin so they could join their blood together.

The couple will formalise their union at a later date. “But this had a much deeper meaning to us than a register office job,” Graham, a mental health support worker added.

Photographer Rowan Griffiths Scott photographed the proceedings.