For most people their wedding usually means a few relaxing weeks off work while the happy couple celebrate the start of their new life together.
But for actress Jodie Lawson it was back to the spotlight the very next night as she took to the stage at Wolverhampton’s Grand Theatre with 120 guests and her new husband in the audience.
The 27-year-old tied the knot with army sergeant husband Craig Turner on Saturday but was determined to appear in the final performance of touring show That’ll Be The Day last night.
Well-wishers who saw the couple marry at St Benedict Biscop Church in Wombourne were there to cheer Jodie on. And Craig, aged 28, was also called up on to the stage to rapturous applause as Jodie showed off her wedding ring.
She has been touring the country for six months with the rock ’n’ roll show as one of its lead vocalists.
The former Smestow School pupil, whose family live in Neachless Avenue, Wombourne, said: “The show was in Birmingham on Saturday which worked out perfectly because it meant some of the cast were staying in the Himley Country Hotel which is where we were.
“I have done 80 shows since I joined in January but the nerves came back before I went out in front of my friends and family.
“The cast have become like a second family to me and so I couldn’t think of a better way of celebrating.
“Craig and I are going off on honeymoon for three weeks while we prepare for the next run so it’s a perfect time for me to take a break.”
The happy couple, who got together as childhood sweethearts in 1995 and held their reception at Wombourne Civic Centre, are going to Walt Disney World in Florida before returning home to Middlesex.
Craig who serves with the Royal Logistics Corps, is on a two-year posting as a permanent staff instructor with the Territorial Army based in London.
In the audience was Jodie’s grandmother, Pat Newell, aged 69, who only came out of hospital two weeks ago after a hip operation.
She said: “I was determined to be well enough to come to the wedding and to see Jodie perform.” Jodie’s cousin Sue Brueton, aged 45, of Windsor Avenue, Penn, said: “It’s certainly a different way of celebrating a wedding. A lot of people stayed the extra night so they could come to the show.”
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