More couples turning to sponsors as bills for their wedding day soar

WHEN Anthea Turner and Grant Bovey were photographed on their wedding day eating a Cadbury's chocolate bar, they were ridiculed for turning their marriage into a commercial venture. But with the cost of weddings rising to astronomical levels, enterprising couples are now looking for sponsors to give them the dream day they otherwise could not afford. In return for providing the wedding dress, catering, music and photography, companies are promised publicity in the form of business cards sprinkled with confetti on tables. They will also be given a link on the couple's wedding day website and even a mention in the groom's or bride's speech. The fashion for sponsored weddings originated in America, and Christina Vincelli, a 33-year-old receptionist from Atlanta, Georgia, is currently advising British couples on how to follow the trend. She and her fiance, Jevon Gantner (24) have so far saved about pounds 10,000 by finding sponsors to provide planning, decorations, a DJ, flowers, chocolates and a cake for their 'Gone With the Wind'-themed wedding in May. With three months to go before the big day, they are still seeking sponsorship on their website for a horse and carriage, tuxedos, limos, bridesmaid dresses, gloves, hats and jewellery. Under their sponsorship contract, Miss Vincelli and Mr Gantner will include a list of sponsors with their invitations and thank-you cards to their 200 guests. They also promise to place framed business cards in front of sponsored products. The terms of the contract also stipulate that during the dinner reception the couple will give "a verbal thank-you" to all the sponsors, who will be invited to the wedding and be allowed to solicit business with discount vouchers. Miss Vincelli insists that the wedding will be a "win-win situation" for both the couple and the companies. "I really don't think it's tacky," she said. "For us it has worked out and means I can have a wedding that otherwise I wouldn't be able to have."It has been a lot of hard work. I've e-mailed about 4,500 companies and asked them for sponsorship and got about 20 positive replies. (© Daily Telegraph, London) - Nicole Martinin London

How the mitre has fallen: St Patrick took bribes

JEROME REILLY JEALOUS rivals mounted a dirty-tricks campaign against St Patrick, spreading rumours that he took bribes in the form of jewels and trinkets from women he converted to Christianity. The claims led to the foundation of what might be regarded as Ireland's first tribunal with the church authorities demanding details of what St Patrick received in offerings and demanding that he stop accepting the 'gifts'. The claims are made in a new book which has uncovered how generations of Irish have used bribes to buy favours. Money has bought political favours in recent times but the new research shows our ancient ancestors were all too familiar with the concept of a brown vellum envelope. Even monks paid off popes so they could get dispensations to marry. Ancient writings uncovered by historian Rob Vance reveal how St Patrick was warned to stop taking 'gifts' of jewellery from women he converted. "He was essentially accused of taking bribes," the author of Secret Sights said. "He would convert the women using stories of Jesus Christ and they would come back and leave jewels on the altar for him. "The church authorities took a dim view of this but a lot of it would have been rooted in the fact that Ireland was broken into two different Christian camps at the time. There was Palagius and his followers who didn't believe in original sin and said unbaptised infants could be buried in churchyards. Patrick and his guys were very Roman and said the Palagius beliefs were total heresy. There was a lot of rivalry and dirty dealings and rumours were rife." Vance, who will alsopresent a television series on his findings about medieval Ireland, says the admissions are found in Patrick's own writings which he studied for his book. The new book also claims that most Catholic clergy during the Middle Ages were married and often took lovers. "Clerical marriage was forbidden on paper but there are documents that show that most of them were married with children. "If they paid enough, they were able to get dispensations from the Vatican to marry. There were three popes at the time and they were expensive to keep. It was brown-paper-bag stuff," says Vance. "Some manuscripts we studied show that one monk in particular had 13 children and, it appears, by many different women. They were a gamey lot. The Irish were notorious for divorce and remarriage and for having mistresses. One of the O'Neills of Tyrone had 17 children by five different women." The book also describes the stomach-churning diets our ancestors lived on with the poor eating an industrial muesli made with oats, barley and animal blood. "They used to collect the blood in pig's bladders and they flavoured the muesli with it. Very ecological but pretty disgusting," says Vance. "Marrow was very important as well, it was high in protein and was considered the best thing you could put on a wound. They also ate a concoction made with goat's cheese and oaten cake which sounds more appetising. "The rich ate a much more varied diet which was based on game. They ate a lot of venison, swan and bird pie but they would also have eaten liver and kidneys. Marinated pig's head was a big delicacy as well." Secret Sights is published by Ashfield Press next week and the TV documentary seriesbegins on RTE1 on Tuesday