9 Emmerdale Christmas weddings – family fallouts, a festive murder and a few happy endings (sort of)

Nothing says Christmas in soap like action-packed weddings, and Emmerdale has gifted us some highly memorable ones.

During the soap’s 52 year history no fewer than seven couples have got spliced over the festive period. It would have been nine if it wasn’t for Chas Dingle dumping cheating Carl King at the altar, and another groom dying on his wedding day.

Let’s take a look back at these festive weddings and relive all the shocks and surprises…

Emmerdale Christmas weddings: Frank and Kim Tate

Frank and Kim hoped it would be second time lucky when they said I do on December 22, 1994. The couple’s first marriage had ended in divorce following Kim’s affair with handsome stockbroker, Neil Kincaid. But they were reunited after Frank saved Kim’s life during the plane crash of 1993.

In a break from the usual setting of St Mary’s, Kim and Frank opted to get hitched outside of Emmerdale in the rather grand Ripon Cathedral. Keen horse-woman Kim looked breathtaking in a corseted high-necked lace gown complete with a white dressage hat and veil.

The ceremony was followed by dinner and dancing, as the locals gathered to wish the newlyweds well. But the day ended on a sour note when Frank went to present Kim with her wedding gift – an expensive car – and found the motor had been nicked!

Linda Glover and Biff Fowler

Linda and Biff’s 1996 wedding day was full of drama, from beginning to end. First up the groom-to-be woke up nursing a huge hangover, which was not made any better by Seth Armstrong‘s herbal-cure-all-remedy.

Then Biff’s mum Sandra rocked up and tried to talk her son out of going ahead with the wedding, but thankfully she didn’t succeed. Biff and Linda exchanged vows in front of their nearest and dearest, while Jack Sugden acted as their wedding photographer.

Earlier in the day Biff had learnt that his best mate, and Linda’s brother, Dave was planning to run away with Kim Tate. He caught up with Dave at the reception and begged him to reconsider. But tragedy struck that night as Dave was killed rescuing Kim’s baby son James from a fire at Home Farm.

So what should have been the happiest day of Linda and Biff’s lives turned out to be one of the worst.

Bernice Blackstock and Ashley Thomas

Ashley and Bernice were total opposites, but their adorable love story captured a nation. Nearly 10 million viewers tuned in to see the ditsy barmaid marry her vicar on Christmas Day 2000.

Unlike the majority of Emmerdale weddings, this one actually went without a hitch. Even Bernice’s estranged father, Rodney, managed to watch the ceremony without causing scene.

Bernice looked radiant in an ivory gown and veil, and carried a bouquet of red roses. And proud groom Ashley donned his traditional dog collar.

Unfortunately the couple’s happy ever after wasn’t to be. Less than a year after promising to remain faithful, Bernice was unable to resist the lure of sexy chef Carlos Diaz. She fell pregnant and gave birth to baby Gabby, who had to undergo a DNA test to determine who her daddy was. Classy stuff.

Emmerdale Christmas weddings: Tom King and Rosemary Sinclair

Tom and Rosemary were as vile as one another, in other words the perfect match. Nearly everyone was opposed to them as a couple, particularly Tom’s sons Jimmy, Matthew and Carl who believed Rosemary was a gold-digger.

However, Tom was serious about Rosemary, and proved this by asking her to marry him. Their wedding date was set for Christmas Day 2006, with a church wedding and lavish after party at Home Farm.

The actual ceremony went without a hitch and was rather romantic. But it was the shocking events that unfolded at the reception that have gone down in Emmerdale history.

Tom was getting ready in his bedroom when a shadowy figure entered. An argument broke out, and Tom was pushed to his death through the upstairs window. His horrifying murder sparked the soap’s biggest ever whodunit, and even Tom’s new bride Rosemary found herself in the frame.

In the end Carl was revealed as the killer.

Alicia Gallagher and David Metcalfe

Alicia and David took centre stage when they tied the knot during Emmerdale’s 2013 festive episode. The couple’s decision to get married on Christmas Day did not please everyone, particularly David’s ex Priya Sharma, who was expecting his baby at the time.

But Priya wasn’t the only problem Alicia and David had to contend with.

On the morning of the nuptials. David was struck down by a grim sickness bug and panicked he wouldn’t be able to make it through the ceremony without puking. Alicia found her boiler had broken so couldn’t get ready at home. She went over to The Woolpack where future stepmum Val Pollard offered to style her hair, then burnt it!

There was also a last-minute dress disaster, but Alicia and David did end the day as husband and wife.

Emmerdale Christmas weddings: Katie Addyman and Andy Sugden

Christmas Day 2014 marked the second trip down the aisle for Andy Sugden and Katie Addyman. The couple’s first marriage was destroyed by Katie’s affair with brother-in-law Robert. And 10 years later he was out to cause trouble again.

Days before the wedding, Andy got into a punch up with Robert, which resulted in the groom getting a black eye. But Robert was about to add insult to injury. As Katie and Andy exchanged vows in the church they discovered Robert had sabotaged their wedding rings. Inside Katie’s ring was inscribed the words ‘village bike’, and Andy had ‘village idiot’ inside his.

But Robert wasn’t the only local who wanted to cause a scene. Andy’s jealous ex-girlfriend Bernice Blackstock crashed the service and started screaming abuse at everyone. She had to be carted off by mum Diane to calm down.

By some miracle the couple did eventually get married, but their love story ended in tragedy two months later when Katie was killed by Robert.

Chas Dingle and Paddy Kirk

Christmas 2020, aka the one where we were all in lockdown, was a difficult time for millions. But Paddy and Chas brought the joy with their heartfelt wedding.

Paddy decided the holiday season was the perfect time to make an honest woman out of Chas. He secretly arranged every detail of their surprise wedding. but when Chas suggested Christmas weddings were cursed, he panicked and called it off.

Chas felt awful when she realised what Paddy had been up to. Deciding that getting hitched at Christmas wasn’t so bad after all, Chas popped on the gorgeous red gown he’d bought her and summoned Paddy to St Mary’s, where she asked him to marry her!

In front of a congregation of three (Paddy’s best mate Marlon, his dad Bear and Chas’s son Aaron), the happy couple exchanged vows. Afterwards they went back to The Woolpack, which the locals had transformed into a winter wonderland.

And the ones that didn’t happen: Matthew King and Anna De Souza

It seemed ladies man Matthew King had finally been tamed when he popped the question to Anna De Souza. But Anna’s father, Donald – who was a rival of the King clan – refused to give his blessing.

Weeks before the wedding, Donald and Matthew got into a heated row. Donald suffered a heart attack and Matthew stood and watched him die instead of trying to help save him. The coroner ruled Donald had died from natural causes, but Matthew’s brother Carl knew what really happened.

Carl hated Matthew anyway so seized the chance to ruin his happiness. He gatecrashed Matthew and Anna’s big day and exposed the groom’s shameful secret to everyone. Unsurprisingly Anna didn’t fancy marrying Matthew after learning what he’d done to her dad. She dumped him at the altar and fled.

In revenge, Matthew tried to mow Carl down in a van, but ended up careering into a wall. He died at the scene of the crash, in Anna’s arms.

Chas Dingle and Carl King

Chas jilting love rat Carl King at the altar was the best Christmas gift fans could have asked for. The landlady had discovered her boyfriend was bedding barmaid Eve Jenson (the granddaughter of Edna Birch). But instead of just dumping him, Chas decided to bide her time to take revenge on Carl.

With cousin Charity in on her plan, Chas told Carl she was pregnant. The couple got engaged and set the date for Christmas Day 2010. Chas made all the arrangements for their festive nuptials, making sure no expense was spared. Carl was happy to meet her every wish, while Chas secretly pocketed his dosh in the process.

As the wedding day arrived, Chas waited until Carl was stood at the altar before exposing Carl’s betrayal to the entire congregation. Chas also announced she wasn’t actually pregnant and the whole thing had been a scam to extort money.

Read more: Has Chas Dingle been redeemed?

Emmerdale usually airs weeknights on ITV at 7.30pm.

Classic Emmerdale usually airs every weekday on ITV3 at 6am and 6.30am, plus 1.40pm and 2.10pm.

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