Anyone who’s watched ‘Don’t Tell the Bride’ will know how easy it is for guys to well and truly balls up their wedding preparations.
It’s often the case that less is more, and a small but well-thought-out stunt is always better than an overblown car crash of a grand gesture.
And we haven’t seen too many better thought out approaches than this.
Cal Gildart, a sub-editor from Ashton-under-Lyne, had some of his work done for him when he was warned he’d only be allowed one Manchester United-related thing at his wedding to fiancée Hannah.
Being a designer in his spare time, Cal knew soon enough what that one thing was going to be – retro United-style matchday programmes for the big day.
SportsJOE caught up with the man himself to find out about the inspiration for one of the most spectacular football/wedding crossovers we’ve ever seen.
Went and got married on Saturday. "You can have one United-related thing." pic.twitter.com/EHNIVT1Fjj
— Cal Gildart (@calgildart) August 15, 2016
“I couldn’t say when the idea first came to me exactly,” he recalls.
“I knew I wanted to do something different with the order of service, and after having a rummage for old United fanzines in Empire Exchange early in 2016, I came across programmes of yesteryear.
“Most of them had the United Review design I remembered from when I was a kid, and I made a note in my phone about somehow incorporating it into the wedding. I was having a ‘mare coming up with a design for our invitation and thought we could use that.
“Before settling on that, though, I realised a programme-style order of service would be a good way of getting United into the day, saying thank you to everyone and introducing the bridesmaids and groomsmen.”
The back page. Forgot to fill out the boxes and left out the last-minute signing, mind. pic.twitter.com/fKfzqxKzVi
— Cal Gildart (@calgildart) August 15, 2016
The finished product took the form of an eight-page booklet, and Cal says he was tempted to do even more but he “thought it’d be far too indulgent”.
Inside is the type of information you’d expect from any wedding programme – timings and photos of the bride and groom to be – plus, in an excellent touch which shows off Cal’s sub-editing flair, ‘notes from the weditors’.
It was a no-brainer for him once he realised a new printing shop near his home in Essex offered booklet-printing services, and he told Hannah about it a few months ahead of time.
“Now she just says I give her crazy ideas all the time and that this just happened to be one that actually came to fruition,” he explains.
The happy couple (photo credit: Chloe Lee Photography)
Fans will recognise that it’s based on the old ‘United Review’ design, and he tells us the individual designer of that programme deserves credit. Though he has given a lowdown of some of the subtle changes he has made.
I changed a few bits around with the classic player-fan handshake, though; I thought it’d be better for us to be reaching out in an “almost united” rather than “we’re already there” pose. Having the bride standing on the gold ring that’d replaced the football was an extension of that idea.
Photo courtesy of Cal Gildart
Seeing as he lives in Essex these days, Cal isn’t able to get out to a lot of United home games these days, but he has plenty of old programmes from when he was able to go more regularly (he used to be a season ticket holder) and it’s clearly served him well.
He tells us there’s every chance that his ‘one United thing’ might have been a Paul Pog-bar if the Frenchman’s transfer had been wrapped up before last weekend’s wedding.
If a speedier deal would have seen us miss out on this work of art, we have to tip our hats to Ed Woodward for a job well done.
You can find some of Cal Gildart’s other designs – including many football-themed works – at his CalcioRetrospective store here.
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