Internet link-up is icing on the cake for Skipton wedding couple (From Craven Herald)

Internet link-up is icing on the cake for Skipton wedding couple

10:00am Friday 17th August 2012 in News

For newlyweds Kathy and Steve Dinsdale the internet has proved to be the icing on the cake in making their wedding vows a truly family affair.

With Kathy’s mum Rhoda and step-dad, Bill, living thousands of miles away in West Virginia, USA, and unable to make it to their wedding at Skipton Register Office, it was down to new technology to bring them together.

So as the couple plighted their troth, Rhoda and Bill joined the ceremony, sending their love and best wishes via Skype.

But it had not been as straightforward a process as expected because Rhoda and Bill’s remote home has no internet connection.

So in order not to miss the ceremony, they jumped into their car and drove to the nearest McDonald’s to get switched on.

And it was a highly appropriate way for Steve, a 49-year-old sports studio manager, and Kathy, 44, who worked at the White House as a videographer, to seal the knot because they kept up their relationship after meeting at a rock gig in Philadelphia using the internet and Skype.

Steve plays drums and keyboard in the progressive rock bank Radio Massacre International who have a big fan base in the Baltimore and Philadelphia area.

It was at one of their gigs that Kathy met Steve, who lived in Victoria Mill, Skipton, linked up again and continued their friendship over the internet and through facebook and email when Steve was home in the UK. Kathy then took a flying weekend visit to the UK and later stayed here for six months, after which they decided they wanted to spend their lives together and to marry.

“My mum and step dad couldn’t afford the journey to the UK - they are pensioners but we thought we could use Skype,” said Kathy.

“When I told my mum she didn’t know what it was so I explained and said they could go to McDonalds where she could get it free.

“They were a bit scared to use it but it was fantastic in the end.

“It was such a lovely experience - like almost having them there with us and they could join in, wave and speak to us,” said Kathy.

It meant they could also enjoy seeing and hearing Steve’s brother Johnny, a country singer - Johnny Williams - and his wife Lynette perform a special song he had composed for the wedding aptly entitled “My Heart Grew Wings”.