Chim chim, I do! Couple tie the knot in Mary Poppins-themed wedding
Kerrie and Emilie Knight-Smith wearing Bert and Mary Poppins outfits for their wedding - Credit: Brittany Woodman
Two lovebirds have said their vows in a supercalifragilisticexpialidocious affair at Norwich Castle.
Emilie Knight, 43, a wheat scientist at Norwich's John Innes Centre, and Kerrie Smith, 51, dressed as Mary Poppins and Bert the chimney sweep for their Covid-delayed wedding which was "practically perfect in every way".
The couple said "I do" in front of 42 friends and family on Thursday, June 23 at Norwich Registery Office within the historic castle museum.
Kerrie and Emilie Knight-Smith dressed as Bert and Mary Poppins for their wedding - Credit: Brittany Woodman
The Spixworth couple chose to recreate famous outfits from the Julie Andrews films for their special day - mainly the famous 1964 scene in which the nanny danced in a white dress with the cheeky chimney sweep in a striped blazer.
The Knight-Smiths made the choice because Mary Poppins was Emilie's favourite film while growing up.
Newlyweds Kerrie and Emilie Knight-Smith celebrating their marriage in Norwich - Credit: Brittany Woodman
She said: "Mary Poppins was my idol when I was little. It is magic.
"Kerrie bought me the Mary Poppins Jolly Holiday dress a few years ago for Christmas and I thought it was good for a wedding, being a white dress.
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"Kerrie was kind enough to dress up as my Bert."
A wedding guest wearing a supercalifragilisticexpialidocious T-shirt to celebrate the wedding of Emilie and Kerrie Knight-Smith - Credit: Brittany Wooman
The wedding guests also wore custom-made T-shirts featuring the film's famous song title - supercalifragilisticexpialidocious - and sang Let's Go Fly A Kite.
Wedding guests surrounding newlyweds Kerrie and Emilie Knight-Smith who dressed as Bert and Mary Poppins - Credit: Brittany Woodman
Emilie's new wife, a medical ambulance assistant for ERS medical, said: "It didn't take much persuading to get me in the Bert outfit.
"People were not surprised when they found out what we were wearing. They would have been more surprised if we wore regular outfits. It was a fabulous ceremony."
Emilie and Kerrie Knight-Smith, from Spixworth, who married on June 23, 2022 - Credit: Emilie Knight
She added they were shocked by how many wedding guests were up for wearing the special T-shirt after being asked by the couple, who have been together for 11 years.
The newlyweds wore the Mary Poppins costumes for a Norwich Pride celebration and regularly wear outfits as part of the American Tan vocal group which performs 1940s songs.
Emilie and Kerrie Knight-Smith, Louise Smith, Rachel Batley at the front in the American Tan vocal group - Credit: Rachel Batley
They also dressed up as elves to celebrate their engagement in July 2018 because the ambulance assistant is a Lord of the Rings fan and her partner proposed in a Hobbit house.
Kerrie and Emilie Knight-Smith after they got engaged in a Hobbit house in July 2018 - Credit: Emilie Knight
The couple originally wanted to marry in June 2020 but had to cancel their ceremony twice.
The real-life Mary Poppins
Although Mary Poppins and her umbrella-wielding antics are based in London, the character was actually inspired by someone down under.
The magical nanny first appeared in Australian writer P.L. Travers's eight-book series of the same name, published in 1934.
And Mary was based upon the author's great aunt, Helen Morehead.
Helen "kept her secrets close" Ms Travers said, adding her relative was a "compact of adventure and romance".
In her semi-autobiographical book 'Aunt Sass', Travers reveals that although her lovingly-nicknamed 'Aunt Ellie' was fun and fanciful, she was also pretty fierce.
She is described as having a "tall, gaunt, graceless frame, a grim face with a long upper lip that curled at the corners when she smiled and a voice like the Father Bear's voice in the story of Goldilocks".
She was also known for making up a song or two on the spot - rather like a Spoon Full of Sugar.
