Becoming one of Britain's most successful rock stars has done little to change Cerys Matthews' down-to-earth personality. And as if to prove she hasn't gone glam, the singer arrived at her wedding ceremony on the back of a tractor.
The Catatonia singer married her American beau, record producer Seth Riddle, in a small west Wales chapel at the weekend. The couple were joined by several dozen friends, all dressed as 1930s-style gangsters and molls. Winter bride Cerys, swathed in a sweeping white cloak, was applauded by hundreds of well-wishers who came from all over the country to witness their nuptials.
"This ceremony is the most important event in Wales today," said the minister Geoffrey Eynon. "I hope this will be a happy and memorable day for everyone." Keeping true to her roots, Cerys took her vows in Welsh.
She and her groom then departed (after Cerys had signed a few autographs) on their rather unique wedding carriage. The 1939 Standard Fordson tractor was chauffeured by local businessman Stephen Phillips. "The bride's father also has a vintage tractor, but we had one with a trailer that was suitable," said Stephen, who runs a haulage business. "I picked them up from the house, which is approximately two-and-a-half miles away, and it took us about 25 minutes to get here."
Cerys first met Seth while working on her new album, entitled Cock-a-Hoop, at a studio in Nashville, Tennessee.