WHEN Simon Hicks arrived at the Monmouth Raft Race on Sunday morning, the last thing he expected was to be going through his wedding vows.

Steve is due to marry fiancee Shideh Hafezian at St Mary’s Church in Chepstow on Saturday (September 10) but his mates from Chepstow Round Table thought the raft race was the perfect place to have a dry run.

So with Simon dressed as a bride and Robert Phelps standing in as the groom, ‘Rev’ Gareth Jones did the honours in front of their raft christened the Chapel of Man Love.

Simon said: “They did this without me knowing — we turned up to this and we had a full ceremony.”

Shideh wasn’t fazed by seeing her husband-to-be in a dress.

She said: “I’ve seen him in a dress before — he’s been a pantomime dame (for the Shirenewton Operatic and Dramatic Society).

For more pictures from the raft race see the centre pages.