Don’t tell the firework company !

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A SCARBOROUGH firework display team ensured a wedding reception went with a bang – despite having less than seven hours to create a perfect display for the big day.

Firework Events, was contacted by panic-stricken producers from the BBC Three programme Don't Tell The Bride to provide a spectacle for newlyweds at a reception in Skipton.

The reality programme follows the groom, who had 14,000 to spend on every detail of the wedding, including the wedding dress and venue.

 

Despite taking part in numerous large-scale events in the town, including Sir Alan Ayckbourn's 70th birthday celebrations in April and Scarborough Lions' annual bonfire display, director Jonathan Thompson, said the display, which included more than 1,000 worth of fireworks, was one the most stressful shows the team had encountered.

 

He said: "It really was a rush and a bit of a nightmare and it took a day for us all to recover.

"It wasn't the largest display we have done, but shows like this normally take a week to prepare, we don't just turn up with a box of fireworks and light them, it takes a lot of work.

"The producers rang the day before to inquire if we would be able to do it and we confirmed we could.

"When they didn't contact us the next morning we assumed it wasn't going to happen, but then the researcher phoned again at 3pm to say they wanted us at 9.30pm.

 

"We had to race to our storage site and start fusing up, literally grabbing fire extinguishers for the event as we ran, it really was a rush."

After gathering their equipment, including football-sized fireworks which reach a 1,000ft high, the team were still under pressure with the clock ticking.

Mr Thompson, who was helped by colleagues Simon Miller and Edward Murdoch said: "We were in constant contact with the producers, because there were health and safety issues to address, we had to get permission from the local farmer to use his land and move his animals.

"When we got there the researcher just threw her arms around me in relief but we were near a lake, and got attacked by midges, so by the time we came home it looked like we had measles!"

 

But, when the display finally got under way, Mr Thompson said all the hard work had proven successful.

"All the wedding guests came out to look and really enjoyed it.

"The display will be used for the closing sequences of the show interspersed with footage of the couple and it should look really good."

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