R2D2 Wedding Attendance – 2/8/21

When I built my first R2D2 it was always with the intention of attending events and raising money for charity. My dream job was always to attend a wedding which although it took 12 years to realise, it was well worth the wait.

Ellie works with my Wife Helen and knowing she is a fan of sci-fi Helen kindly offered my services on their wedding day. It turned out that her Husband to be is a huge Star Wars fan so a plan was hatched for me to bring R2 along as a surprise guest.

We were smuggled into the building and hid in a side room for over an hour. I must confess my nerves built as time went on to being as nervous as i’ve ever been for an R2 job. At least with filming you can do another take but if it goes wrong on a wedding day, crashing R2 into the Bridesmaids would be memorable for all the wrong reasons!

Thankfully there were no problems. The Groom waited nervously then to his surprise Star Wars music filled the room, the entrance doors opened and R2 led the Bride & Bridesmaids down the aisle. I had tried a bag and box to hold the wedding rings but I was not happy with how it worked and with no time to rehearse with the best man I left the ring duties to him.

It was my first opportunity to try out the newly released Kyber Sound System which I must say worked perfectly. I fired off a few sounds now and again during the ceremony when it felt appropiate which raised a few laughs.

I hung around for the photos and mixed with the guests before the speeches started which then felt like a good time to leave so no party for R2 that night.

Dressed up and ready to go. Helen was my assistant for the day.

What I learnt from this was to make sure you take a rekee of the venue first. Meet up with the Bride & Groom to discuss any particular requirements and if you have any suggestions do not hesitate to offer them forward. Much like any event, you need to check loading options, a decent space to standby before your appearence and check all floor surfaces you are expected to drive R2 on. Once you’re happy with all of the above you should be in for a great day in helping make someones day even more special. These are unpaid event so you should always request a donation to charity. On this occasion the Bride & Groom kindly donated £200 to our chosen charity MND.

To top it off you get the opportunity to buy one of these patches. Just send proof that you’ve attended a Wedding with your R2, donate some money to charity and it’s yours. One of these patches was also my gift to the Bride & Groom.

Get your R2 to a Wedding, you won’t regret it!