Sabbath-mad couple throw metal-themed wedding

A metal-mad couple who got engaged in front of a bench dedicated to Black Sabbath have tied the knot by throwing a head-banging wedding party.

It comes as Birmingham - the city where Matthew Joyce popped the question - gears up to host Black Sabbath's hometown, farewell gig.

Mr Joyce and new bride Lena have been fans of the band and genre for years. They married in June at Lichfield Registry Office, with Sabbath singer Ozzy Osbourne's song Crazy Train blaring out before they said "I do".

"The woman who married us didn't laugh... she was shocked," said Mrs Joyce.

"We didn't do many wedding things, it was just [a] party, just to celebrate with friends and family," she said of the day.

That celebration was held in Merlin's Cafe Bar in Birmingham, an alternative music venue with a dark, horror-esque aesthetic, which Mrs Joyce described as "absolutely perfect".

The playlist for the evening featured metal music by all their favourite bands.

The couple are not, however, attending the sell-out Sabbath show at Villa Park on Saturday.

Instead, they are heading to see Mrs Joyce's other favourite band, The Libertines, live in Margate - a gift for her birthday.

"The most frustrating thing about [not going to Sabbath] is that friends asked us if we want to sit in the box with them," she said.

"But going to the seaside is a very good alternative I'd say."

Mrs Joyce, 31, was born in Bavaria, Germany, and it was this that inspired her new husband - a Brummie, 43 - to wear Lederhosen to the wedding.

Despite growing up thousands of miles apart, it was metal music that brought them together.

"We were raised with all the good stuff - Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath... there was no way we could not have turned into rockers," she said.

The pair met in Birmingham in July 2023, when Mrs Joyce visited to see the city where Black Sabbath began.

"I thought the home of metal in Birmingham was a museum, because of the Black Sabbath exhibition," she said.

"Because of that, we went to Birmingham for a night. There, we found out there is no museum... just a Black Sabbath bridge."

The Broad Street bridge - bearing the Sabbath tribute bench - was where Mr Joyce would go on to ask her to be his bride.

The pair met, though, at a local live music venue, when Mr Joyce's future wife walked in wearing a Black Sabbath t-shirt.

"She walked to the bar as if she owned the pub, and after that, Black Sabbath played for two hours," Mr Joyce remembered.

After she returned home to Germany, they kept in touch. She moved to Birmingham permanently in June of the following year, getting engaged in September.

"There was supposed to be a thunderstorm," Mr Joyce said of the night he popped the question.

"We went to the Black Sabbath bridge, and as soon we sat down, it started raining, so I had to be quick.

"When she said 'yes', there was a flash of lightning in the sky. We say it's a good omen."

You can listen to Matthew and Lena's story on BBC Radio WM on Thursday from 10:00 BST with Ed James or listen back afterwards on BBC Sounds.

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