A Sabbath-obsessed couple plans a metal-themed wedding.

 

Lena and Matthew Joyce, metal music fans, tied the knot in June. 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.

 She stated about the day, "We didn't do many wedding things; it was just a party, just to celebrate with friends and family." Mrs. Joyce described Merlin's Cafe Bar in Birmingham, an alternative music venue with a dark, horror-like aesthetic, as "absolutely perfect" for that celebration. 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.

 "However, I'd say that going to the beach is a very good alternative." Lena Joyce A bald man and a woman with blue hair are standing in a bar with dim, blue lighting.  There is a mural on the wall that reads "rock bar" and depicts a muscled man singing into a microphone with leather clothing.  Lena Joyce is the woman making the rock hand sign. 

They both listened to metal music growing up

 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.

 Metal music brought them together, even though they were raised thousands of miles apart. "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.

 In July 2023, when Mrs. Joyce visited Birmingham to see the city where Black Sabbath began, the two of them met. Lena Joyce A woman with blue hair is standing in medieval-style wooden stocks, with her head and both hands through circular holes.  She is making "rock" hand gestures while sticking out her tongue. Below her is a man who is bald and has a long beard.  He is on his knees with his head and both hands through the stocks' holes.  He is smiling while holding his hands in "rock" signsLena Joyce

 Their wedding party was hosted at a bar in Birmingham which played their favourite music

 "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.  We discovered that there is only a Black Sabbath bridge there, not a museum. 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.

 Lena Joyce A man and a woman are standing in front of a bench with black and white cut-outs of Black Sabbath members on it.  The bridge is in front of a metal fence which overlooks a canal.  The woman, with blue hair, is wearing a Black Sabbath t-shirt and has her arm around a man, showing off a blue engagement ring.  The man has a bald head and is also wearing a Black Sabbath t-shirt.Lena Joyce

 Mr Joyce proposed on the Black Sabbath bench in Birmingham

 "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," the sky lit up with a bolt of lightning. We say it's a good omen."