Wrong wedding man gets right date

Dave Barclay found out he had the wrong date after flying 4,000 miles.

A teacher who flew from Canada to Wales a year too early for his friend's wedding is back again - but this time he's got the right date.

Dave Barclay, 35, mistakenly thought Dave Best was marrying on 5 July 2007.

But after he flew 4,000 miles and spent £500 on a flight back to his mother's home in Wenvoe near Cardiff, he was told the wedding was 12 months away.

A year on, despite a cancelled flight in Amsterdam, he said: "I've got it right. I'm nearly 100% sure."

Mr Barclay, who has been teaching in Canada for four years, said he was first told about the July wedding at Christmas 2006 and assumed it was the year coming.

He did not keep in regular contact with Mr Best and only got in touch after arriving back home in Wales last July.

"Because I live abroad quite a lot I never usually get an invitation so they just ask me by e-mail or by phone or whatever and then that's it," he told BBC Radio Wales.

"[After arriving home] I just called him up a few days before to get some more details about where and when and he broke the news to me."

But he said last year's journey home had not been a waste.

"I'm lucky in that my brother and my nephews live here so I just spent some time with them, which was good," he said.

Ironically, despite returning to Wales from Toronto for the correct date this year, Mr Barclay nearly faced having to turn up late for the wedding.

"I went to Amsterdam for a few days and that was interesting but on the way back the flight got cancelled so we were stuck at Amsterdam airport for six hours," he said.

Thankfully, he made it back for Saturday's wedding and even has the same suit as last year to wear.

He said he fully expected to be asked by the groom to entertain guests by talking about his previous error.

He said: "He has asked and I will if called upon but I would probably rather not."