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Steve's Wedding Chapel

Posted: 15/03/10

An image of Steve's Wedding Chapel

We love sharing in everyone's happiness at blinkbox, and when we heard that Steve (another developer here) had gone off and got married - forgetting to tell us - we thought we should give him a real welcome back.

After a brain-storming session in the boardroom, the development team concluded that the only option was to construct a Vegas-inspired wedding chapel on his desk. We had just 7 working days remaining to get it built...

Greg - our Services Lead - produced a design concept in MS Paint:

Nice!

Following this, we needed to put some specifications in place, as it wasn't going to be an insignificant structure to build, there didn't appear to be any examples of this on the Internet to work to, and we didn't want it to fall on the groom and kill him when he went inside.

A couple of the devs then headed to a local timber merchant on their lunch-break to obtain the supports detailed in the spec. Work then began on constructing the frame:

This work began by bonding the base elements of the frame together using No More Nails. When Greg observed that this technique wasn't quite as good as nails, we switched to nailing the rest of the frame together. When we then found that this wasn't working too well (and slightly due to the rapidly depleted stock of nails) we switched to Sellotape - as you'll see from the top of the first tier. Sellotape soon became the bonding medium of choice on the project.

By day two of construction it was really coming along well:

Obviously, we now needed to start getting the walls on, and a quick trip to Leather Lane market equipped us will all of the cardboard we could possibly need. The walls went on with loads of Sellotape, and roofing began (again, with loads of tape):

We needed to do this with the church moved onto the floor, as it was way too tall for my short legs. You'll also see that another group were working concurrently to produce a very fetching bell tower, complete with bell. Lots of Sellotape was used here.

At this point we believe Steve was somewhere on his honeymoon, having a lovely time.

By the fifth day of construction, we realised that we needed to install the vaulted ceiling before we could complete the remainder of the roof. We searched a lot of stationers to find a piece of card that would be big enough to span Steve's desk; but ended up buying two pieces of A0 and sticking them together (with loads of Sellotape).

With the ceiling fitted, and the roof nearing completion, we headed back to the stationers to buy more Sellotape. We then started on the fresco. Kev did a great job with the clouds:

Meanwhile, Ben was working on the stained-glass window. After painstakingly cutting it out, he fitted it to the back wall:

And by the end of day five it was looking quite a lot like a chapel (check-out that wallpaper)

Day six was a busy one. Greg, our closet creative, began work on the characters for our fresco (How good is that spaghetti monster?!):

Finishing touches were going on all over the place. The cans for Steve's chair:

The illuminated sign, so people would know it was open for business:

And by the end of the sixth day, we were almost ready for our groom to move in:

All we needed to do then was rest, and get in before Steve on Monday morning so we could welcome him to his cool new desk!

Wash-up

Here are some of the lessons we as a team learnt during the development of Steve's Wedding Chapel:

* No More Nails is actually slightly less effective than nails.

* Sellotape is great.

* More Sellotape is even better.

* Start with a clear plan, then deviate from it... a bit like Agile.

* Remember to remove the bell tower before moving the chapel.

* Joists generally need to be on the inside of a building... Chris ;)

* Water-based paint and a sponge makes a great cloudy sky - nice one Kev!

* Ben's pretty nimble with a Stanley knife and a blinkbox logo.

* Jodie can't paint, but can roof chapels fast & build electric signs.

* Jason's architecture skills extend beyond software.

* Greg should be a designer - he's way too creative to do code alone.

Feedback

We're really proud of our building, and we believe it enhances the local area. Here's what locals have been saying about the building:

"Love it - you really get a feel for the subtlety of the construction. Far from dominating, it really enhances the surrounding area - an architectural masterpiece!!" - Contented, Farringdon

"I liketh the sthpangly lighth" - V. E. Bott

"I think this is brilliant! I want to work with you... it looks really cool! Providing that the selotape holds up, and my husband returns in one piece, I will have to try and come in to have a look in real life!" - Steve's Wife

If you'd like to offer your praise for the chapel, send it to weddingchapel@jodieorourke.com.

If that made you go all warm and gooey inside, why not Watch gushy romantic films on blinkbox

Keywords for this post: chapel, blinkbox, wedding, slogfather, church, desk