Liam and I are childhood sweethearts, first meeting when I was 15 and he was 16 in our hometown Widnes through mutual friends. We were soulmates from that very day and were together for 10 years before Liam finally proposed in Berlin during a mini-break away in March 2016, the day before my birthday. Coming from the girl who doesn’t do “surprises” it’s safe to say I had absolutely no idea and after thinking it would never happen was absolutely blown away!

We always knew we would love to marry abroad and make a real holiday out of it with all our friends and family – not just the one (likely to be rainy) day in England. And so the hunt began for Summer 2017… we ruled out numerous countries and decided we definitely didn’t want to get married in a big hotel with lots of other holidaymakers around. We wanted a private intimate affair where we could hire the entire venue and not be disturbed. Then we came across Vasilias Nikoklis Inn in Paphos and fell in love. It looked perfect and was a real family run venue up towards the Troodos mountains. Christina and her team are amazing and work tirelessly both before and on the big day to make your wedding everything you dream of and more. Having never even been to Cyprus on holiday let alone visited the venue it was a big risk but it definitely paid off!! The day was everything we could have hoped for and more. The setting was absolutely stunning and guests commented it was a truly unique day and the best wedding they had been to.

The dress was probably the most difficult decision. I must have visited 9 different bridal shops and tried on at least 40 different dresses before the lovely Samantha at Bethany Hannah in Stockton Heath convinced me to try a “wildcard” dress. Previously I had been convinced I wanted a strapless A line – not too much material and definitely no sleeves as a wedding in Cyprus in August was going to be HOT! However the second I tried on the 4555 and came out to show my bridesmaids we all knew it was THE dress. The spaghetti straps and lace detail on the bodice complimented the light flowy bottom and I felt like a true Bride without being drowned in too much material. It was absolutely perfect, so the dress was ordered in October 2016 and the mission to lose weight began. After following a fairly relaxed Slimming World diet (5 days a week) combined with joining a gym in January and a weekly PT class, by June 2017 at my first fitting I had lost 1.5 stone and I was so much happier in myself and most importantly the dress.

Everyone commented on the day how amazing the dress looked and I felt like a true princess. I also wore the matching Paloma Blanca veil and a pair of Jimmy Choo sandals.