Ian and I first met around six years ago through a mutual friend, but were only casual friends until 2006. We had been together six months when he asked me to marry him, we were on a Saturday night out with a couple of friends at the time and it came as a complete surprise!

He didn't have the ring there when he asked me as he was very worried about getting the wrong one and thought it was best to go and choose what I wanted the next day... which we did! In the end, the one I chose was the same one that he had chosen anyway!

Once we set the date, the next thing we decided on was the venue. We knew we wanted somewhere very local as we wanted all our friends and family to be able to attend the whole event, so the village church was chosen in order that everyone could come to both church and reception... there were over hundred at the final count.

The planning stages weren't too stressful, we had a lot of help from my parents, and Ian's parents too, which was great and made the whole experience a lot easier. Ian's mother designed and made the invitations and my parents had the inserts printed.

The dress I chose was one of the last dresses I tried on, I had imagined a platinum coloured dress which was gorgeous, but when trying it on for the second time it didn't have that magic 'the one' feeling. The dress I finally chose was a Mori Lee Ivory Tulle & Crystal bridal gown which had a satin bodice decorated with crystal and a skirt with seven layers of soft ivory tulle.

My dress made me feel like a princess

The dress was extremely heavy on the hanger but once on was very floaty and light. It made me feel like a princess and I have never once doubted that it was the perfect dress for me!

My bridesmaids were my sister Kathryn and her partner's daughters Alex and Harriet, whom I have known since they were babies, in fact as soon as Ian & I got engaged Harriet decided she wanted to be my bridesmaid.

It was lovely to have them as part of my day, they were all so helpful and all looked really pretty with Alex looking so grown up. Alex and Harriet both performed readings at the marriage service with great assurance. Harriet looked so special that our photographer Don Lambert asked to use one of the photographs of her in an advert for his business.

Since Ian's best man, Karl, is in the Army, we weren't sure until the last minute whether he would actually be able to get to the wedding and only heard that he would be there a couple of days before the wedding. He flew in on Friday night and had to be back at his base on Sunday.

On the day I surprised myself with how calm I was, I think I had decided by then there was no point worrying about what we might have forgotten to do, I wanted to relax and enjoy the day as everyone had told me it would fly by, so I decided to make the most of it and not get worked-up about anything. It helped that Hayley, my friend, decided that as her and her partner Sam's wedding gift, she would style my hair and that of my bridesmaid's. She together with Julie, my make-up artist, pampered everyone and kept us all relaxed.

Everyone at the reception was asking who June was

I did get a little nervous as I stood at the back of the church, it was so full and quite nerve racking seeing all those people looking at me, so I looked straight ahead at Ian and tried not to notice anyone else. Hearing the music I had chosen, Trumpet Tune by Henry Purcell, really helped.

Everyone at the reception was asking who on earth June was! This was because the Vicar said 'these are the hymns chosen by Ian and June' which I think is something I'll never be allowed to forget!

In November last year we decided to spend 11 days in Mexico as our honeymoon and found the perfect hotel at which to stay. Then, about a month and half before the wedding, the swine flu outbreak occurred in Mexico and we were extremely worried that we may have to cancel, but as it turned out the travel ban was lifted just two weeks before we left.

Everything went as planned and we had a perfect honeymoon! The weather was great and the resort went above and beyond our expectations, we will never forget having a couple's massage on the beach with the sound and the smell of the ocean, I don't think either of us had ever been that relaxed before.

Married life is wonderful! We are now back in our work routine and Mexico is feeling a long way away. We decided as we now have time, by way of a wedding gift to ourselves, we would have a new addition to the family and are getting a golden Labrador puppy at the end of July to be a playmate for our black Labrador, Snoop!