A WEYMOUTH couple tied the knot in a Great Gatsby-themed wedding – and they’ve thanked the Dorset Echo for helping introduce them.

Seven years ago Susan Grainger – nee Phillips – placed an advert in the Dorset Echo in the hope of finding love. The winner would get an all expenses paid visit to Ladies Day at Ascot – if he could pass an interview with her friends.

Now, Susan and lucky winner Rod have married after a romantic proposal while scuba diving in the Maldives.

The happy couple exchanged vows surrounded by family, and the friends who encouraged them to meet.

Susan, 60, said: “It was very fitting, because my friends were involved right from the beginning. In fact, Rod mentioned one in my speech because the response he sent to the advert originally ended up on the floor, and she told me to take another look.

“His friends also encouraged him to get in touch with me when they saw the advert.”

After several happy years together, Susan said she had almost given up on receiving a proposal.

“My friends would tease him about it. Then last Christmas we took part in a scuba dive treasure hunt while on holiday in the Maldives.

“I was getting quite annoyed at him actually, because he kept disappearing, which you’re not supposed to do when you’re scuba diving. Then we came across a sandy patch, he knelt down and wrote ‘marry me?’ on a blackboard he had brought with him. It was so romantic.”

Rod, 64, had even brought the ring with him, tying it to a piece of dental floss so he didn’t lose it underwater.

Their shared love of cars and the 1920s became the theme for the wedding, which was held at Haynes Motor Museum. Angel Cakes in Dorchester even made a special Chitty Chitty Bang Bang car cake.

Susan said: “From the moment we met, we had so much in common. We both love cars, scuba diving, and I had always wanted to learn to sail. Now we have a yacht.

“As soon as I met him I knew he would fit in with my friends. I have been lucky enough to inherit his eight grandchildren, who are delightful. At the wedding they heard the story of how we met. It’s definitely one to remember.”

Susan’s friends persuaded her to take out an advert in the Dorset Echo to find a date. As a Christmas gift she treated her friends to a day out at Ascot, but after being single for a few years, she said she did not want to feel like a ‘spare part’. The advert was carried in the Dorset Echo as a news article.