A BEAUTIFUL al fresco wedding marked the end of a five-year engagement for one Dorset couple.

Emma, nee Spracklen, and Jonny Payne first met on a night out in Weymouth whilst she was out celebrating her 18th birthday.

Now, 10 years, a new house and two kids later the pair, who live in Dorchester, have tied the knot in a “beautiful” open-air ceremony on Saturday September 17.

Their wedding was held at Brympton House in Odcombe, a venue the couple had plenty of time to land on during their fiveyear engagement.

Mrs Payne, 27, said: “We looked at a lot of places on our side of Poole and Bournemouth before choosing Brympton House.

“It was beautiful – the sun was shining and we actually got married outside which is what we really wanted to do all along.

“That was lucky because the weekend before it poured down with rain and the weekend after it was very windy.

“We got married in the grounds and had our reception there.

“We had all our friends and family.

“Seventy-five came to the ceremony during the day and around 160 guests in the evening.”

They even rented out a coach to ferry loved ones to Somerset where the wedding was held.

Emma enlisted the services of Weymouth-based Chris Whitefield to be their photographer on the day.

Mrs Payne said: “Chris was really good – a very relaxed photographer.

“We met him about five weeks before the wedding and told him what did and didn’t want.

“He was so relaxing. We booked him off the back of recommendations.

“We had such lovely comments about how friendly he was.”

The pair will jet off to South Africa in December for their honeymoon.

If you’ve been celebrating anything from a significant birthday to your retirement, call George Smith on 01305 830817 or email george. smith@dorsetecho.co.uk