A BRIDE-TO-BE had to make a last-minute substitution at the weekend when her bridesmaid was taken ill.

Months of planning had gone into making sure that Donna Rolph and Paul Foster had the perfect wedding.

But the preparations went awry when, on the eve of the wedding, Donna's childhood friend and bridesmaid, Jo Barker, was struck down by tonsillitis.

The family hoped that 20-year-old Jo, from Harome, would be well enough to attend Saturday's service at All Saints' Church, Kirkbymoorside.

But at 11am, her doctor said he would not allow her to leave home, and it looked as if Donna would only have two bridesmaids.

Her quick-thinking mother, Maureen, saved the day with a call to Claire Wilson, 21, of Slingsby, another of Donna's former schoolfriends.

Mrs Rolph said: "Claire was wonderful and said she would love to do it. Fortunately, she was a similar size to Jo, so we got her round and into the dress.

"It needed some alterations, so two hours before the ceremony, there I was sewing her into it."