ONE of the region's most picturesque locations hosts The Northern Echo's Bride and Groom 2002 Exhibition this weekend.

Leading models will step out in the latest wedding day fashions and more than 40 exhibitors will be displaying their goods at Sunday's event.

Sponsored by beauty company Max Factor, the event is one of the region's leading wedding exhibitions and is now in its fourth year at Auckland Castle, Bishop Auckland, County Durham.

Visitors will be able to enter a free competition to win a hand-made tiara from Leigh Hetherington, a wedding bouquet dried and set in a three-dimensional frame by Framed Forever and one of three Max factor make-up kits, worth more than £40 each.

Entry to the exhibition is free and the doors will be open from 11am to 4pm.

More than 2,000 people attended last year's exhibition, and organisers hope Sunday's event will be just as big, with people from across the region expected to converge on Bishop Auckland.

Thames Fashion Productions, a London catwalk fashion company, will not only provide the models, but also organise the event's fashion show.

Companies exhibiting on Sunday will include outfitters, car hire firms, artists, hotels, make-up firms, photographers and cake-making specialists, covering all aspects of a wedding day.

The castle's 12th Century chapel is available for wedding blessings, while its grounds are perfect for post-ceremony photographs.

Five rooms of the castle, the official residence of the Bishop of Durham, the Right Reverend Michael Turnbull, will be taken up by stalls at the event.