THE lucky winners of The Northern Echo’s Win A Wedding competition tied the knot in style at the weekend.

After two decades together, Karl Wheeler and Christine Smith finally said “I do” during a dream ceremony on Saturday.

And their big day was all made possible by the Echo’s competition and its supporters, who teamed up to give the couple their perfect wedding worth more than £7,500.

The couple, from Darlington, met 20 years ago, but a number of setbacks, including money difficulties and illness, stopped them getting married sooner.

When Echo readers voted them their favourite couple from ten finalists, they finally got around to planning the occasion.

Only weeks before entering, they had talked about going away to get married quietly – until Mr Wheeler spotted the competition in the newspaper.

He said: “It was amazing – winning was a big surprise and meant we got the ideal wedding.

“It would only have been nicer to share it with more people.”

The ceremony at Hall Garth Hotel, near Darlington, was performed by registrar Linda Armstrong, assisted by Judy Bowerbank, of Darlington Register Office.

The hotel provided the ceremony room, a wedding breakfast and drinks package for 30, an evening buffet for 80 – which the couple boosted so they could invite 160 friends and family – a disco from the Ian Gee Roadshow and the honeymoon suite.

Also included was the bridal gown and bridesmaid dresses from I Do, suits from Psyche for the groom and his best man, his brother, Andrew, a three-tier cake from Burnett 4 Cakes, and hair and make-up by Enhance.

They also had photographs from Greenleaf, flowers by Forget Me Not, stationery from Designs Unique, cars from Love Dub Cars and favours from the Little Chocolate Shop.

The new Mr and Mrs Wheeler, who each have two sons from previous relationships and four grandchildren between them, plan to honeymoon in Tenerife.

Mrs Wheeler, 61, said: “It was lovely, an amazing, brilliant day, and we couldn’t have asked for anything different.

“We’ve been together a long time, but this just seals everything and feels lovely.

“Everyone who put together the wedding was helpful and some went the extra mile to make it that extra bit special.”