WITH Christmas and New Year wrapped up there is nothing standing in the way of the Adver’s £10,000 wedding winners Leanne Warner and Daniel Harper.

The couple, who spent nearly £4,000 on copies of the newspaper to win on September 15 last year, decided to hold off on making any firm bookings or sending out invitations until after the hype of the festive season.

Leanne, 25, of Pasteur Drive, was in at Hazlewood Bridal Boutique in Chippenham on October 5, when she decided on her dream dress. It will be delivered on February 8 and stowed away from the prying eyes of Daniel until the big day.

The date, which has been set as August 9, will take friends and family to All Saints Church in Lydiard Millicent after Leanne discovered her uncle, who died a few years ago, had been married there.

“We wanted to wait for the hype of Christmas and New Year to die down before booking anything or sending any invitations out,” said Leanne.

“We are slowly getting there now, with more progress in the New Year. We wanted to spoil all the kids at Christmas first, before getting everything booked afterwards.

“I have always wanted to get it all booked in as soon as possible, but Daniel convinced me it was best to wait until after Christmas.

“He is sort of getting excited about it, but it’s being left to me to organise, which I like. It’s all being done the way I want it to.”

The pair, who met six years ago through colleagues at a private hire taxi company in Swindon, had a neatly planned strategy to win the coveted prize.

Daniel, who is a duty manager for Network Rail overseeing developments at Reading train station, bought 5,500 copies of the newspaper at a value of £3,575 in an effort to swing the votes in their favour.

Leanne and two friends then spent four days hand cutting and stamping the vouchers from the paper ahead of the September 7 voting deadline.

In the three months since that fateful day in the Swindon Marriott Hotel, the scale of the prize has slowly sunk in for Leanne.

“It took a long while to sink in, the fact we won it,” she said. “It’s all quite quiet at the moment, but once we start booking everything and organising it, that’s when I will start getting properly excited.

“My step-daughter (Shannon, nine) is very excited, as she’s one of the bridesmaids. We are waiting before sorting out her dress for the day, with her growth spurts.”