A BRIDE was surprised to travel to her wedding in an old fashioned double decker bus.

Elaine Walters, 41, from Westlea, was picked up in the 1967 vehicle before her big day at the Swindon Register Office on Saturday afternoon.

Her bus driver husband Mark Chapple, 49, borrowed it from his employer, Thamesdown Transport, after Elaine thought she would be going in something a little more conventional.

The pair also said their wedding couldn’t have gone ahead without the help and support of their friends.

“It was a brilliant day,” said Elaine.

“The best bit was saying ‘I do’.

“I was a little surprised about the bus – it was not something I was expecting.

“The day was lovely and it’s all down to our friends.”

Elaine’s best friend Tina Warren, 42, from Coleview and her husband Jeff, 49, was the best man.

Others who helped were Beverley Lloyd and Barry Ovens.

Two Thamesdown drivers played a part – Gary Millin drove the historic bus while Bill Smith carried their bags for their stay at hotel Jurys Inn.

“We couldn’t have done it without our friends,” said Elaine, who has been with Mark for eight years.

“They were fantastic from start to finish.

“Tina helped me pick my dress and helped organise everything. They decorated the hall and got the food in.

“We held out from having our wedding sooner as Mark’s mum Pat died (aged 66) from motor neurone disease last year.

“She had been ill for a long time and I didn’t want to steal her time with Mark. She was nursed by her husband Rex to the end in London.”

The happy couple’s wedding reception was held at Greenbridge Rugby Club.

Mark, who had teased Elaine she’d be getting the bus to her wedding, said: “I knew she wasn’t expecting it. I just thought it was something a little bit different.

“I’d organised it with my boss Paul Jenkins about a year ago. Elaine was expecting either a horse and carriage or to go in my car – I was really winding her up.

“Elaine did tell me when we got to the register office that I was a ‘dead man walking’.

“The wedding was the happiest day of my life.”

The happy couple, who met more than 10 years ago through mutual friends, plan to spend their honeymoon in Portugal some time next year.