Mercury's 'Win a Wedding' couple celebrate their big day

A BARNARD Castle couple who have had their fair share of difficulties have enjoyed the wedding of their dreams.

James Layton and Lisa Clement scooped the wedding, worth £10,000, after a public vote hailed them the deserving winners of the Teesdale Mercury’s Win A Wedding competition last year.

Their prize came courtesy of Lartington Hall, the dale’s premier wedding venue.

The couple tied the knot in a civil ceremony in the hall’s chapel on Friday, September 15, in front of family and friends. Miss Clement and her bridal party arrived at the hall at 9am and were ushered into the Bridal Apartment, where she and her bridesmaids were welcomed with a bottle of Prosecco. There she was pampered, having her hair and make up done.

The groom’s party arrived at noon followed by the guests at 12.30pm who enjoyed drinks before making their way to the chapel in time for the 1pm ceremony. Leading the bride, who was given away by her mum Maureen, into the chapel was the couple’s two-year-old daughter Florie. Maid of honour and sister Kerry Dominick and her four bridesmaids, which included best friend Rachael Cook, who entered the couple into the competition, followed.

Both Miss Clement and her groom shed tears as they saw each other for the first time that day. The couple’s love has been reinforced by the trials they have endured.

They experienced major heartbreak in 2012 when Miss Clement suffered several miscarriages. In 2014, they learned that Miss Clement was pregnant. Amid the joy of becoming parents, Mr Layton began to feel unwell and with worries about another miscarriage, he decided to surprise Miss Clement with a surprise trip for her 30th birthday.

The weekend in a luxury log cabin near Preston didn’t go quite as they had expected.

Miss Clement spent her 30th birthday at her fiancé’s bedside in hospital. He lay in a coma for three days after he suffered a seizure which was caused by meningitis and encephalitis, a rare but serious condition which causes inflammation of the brain.

Thankfully, Mr Layton was discharged two weeks later on the couple’s four year anniversary. Their daughter, Florie, was born in March 2015 and they started making plans to marry. Almost everything was in place for their special day last July until the unexpected death of Miss Clement’s brother, Andrew.

He passed away in May, only days after discovering he was going to be a dad.

Tribute was paid to Mr Clement ahead of the wedding ceremony.

Following the ceremony the wedding party and their guests enjoyed Prosecco in the Georgian Hall, followed by dinner in the dining room.

Some 130 guests arrived for the evening reception which started at 7.30pm.