Get me to the meet on time (From Western Telegraph)

Get me to the meet on time

The groom wore red and the bride looked elegant in an old-fashioned riding habit.

Conventional wedding outfits these were not, but then neither was the big day itself. Richard Goldsworthy and Linda Parry are keen fox hunting supporters and didn't want to miss the closing meet of the season when it fell on their wedding day.

So, instead of the traditional champagne reception, they were joined by family and friends for an invigorating afternoon's hunting with the South Pembrokeshire Hunt after their 8am wedding ceremony.

"Most of our family and friends hunt so it seemed a great way to celebrate,'' said Richard, a livestock farmer and an amateur whipper-in with the South Pembrokeshire Hunt.

They were up at dawn to travel to Carmarthen Register Office by Jeff Whelton's Top Notch stretch limousine for their 8am service - the earliest a couple can be legally married in Britain.

"The people at the register office were very accommodating, They rarely get requests for such an early service, but went out of their way to help,'' said Richard, of Furze Hill, Martletwy.

Their witnesses, also dressed in their red coats, included Matthew Hitchmott, huntsman for the Monmouthshire Hunt, and Thomas Summons, a neighbour who also whips-in for the South Pembrokeshire Hunt.

A dash back to Furze Hill to collect their horses and then it was off to the meet at the Cresselly Arms, Cresswell Quay, where it was drinks all round courtesy of licensees, Maurice and Janet Cole.

Richard and Linda's horses looked the part, decked out in flowers befitting the celebratory atmosphere.

Linda, the daughter of Pembrokeshire county councillor, Norman Parry, rode side-saddle in her navy blue riding habit.

She and Richard were joined by four of their five children and other family members for the hunt.

They spent the afternoon riding around the south Pembrokeshire countryside in glorious sunshine before returning to the Cresselly Arms for a well-earned pig roast.