Super slimmer wedding for Nicky

When a Black Country bride decided to lose weight for her big day, she never expected half a dozen of her wedding party would follow suit and shed the pounds too.

Nicky Bonsall, nee Davis, from Walsall, dropped two dress sizes, from 16 to 12, and one and a half stone so she could slip into her dream wedding dress and shimmy down the aisle in style.

But it was not only the nursery nurse who felt as light as a feather – eight friends and family members, including the groom, had also lost weight.

The nine successful slimmers collectively shed more than 13 stone for the special occasion.

Mrs Bonsall, aged 21, said: "I started it off and the others thought to themselves, 'My life, I've put some weight on too'.

"So we all did it together and were able to support each other throughout."

The bride, who wed Steve, a Mercedes Benz salesman, at New Hall Hotel in Sutton Coldfield and honeymooned in Florida, said that in a typical day she ate:

* 7.30am One Weetabix with milk;

* 10.30am Glass of orange juice and slice of jam on toast;

* 2pm Tuna and pasta with tomato and cucumber;

* 6pm A roast pork dinner with plenty of fresh vegetables;

* 8pm Fruit and low-fat yoghurt.

Mrs Bonsall, of Hobart Drive, decided after giving birth to daughter Abbie in June last year that she wanted to slim down before saying 'I do'. She waited until last September, to give her body time to recover from the trauma of labour, before joining Slim 4 Good, when she tipped the scales at 12st 8lb.

"I found it hard to lose the weight that I'd put on and, knowing my wedding was just around the corner, knew I had to do something about it," she said.

She reached her target of dropping two dress sizes by the time her wedding day arrived in June.

She said: "I felt fantastic on the day and the photographs are wonderful."

Her husband, aged 33, lost two stone while her parents, John and Sylvia Davis, both aged 53, lost 30lbs and 22lbs respectively.

Mother of the groom Pam Bonsall, aged 64, shed one stone.