A NEWLYWED said she was “blown away” the moment she saw her wife-to-be walk down the aisle on their wedding day.

Clare Tonkin married Hannah Paling in a ceremony at Barrow’s Abbey House attended by friends and family from all corners of the country.

Clare, now Mrs Paling after taking her wife’s name, said it was the “perfect day” as more than a 100 well-wishers gathered to see the pair tie the knot.

The ceremony came more than a year after Hannah, 29, proposed to her partner in a romantic gesture at the top of the Hoad, around two years after they first got together.

Clare, 44, said: “Hannah had the Hoad especially opened up for us. We went right to the top where there was a scrabble board and Prosecco waiting .

“The board said ‘Please marry me Clare’.

“We got to the top and I thought we had ruined someone else’s surprise.

“But it was amazing and a complete shock to me.

“A lot of people were surprised how romantic it was but Hannah is like that. She is very thoughtful.”

Hannah, an active communities co-ordinator had known Clare, a fundraiser, through family and they were friends for a time before they became a couple.

For their first date, they went for a drink at the Old Farmhouse in Ulverston.

And three-and-a-half years later they celebrated getting married as family and friends from as far away as Brighton and Kent came to watch the couple say “I do.”

Clare said: “It was really nice to see family and friends there. Some of my oldest school friends came along."

Guests were welcomed into the venue by the stylings of string quartet What the Pluck.

After months of planning the finer details together, the couple had made sure not to see each other's dresses until the big day.

“The first time we saw each was when we were at the end of the aisle, " Clare said.

“It was absolutely amazing. I knew she would look beautiful, but I was just blown away.”

The wedding was followed by a meal in which guests were served with duck salad, followed by roast beef and a trio of desserts. A triple-tier wedding cake featured rainbow layers on the inside.

After speeches and toasts, they then danced the night away, joined by an extra 40 guests.

But all eyes were on the newlyweds as they shared their first dance to James Arthur's Say You Won't Let Go, chosen by Hannah and Clare for its poignant lyrics.

Reflecting on the day, Clare said: "It was perfect and everything we wanted it to be."