A ROMANTIC proposal involving a bride’s favourite novel led to marital bliss for one couple.

Heather Eccles, 30, who works in marketing and Luke Close, 30, a car parts advisor, tied the knot in an intimate ceremony at The Wild Boar in Kendal.

The couple, who live in Kendal, first met in 2014 through mutual friends. Mrs Close said the pair felt ‘relaxed around each other’ from the outset.

She said: “He makes everyone laugh all the time, he’s so nice to be around. He had so much depth to him.

“We knew early on this could be something really special and wanted to see where it could go.”

The pair became engaged on New Year’s Day in a ‘romantic’ surprise proposal.

“I’m a bit of a book worm and my favourite book is Persuasion by Jane Austen,” Mrs Close said.

“Luke makes me breakfast in bed every Sunday morning and he gave me a clothbound version of the book.

“He’d used a cookie cutter to cut out a section of the book and put the ring inside it.

“I just cried to the point where I asked him what was going on and he said it’s an engagement ring and asked me to marry him - it was perfect."

The couple had always planned a small, intimate wedding but had to cut down numbers due to Covid-19 restrictions.

Mrs Close said: “We’d decided to have a small wedding on the Thursday and an after party on the Thursday night.We’d planned on seating 24 for the meal and 30 in the evening for the buffet – that was our plan but then we had to reduce our numbers ten days before the ceremony.

“Other than cutting numbers, we didn’t have to do anything else different, if wasn’t for having to wear masks, we wouldn’t have known any different.”

Mrs Close described the day as like a ‘whimsical fairy-tale’ and ‘perfect’ in every way.

She said: “It was such a nice day. Everyone’s spirits were running high, the sun came out and there were candles and confetti out, it was just so cosy.

“We had a really nice family meal. There was only a small group of 15 of us in the main restaurant and the atmosphere was so warm and welcoming. The curfew didn’t bother us in the slightest. The guests knew after the meal it would be a laid back and relaxing evening.

“The whole day felt like a whimsical fairy-tale. Everyone had such a tough year, so have such a beautiful day was perfect for us.”

For their honeymoon the couple had planned to travel to New York which they have postponed until March.