A NEWLY-crowned Bride of the Year has revealed how her daughter was the inspiration behind her emotional success.
It’s just beginning to sink in for Gemma Kerr, 28, that she is the winner of the Bride of the Year competition run by the Hartlepool Mail in conjunction with Robert Usher Photography.
And as she reflected on her big night, Gemma told how her six-year-old daughter Madeline was the inspiration behind mummy becoming Hartlepool’s new champion.
She said her daughter spent time writing down the things that she and fiance Andrew Bazeley, 25, could say to the Bride of the Year judges.
“She was telling us to say ‘we want to win because we love each other so much and we want to be together forever’,” said Gemma.
“She must have been sitting and thinking about it for quite some time. Now we have won and she is going to be a bridesmaid.”
Gemma said Madeline had even planned the colour scheme for her big day. “She wants a nice burgundy colour with some nice whites and creams.”
Gemma, a cleaner and barmaid at the Burn Valley Social Club, who lives in Argyll Road, Hartlepool, said: “Madeline is going to be so excited.”
Husband-to-be Andrew, who works as a refuse collector in Hartlepool, said: “I so wanted Gemma to have her special day.
“I just love her to bits. It is my dream to marry her and I want to spend the rest of my life with her.”
During the judging night on board HMS Trincomalee, the couple were asked what they love about each other.
Gemma said: “I love his personality. He is so loveable and he will do anything for anyone.”
While Andrew said: “The first time I saw her, I knew she was the one.”
The couple first became engaged after they attended the wedding of Gemma’s brother Graham last May at Lake Garda in Italy .
The romantic occasion was just the spur Andrew needed for him to pop the question himself.
He bought an engagement ring in Italy, got down on one knee and asked the love of his life: “Will you make me the happiest man and marry me?”
The couple will now start planning their dream day, including taking their wedding vows in the Captain’s Cabin on board HMS Trincomalee on Friday, September 6.
l Mail view: Page 8
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