We just decided one afternoon that we fancied getting married abroad. We'd seen just how expensive a British wedding could be and didn't want to start our married life paying off a wedding and honeymoon, so thought we would be better to combine the two.

This solved 2 of the biggest issues, first being the location, as we both lived away from home, we originally would have to had upset one set of parents, so going away to get wed took that out of the equation. The second being the cost - we kept things very simple and had only close friends and relatives come with us.

I got my dress in the UK and ordered all the usual bride paraphernalia like wedding favours, confetti etc from the internet.

My soon to be husband organised everything else, we got a contact of a wedding organiser in Cyprus who dealt with the paperwork and organising of the town hall and all we had to do was turn up, sign some affidavits and work on our tan for the big day.

We hired a villa in Coral Bay and had our friends stay with us for a week for the wedding which was fantastic, we had BBQs and nights out in Coral Bay and a joint stag & hen night - cocktails were drunk in copious amounts that night! We were walking distance to everything so no one had to worry about hiring a car to get around.

We got our wedding rings in Aphrodite's Jeweller shop in Coral Bay, they resized them and had everything ready in time for the wedding day which was fantastic and made them all that more special because we had got them in Cyprus.

For the wedding day, we all went into Coral Bay for lunch and then I left early to pop next door to the salon to get my hair pinned and my tiara fixed in place - I'm sure there were around 60 hair pins in my hair!! We split the villa into the bride’s side and the groom side and we all got ready to go. We were all just so relaxed, the sun was shining, we were all tanned and feeling good, some of our guests had only stopped sunbathing about an hour before the wedding.

My husband to be and I were taken into town in an Mercedes limo and the guests were taken in the wedding bus, they came straight to the villa to come and pick us up so there was no hanging about. When we got to the Town Hall, there was a photographer there already snapping away and then I was handed a wedding bouquet (I’m not a flower person, so I hadn't arranged anything like that), we were all shown to a room in the Town Hall and everyone was seated and the ceremony began. It took around 15 minutes and then we were back outside for the actual wedding photos. Paphos Town Hall has lovely gardens outside and the front of the Town hall has lovely columns which looks great in the photos. The sun was just setting when we came out to the lighting was perfect.

Then back on the bus for the guests and back in the Limo for us newly weds, we drove through the streets of Paphos in the traditional style with horns blaring. We were taken straight to our reception venue, which again had been organised by the Cypriot organiser, it was a friend of his who has a taverna in Coral Bay and they prepared us a BBQ/Meze with champagne and lots of entertainment. The taverna also catered us with a gorgeous chocolate wedding cake, like the flowers, I hadn't arranged a cake!

Everyone enjoyed the food and the staff at the Coral Oasis taverna, then my husband and I took a 2 minute walk down to the Coral Beach Hotel, where we were booked in for 2 nights for our own honeymoon. The hotel was wonderful, the room was like an apartment with lounge, kitchen, 2 bathrooms and a huge master bedroom. There were flowers, champagne and another chocolate cake awaiting us when we entered the room. It was just a perfect end to a perfect day.

I'd recommend a wedding in Cyprus to anyone, stress free, happy guests and the perfect way to start your married like together. We managed to have our wedding for less than 4,000 sterling pounds and that included our flights, the hiring of the villa for 2 weeks (none of our guests paid for accommodation) 2 nights in a luxury suite at the Coral Beach hotel, wedding dress and suit and of course the wedding itself, including photographs which were professionally presented in a wedding album ready for us to take home with us at the end of our holiday, reception and all transport.

So if you are thinking of getting married abroad, have Cyprus on your list as a possible location - you won’t be disappointed.