Meet the lucky couple who won a wedding at The Three Kings in Shieldhill

David Cattanach wanted to mark two decades of running The Three Kings wedding venue in Shieldhill and also do something special to say thank you to NHS workers and carers for all their work during the pandemic.

Last summer he teamed up with The Falkirk Herald to offer one lucky pair the chance to enjoy their dream ceremony and reception, plus lots more besides, in a great giveaway.

The prize, valued at over £6500, includes everything from wedding cars, a reception for 100 day guests, an evening buffet for 200, bridal flowers, kilt hire, reception entertainment and an overnight stay for the newlyweds in the new bridal suite.

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There were hundreds of entries from across the health and care professions with a shortlist of ten eventually drawn up.

Over several weeks readers, along with friends and families of the couples nominated, voted for who they thought was most deserving.

Lesley McGuinness and Chris O’Neill were top of the leader board every week and earlier this year were declared the outright winners.

This week the delighted couple were finally able to meet Mr Cattanach face-to-face and begin making arrangements to say “I do”.

And the pair, who have been together nearly 14 years, are delighted that they will be able to tie the knot next summer.

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Lesley, a healthcare assistant at Westburn Medical Practice in Falkirk, and Chris, a firefighter based at Crewe Toll in Edinburgh, have both worked throughout the pandemic and said their wedding day will be “all they have ever dreamed of”.

The ecstatic bride-to-be said: “I could hardly sleep the night before our meeting, I was so excited.

"It was lovely to meet the family in person and we spent two hours being shown round and going through all the arrangements.

"Mr Cattanach gave us a bottle of champagne when we arrived. We were treated like royalty.”

The couple plan to marry on June 25, 2022 and like The Three Kings where Mr Cattanach works with son James and daughters Paula and Catrina, their wedding will be a family affair.

Lesley, 50, will have the couple’s daughter Ciana, 12, as bridesmaid along with her niece Emma McGuinness and goddaughter Andrea King.

Her father died 16 years ago so her sons, Ross, 23 and Dean, 20, will give her away.

Chris, 45, will have his son Aaron, 25, as best man.

"We’re a really close family,” said Lesley, “and it’s going to be lovely to have them all part of the bridal party.”

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The couple, who live in Cowie, met when both were on nights out in Edinburgh and just clicked right away.

Lesley added: “We’ve spoken about getting married for years but there has always been something else happening, such as health issues in our families, and other people have had to come first.

“But now we can’t quite believe it’s actually happening.”

"It’s only 13 months away but when you think we’ve been in a pandemic for the last 14 months, it will fly by.”

The runners- up in the competition were theatre nurse Laura Meade and Derek Hilley of Falkirk.

They win a wedding package for £1000.

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