Dead flowers and a wedding dress she didn't like meant Christine McLafferty's wedding day 25 years ago was not an altogether memorable occasion.

And her father's death just a few months before meant the whole day was tinged with sadness.

This weekend she walked down the aisle again with one overriding emotion - sheer joy at just being alive.

Brave Christine, who celebrated her 45th birthday last week, has cheated death twice in the last 13 years. The mother-of-two from Cottingley beat cancer twice and was determined to mark her silver wedding anniversary in style.

So two years ago she began planning a ceremony to renew her wedding vows to husband Neil and to have the kind of wedding she wanted 25 years ago.

She set about inviting 140 friends and family for the biggest party of her life and recreated her wedding day by reassembling some of the original cast including the six bridesmaids.

She said: "I just always wanted to do it. I didn't like my dress and my flowers were dead. The weather was awful too. It snowed and rained hailstones, it was absolutely freezing!

"The reception was up at Dick Hudson's pub and we might as well have gone to the North Pole - it would have been warmer.

"My father Stanley had died in August too so it was not the most enjoyable day. But I always said if I lived long enough, I would do it all again."

The first of her battles with cancer happened in 1987 when she was diagnosed as suffering from cervical cancer.

She said: "I was told if I did not have this operation, it was 'Bye-bye now'. So I had it in October and another series of ops afterwards because of complications."

Ten years later she was diagnosed with breast cancer which meant chemotherapy and radiotherapy sessions, which led to her losing all her hair at one point.

She said: "I was mortified, absolutely devastated. I was lucky that they caught it when they did. A close friend at work was not so fortunate. She had just died aged 45." But all that was forgotten on Saturday at Cottingley Town Hall when, as a radiant bride once more, she dazzled in a wedding dress she had chosen herself.

She said: "I suppose my original dress was lovely at the time but I bought it second hand. This one is gorgeous, it's what I really want.

"I can remember everything from that day 25 years ago. I have proved to myself that I am fit and well and I didn't think I would be."

Inside the church, pastor Maurice Atack told the congregation: "I think this is a wonderful occasion and I am sure that the next 25 years is going to be as happy as the last 25 years have been."

Outside Neil said: "After all she has gone through, it seemed right and fitting to do it again. It was not totally happy last time. She looks absolutely stunning."

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