Bride-to-be Heather Thorne has made her own wedding outfit, bridesmaids' dresses - and dogs' bows - all in the name of Yorkshire thrift.

The frugal 47-year-old, of Hindley Walk, Horton Bank Top, Bradford, has converted her dining room into a workshop and has spent the past 18 months creating her own decorations, outfits and trimmings for the big day.

She will tie the knot with Irishman Des McLarlon, 51, on St Patrick's Day at Great Horton Methodist Church.

And the retired nurse reckons she's put in hundreds of hours - and saved thousands of pounds - creating unique personal touches for the wedding.

These include:

Invites, reply cards and envelopes

Order-of-service leaflets

Gold place cards

17 table decorations

70 miniature posies for the female guests

Velvet ring cushions.

And she says she's saved a packet. "Obviously I want everything to look lovely, but I wasn't prepared to pay a fortune for it. Wherever possible I've made things myself and found the cheapest way of doing it," said Heather.

This will be her third marriage. Her first wedding, which ended in divorce, was organised by her parents and the second was just a quiet celebration. Her second husband died four years ago.

"It's nice to be able to do things exactly how I want, and that's the joy of making it yourself. Not only am I saving us money, but I know we'll like it and it will be exactly what we wanted," she said.

Heather has designed and sewn her full-length gown herself.

"It's actually about five patterns and my own personal touches," she said.

She bought the burgundy velvet material for the skirt at cost from a warehouse, and the fabric for the bodice came from a voile which she already had.

To match, she has run up a jacket, veil, train and bag in velvet and cream.

And for their two dogs, Gizmo the Chihuahua, six, and eight-year-old Penny, a Cavalier King Charles, Heather is working on velvet bows for the wedding photos. The three bridesmaids, daughter Jenny Thorne, 22, friend Lynne Wilson, and friend Alison Laycock, 21, will wear gold velvet gowns which Heather has created from shop-bought dresses with co-ordinating bags, stoles and sashes.

Heather will also be making up her own bouquet, corsages and church flowers. And to mark St Patrick's Day, they are hoping for shamrocks for the buttonholes.

But it's not been plain sailing all the way. Heather has spent hours trawling round shops for the perfect colour matches for decorations and fabrics, and she has had to let her dress out after putting on a few pounds.

"To be honest I'll be glad when it's all over. I'm relying on my adrenaline to keep me going. I'm looking forward to it but it's been very stressful," she added.

Heather met nursing assistant Des at a care home Westwood House, Cooper Lane, Horton Bank Top, Bradford, where she worked as a nurse.

Colleagues at the home have chipped in to pay for a week's honeymoon in Guernsey and Jersey in May.

Bridesmaid Lynne Wilson, a nursing assistant, set the couple up for their first date two years ago.

She said: "We knew they couldn't afford to go away so we thought it would be a nice gesture if we could pay for it.

"They make a lovely couple and they deserve all the happiness in the world."

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