A COUPLE from Helston have become the first people to be married at the town’s Guildhall, in the same room where they became engaged last Flora Day.

Becky Watson and Ian Wheeler held their ceremony in the Corn Exchange on Saturday, just three days before this year's Flora Day.

Exactly 12 months earlier, as the conclusion of the Midday Dance, Ian got down on one knee and proposed to a delighted Becky, in front of all the other dancers gathered downstairs in the Guildhall.

With some many special memories, it was the icing on the wedding cake to marry in the same spot.

Speaking after getting engaged last year, Becky, who manages Cornish Saddlery at Water-ma-Trout, told the Packet last year: "It's just the whole Flora Day connection, where the dance starts and finishes, and it's where he proposed.

"My other half Ian is Helston born and bred and has led the Morning and Evening Dance. We're Flora Day through and through, the pair of us; we love it."

Their road to the aisle was not without its hurdles, however, as before they could marry in the Corn Exchange they first had to persuade Helston Town Council to licence the building.

The proposal to host weddings in the Helston’s civic building had first been raised back in 2014, but due to maintenance work being planned for the building nothing was progressed.

With the work subsequently completed, councillors agreed last June to pay the £1,525 fee to licence the building.

Becky and Ian are the first in a number of a couples who have now booked their wedding at the Guildhall, with the mayor's parlour and former courtroom upstairs, where town council meetings are now held, also covered by the marriage licence.

The charge to marry there is £432 for the council chamber and Corn Exchange, or £240 for the mayor's parlour, with both prices inclusive of VAT and for two days, in order for the venue to be set up the day before.