A COUPLE jetted off to a secret to the picturesque Lake District for their ‘perfect’ elopement wedding.

Kathy Allix, 45, a management accountant, and Brett O’Neill, 56, an estates manager, did not tell their friends or family they were marrying in an intimate ceremony at Storrs Hall in Windermere.

The pair said they both wanted a quiet and intimate ceremony which focussed on just the two of them.

Mrs O’Neill said: “It’s my second marriage and we both decided we didn’t want to get involved in a big white wedding.

“We both wanted something quiet with just us two.

“We didn’t tell anyone - it was a complete secret.

“We phoned our children and parents after to say we’d got married and they were really happy for us.”

Despite an initial delay due wedding restrictions imposed by Covid-19, the couple tied the knot in an outdoor ceremony on Wednesday in front of just two witnesses and a registrar.

Mrs O’Neill described the day as ‘really relaxed’ and ‘completely stress free’.

She said: “Everything went to plan. It was so stress free.

“The hotel sorted everything and provided the witnesses and a name for the photographer.The ceremony was really romantic.

“It wasn’t traditional which was what we wanted - we walked up the aisle together and were introduced by the registrar together.

“The weather was perfect and we managed to do the ceremony outside.

“It was just what we wanted.”

The couple had been firm friends before getting together, having met each other at work several years ago.

Mrs O’Neill said: “We knew each other for quite a few years before getting together.

“We had a work do and it went from there.

“We’d always liked each other.

“It was a slow burner, it wasn’t one of those where you met and it was love at first sight.

“But when we did get together it grew quite quickly.”

Mrs O’Neill said she was attracted to her husband’s ‘calming influence’.

She said: “Brett thought I was very quiet and unassuming which he liked. But when he got to know me, he realised I was a bit mad. I liked Brett because he was very level-headed and loving. I needed a calming influence.”

The couple took their relationship to the next step in November during a trip to Barcelona.

“Brett proposed along the marina front which was very romantic,” Mrs O’Neill said.

“We were both tearful - it was quite romantic.”

The couple, from Colchester, are hoping to go to Maldives for their honeymoon in October.