A couple who were overweight at their first wedding decided to do their ceremony over again after they both achieved fantastically dramatic weight loss.
William and Janice Robertson, from Fife, had their first wedding at a time when they were both overweight.
The couple loved each other for who they were – loving each and every pound of the other person – but excessive junk food and a lack of exercise brought both members of the couple to an unhealthy weight.
Janice went to choose her wedding dress, but could only fit into a size-22 gown. The bride was left feeling self conscious and unhappy on what should have been the most memorable and joyous day of her life.
The bubble truly burst on the couple’s health habits when husband William received a diagnosis from the doctor, which revealed the he had diabetes.
The diagnoses shocked the couple, and made them realise they both needed to change their health habits.
Janice and William wasted no time in turning their lives around, and joined a local slimming programme to help them on their way to a healthy lifestyle.
The couple turned their goals into a friendly competition, using each other’s achievements to drive their own ambition and help achieve their ideal final weights.
Janice spoke about the couple’s light-hearted challenge with each other.
She said:
We are best friends and we do everything together. We both decided to lose weight. It was so much better because it became a bit of a competition.
Fantastically, the couple managed to lose over 14 stone between them, with Janice shedding around 7 stone, and William losing just over 7 and a half stone.
The couple looked back at their wedding pictures and decided that with their new, slimmed-down look, their pictures and memories of the day could be improved.
On their tenth anniversary, Janice and William decided to renew their wedding vows.
The bride spoke about the couple’s decision to redo the memorable moment, and explained her joy and emotion at being able to try on size 12 dresses, as opposed to the size-22 she was limited to the first time around.
She said:
When we first got married, it wasn’t enjoyable.
I was a size 22 and none of the dresses fitted me. I was sad about how I looked in them.
But when I went dress shopping for the second time it was amazing.
I was trying on size 12 dresses and I could practically try on every dress in the store.
When I saw myself I burst into tears.
The couple were almost unrecognisable as their new selves, and appeared as happy as ever in their new wedding photos.
Guests at the second wedding were blown away by the couple’s transformation, and were no doubt overjoyed at seeing the happy and healthy bride and groom.
The hard work and friendly competition towards losing weight definitely paid off – congratulations William and Janice!
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Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.