Couples bid to win a winter wedding at luxury New Forest venue

Ten newlyweds-to-be are now within touching distance of winning a magicial winter wedding at New Forest venue Balmer Lawn Hotel.

The line-up has been whittled down from a flood of entries to a national competition launched to celebrate the four star Hampshire venue's 1,000th wedding.

Now all the contenders have to do is get the backing of the public to be among the final three. The ten couples to reach the penultimate stage of the competition by sharing their most meaningful love songs include:

• A Danny and Sandy relationship from a school production of Grease that never stopped
• A couple whose shared first kiss at five was rekindled 36 years later when the two finally got together
• A pair whose romance epitomises winter, having met when switching on Epsom's Christmas lights

Michael Clitheroe, general manager at Balmer Lawn Hotel, said, "We wanted to offer up a free winter wedding to celebrate our 1,000th wedding at the hotel, but we also wanted to ensure whoever won it was suitably deserving. Having heard a little bit about each couple, we're now sharing the best entries with the public to help us make a final decision."

The hotel invited couples to use 1,000 characters to outline why they should win, including a bit of their backstory and their favourite song (along with the meaning behind it) to help present their case. Extra points were awarded to those who submitted a marryoke effort as part of their entry!

Once the public has had its say the couple with the most votes will be announced as the winners. Michael added, "We're really excited about giving away a winter wedding and can't wait to see who ends up as the eventual winner! It will be interesting to see who catches the eye of the public, and we'd like to wish all of the finalists the best of luck."

The voting closes at midnight on Friday 24th January, and the lucky winners will be announced the week commencing Monday 27th January.