A couple who met on a train, commuted by train to date each other and shared their first kiss on a train have tied the knot – on a train.
Leah Smith, 38, and Vince Smith, 39, celebrated their whole wedding on board a special Great Western Railway (GWR) train which set off from London Paddington station and took the wedding party all the way to Swansea.
Mr Smith said: “It’s been amazing. GWR has been so fantastic and everything they’ve done, the set-up, is brilliant. It’s like a dream come true.”
The journey included all the usual traditions – with wedding vows, family photos and a three-course meal with speeches on board the locomotive.
The happy couple, from Farncombe near Guildford, Surrey, first met in 2016 on board a GWR train from Wokingham to Reading.
They travelled to their first date together, had their first kiss on a train and used services while dating each other.
The pair, who have been together for eight years, wanted to include a small nod to the train operator when tying the knot so they contacted the social media team at GWR to see if they could provide a centrepiece for their wedding table.
Mr Smith said: “GWR got back to us really quickly and .. you could see that they were trying to push for something special for us, and obviously it eventually manifested into this amazing day.”
Starting on Friday morning, Ms Smith had her hair and make-up done in the Queen Victoria’s lounge on platform one at Paddington while Mr Smith got ready for the big day at the station’s old GWR boardroom.
He said: “I think that part is quite special because it is a section of Paddington that remained after Second World War bombing.
“I boarded the train and then obviously got set up with the minister and everything in the front carriage waiting for Leah to come on board.”
Ms Smith said: “When everyone was on the train I walked down the platform with my dad and my two eldest kids, and there were loads of people clapping and cheering. It was very surreal.”
From there, the ceremony unfolded before 14 guests, with the couple exchanging rings as the train made its way towards Reading.
Mr Smith said: “We were wobbling all over the place while the ceremony was taking place, but it was funny.”
Ms Smith’s father, who was a signalman on GWR’s sister network South Western Railway for 51 years, gave his daughter away along with the couple’s son.
She said their families thought the train ceremony was a “fantastic” idea, adding: “My dad, in particular, was very, very excited about it, as you can imagine.”
After the ceremony, traditional wedding photos followed, as well as a three-course meal in a Pullman dining car along with speeches and a champagne toast as the train sped through Berkshire, Wiltshire and Somerset.
The wedding guests disembarked at Cardiff while the newly-weds continued on to Swansea, where GWR arranged a hotel for them to stay for the night.
Trains have played a pivotal role in Leah and Vince’s romance, with their first kiss on board a service.
Ms Smith, recalling the couple’s first date, said: “We went for a coffee and then a pizza, and just got on really, really well. On the way back, Vince was getting off at Wokingham.
“He went to leave and then ran back and kissed me. I knew from that first date we had something special.”
Mr Smith added: “On top of that, Leah’s dad has been in the industry for 50 years so she’s always had a place in her life for trains and always has journeys aboard on trains, and it’s been the same since we’ve been together.
“Whenever we have a holiday, the first thing we always look out for is steam train routes or picturesque train journeys, so it’s always been an important aspect of our activities.”
The couple’s honeymoon plans are not train-based, but they hope to stay on a refurbished steam train carriage for a couple of nights later this year.
