Beneath an arch festooned with fragrant flowers and bathed in the Italian sunlight, Bianca Walkden and Aaron Cook sealed a love story that had started when they were teenagers.
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Two-time Olympic taekwondo medallist Bianca was just 16 when she first met Aaron, a three-time European champion in the same sport, and their magical wedding at the stunning Tenuta Moreno hotel in Puglia in Southern Italy was the perfect way to celebrate their winning romance.
"It was the best day in my life – everything I could have dreamt of and more," says Aaron.
Bianca was a beautiful bride as she posed at their stunning wedding venue
"We're fighters and gladiators, and have been through so much together," Bianca tells us from their home in the UK. "And we’ve stayed together no matter what."
One hundred guests, including friends from the GB taekwondo team, flew to Italy to witness Bianca and Aaron, both 31, exchange vows in a civil ceremony officiated by the town’s mayor.
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They'd stumbled across the venue – in a vineyard in the old town of Mesagne – last year, where they’d holidayed after Aaron’s surprise marriage proposal at the Colosseum in Rome.
"We fell in love with it straight away and booked it that same day," says Bianca of the location.
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