BURY bobby Bill Gresty was the victim of an "undercover operation" - sprung by his bride. For fiancee Vivienne planned the perfect wedding day - without telling her bridegroom.
Bill, who works at Bury CID's divisional headquarters, thought Vivienne must have won the Lottery when a white Rolls Royce arrived at the couple's new home.
He said: "I felt sure Jeremy Beadle was going to spring out."
Vivienne, 47, and Bill, 49, were whisked off to Mere Hall Register Office, before a meal with close family and friends at the Egerton House Hotel, Bolton.
Bill said: "I had no idea, but I was obviously delighted."
The wedding was not the only surprise. The couple had bought their house several months ago, but did not move in until the morning of the wedding.
Bill explained: "When we bought the house I took off the wallpaper, and then was banned from going back inside.
"We moved in on Christmas Eve when I discovered Vivienne had redecorated it from top to bottom. It is like something out of House Beautiful. It was the perfect wedding present.
"We went to the house on Christmas Eve at 1pm, and 45 minutes later the Rolls Royce arrived. This took months of planning and hard work. Now I know why Vivienne has not been arriving home until gone midnight."
Vivienne's daughter, Susanne Smith, added: "She had been planning the wedding since June when they got engaged.
"My mother had pretended that they were due to go to a works party and it was only when the car arrived at the house that she changed into her wedding dress."
Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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