WEDDING: Stock car dates for Jason and Josie

Jason and Josie, who live together in Paulsgrove, were married on September 24 at Moneyfields, Portsmouth, in the company of a large gathering of friends and family.

‘It was a perfect day,’ says Josie, 25. ‘I don’t think I could pick a single favourite moment from the day.’

Jason, 45, agrees: ‘It turned out better than we could have ever hoped for.’

Jason and Josie first met at a stock car racing track near Horndean eight years ago, where Jason shared a love of motor racing with several members of Josie’s family.

Jason, who works as a railway engineer, admits that he was initially reluctant to respond to Josie’s advances.

‘I told her that she should really go and find someone her own age, but she said she didn’t care and that she wanted to be with me,’ he says.

Eventually, Jason warmed to Josie, and she would accompany him to cheer him on at his stock car races, including their first date at a track in Essex.

‘Once we spent a bit of time together, we just hit it off and bonded over time,’ says Jason.

‘When you meet him, he doesn’t look like a loving person on the outside, but from the other side of him, he’s got a heart of gold,’ adds Josie, who is a field co-ordinator for the same train operator that Jason works for.

It’s with his heart of gold that Jason sought the blessing to marry Josie from her father, Tony, before proposing at her 21st birthday party – despite having to wait three hours to get a private moment with his future dad-in-law.

‘I was shocked,’ laughed Josie, reflecting on the moment Jason got down on one knee. ‘I thought he had bought me a new car!’

Fast forward four years, and Jason once again went above and beyond to make sure that his bride’s day would be unforgettable.

‘I wasn’t nervous at all,’ he says, having focussed on decorating the venue to match the colours of his stock car – white, orange and green. ‘I just wanted to make sure everything went the way she wanted it to.’

‘Sometimes you usually have a few faults, or something will stick out,’ says Josie, ‘but everything just went to plan, it was amazing.

‘He’s not really a romantic person but he will do something out of the blue which is nice because you don’t really expect it.’

‘We help each other out all the time’, adds Jason.

‘If you ever need someone by your side, she’s always there.’

Pictures by Mark Robbins: markrobbinsphotography.co.uk