Southsea wedding guests stunned as singing waiter collapses

But only 27 years later did Victoria finally pluck up the courage to message Cameron on Facebook where she stumbled across his account on Valentine’s Day 2015 after they'd gone their separate ways aged 16.

When the pair reunited over coffee in Chichester it was love at first sight, and the happy couple have never looked back.

On their spectacular wedding day at The Royal Beach Hotel at Southsea on October 16, Victoria and Cameron were joined by 62 guests in the day and about 40 more in the evening. The childhood sweethearts tied the knot in a very musical celebration.

Victoria was walked down the aisle by her sister, in the absence of her father who died last year.

'I organised surprise singing waiters for everybody and it was brilliant. Nobody knew anything about it except me, not even Cameron', says Victoria, a merchant seafarer.

'From the moment the singing waiters appeared it was like a big show. One of the waiters put on a fake fall at the top table and everyone got up saying "are you OK?"

'Obviously it was all for show and he went into this fantastic performance.'

Victoria, nee Pears, was 'so glad' that unlike many other couples, she and Cameron didn't have to put one of the best days of their lives on hold because of Covid rulings.

The 48-year-old says: 'Luckily we got married on our original date.

‘Covid took a little bit of the excitement away from planning because even though restrictions were easing towards the day, we still weren't 100 per cent sure whether we'd have the numbers.

'But we were really lucky. We've got friends who came from all over the country, a friend from Denmark, and one from Majorca. Everyone made the effort and came.'

When Victoria and Cameron reignited their spark, it was only through social media that she discovered he was living just 17 miles from her home town in Portsmouth.

She had never been able to track him down on social media until realising that through a mutual connection with Cameron's brother, he did in fact have an account.

'I thought "oh my god he's actually living near me”, says Victoria.

‘I sent him a message on February 14, 2015, when I was 42 and he messaged back the following day saying "what a coincidence you only live just up the road!"

'He could have ended up anywhere.

'He gave me his phone number there and then saying it would be great to catch up, and on February 16 he messaged me and we went out for coffee.

'We've been together ever since.

'We wondered what had happened to each other over the years and it just so happened that 27 years later we could reconnect. It's like it was fate really.'

Cameron popped the question in 2016 at a holiday park in the New Forest on New Year’s Eve where there were about 300 holidaymakers on the dance floor.

He arranged for a projector to display kind words of adoration he had written about Victoria to show up on the wall. When she turned around 'Cameron was down on one knee'.

Victoria reflects on the big day: 'The highlight of my wedding was marrying Cameron of course. The singing waiters were particularly brilliant but the whole day was just amazing.'

The reunited childhood sweethearts are going on a 'double-whammy' honeymoon next year. Firstly to Turkey in May, then another trip to Jamaica during October where they will have their 'big holiday' after two Covid cancellations earlier in the year.

A message from the editor, Mark Waldron.

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