A real hoot of a wedding for Leigh Park couple

That was the sound these newlyweds heard as they stood at the altar, with their precious wedding rings flying towards them.

'˜We definitely wanted something a bit different for our wedding,' laughs Amy Rawlings, nee Mitchell.

And that's exactly what the couple got.

The wedding bands were being tied to an owl's feet with ribbon while Amy and Danny Rawlings stood side-by-side at Old Thorns Hotel, Liphook, on September 14.

'˜We spotted the owls at a wedding fair and booked them up straight away. They were perfect,' says Amy.

Amy, 29, and Danny, 30, are childhood sweethearts. The couple first met when they were teenagers as they lived close to each other.

'˜We were so young, but we became the best of friends,' explains Amy.

Fourteen years down the line, the Leigh Park couple had discussed marriage a number of times but never really got round to the idea. But since they had their children Gracie-May, five, and Ronny, three, tying the knot became more of a serious subject.

However, despite knowing a proposal was on the cards, Amy was still as shocked as ever when Danny got down on one knee.

'˜It was New Year's Day in 2017 and we were at the Wellington Pub in Waterlooville.

'˜We were with a couple of friends and there was absolutely no-one in the pub. We had a couple of drinks but Danny caught me completely off guard,' explains Amy.

Amy thought Danny had gone to the bar but when she spun around, he was down on one knee in front of her.

'˜I was so shocked - I really didn't know what to do. Actually, I ran away into the toilet,' laughs Amy.

'˜I knew Danny wasn't the romantic type. It's not like I would have had a weekend away in Paris - but I was still so shocked.'

Once Amy was convinced to come out of the toilet and face the music, the childhood sweethearts started planning and bought a ring together a few days later.

'˜The wedding planning was a bit stressful, but overall I was quite calm.

'˜But the night before the wedding, Danny definitely wasn't calm,' laughs Amy.

She claims that Danny turned into a '˜groomzilla' and was getting rather stressed. But when the sun rose on their wedding day, Amy and Danny were so excited to finally marry one another.

For the perfect wedding pictures, the couple decided to trek up to the fifteenth hole on Old Thorns golf course. However their golf buggy adventure did not go exactly to plan.

'˜It broke down halfway up the hill,' laughs Amy, '˜Danny had to get out and push us.

'˜That didn't last for long - the golf buggy behind us had to bump us up. It was so hilarious!'

And the Rawlings have never been happier.  

'˜I just can't imagine being without him,' says Amy, '˜we just click together.'