Low-maintenance couple who met on Southsea Pier 17 years ago finally get their special day

Luke and Toni Stonehouse, formerly Wilson, were married at the Old Thorns Manor Hotel, Liphook, on January 28 this year at a ‘cosy’ wedding attended by 55 of their close friends and family in the Hampshire Suite of the venue.

‘Everything went really well, the Old Thorns were amazing, their organisation was brilliant, although I was ready a bit early, I was a bit eager,’ says Toni.

‘We’ve been together a really long time, so there were no nerves, just lots of emotion, which was quite nice actually, not to have to be nervous,’ she adds.

Luke, 40, and Toni, 35, celebrated their wedding on the anniversary of their first meeting 17 years ago, at a dinner and dance at Southsea Parade Pier, hosted by the Southern Autosport Association (SAA) and the pair bonded over a shared interest in stock car racing.

With Toni living in Emsworth, and Luke, from Woking, the pair travelled to and fro for five years to see each other until their son, Joe, was born and they moved in together.

After years of Toni’s not-so-subtle hints, Luke proposed three three years ago on March 2, the morning of her birthday.

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‘I was on and on and on for years,’ laughs Toni. ‘I think I finally just broke him!’

She adds: ‘It was really thoughtful actually. I always said ‘if you’re going to ask me don’t get me a ring because I want to go and choose it!’

He gave me this little rectangle box, in this box was a wooden ring and it said will you marry me? We went that day and got a ring!’

On the couple’s special day, their son Joe, now 12, walked his mum down the aisle during a ceremony that had everyone’s emotions running high.

Toni says: ‘He was really really good, he was most worried about looking good in his suit!’

While the low-maintenance pair weren’t keen to be in the limelight, they were pleased that the day went off without a hitch and particularly thankful to their photographer, Carla Mortimer. ‘The thing I was most worried about that actually turned out to be amazing were the photos, I had the best time,’ says Toni

‘Carla was so good, she instantly put us at ease,’ she adds.

However, they can attest to the fact that no matter how long the planning process is, your wedding day will go by in the blink of an eye.

‘It does go so quick, before you know it it’s whizzed by. People say to take your time to remember, but you don’t really do that until after,’ says Toni.

‘I didn’t want to go to bed that night, you know when you don’t want to go to sleep because you know that it’s over. It’s such a big thing that’s just suddenly gone before your eyes!’

But for the couple, who have already been together for almost two decades, Toni says not much has changed – except they now feel ‘complete’.

‘It doesn’t feel any different, but it just makes you feel complete. It’s a nice feeling, to be complete as a family unit,’ she says.

Now the couple are looking forward to a honeymoon stay-cation in Bath at the end of April.