Christmas Day surprise for our wedding winners

A COUPLE who had their dream wedding day thanks to The Post celebrated the birth of their second child on Christmas Day.

Charlotte and Pete Oliver, who live in Birch Road, Yate, tied the knot in April after winning our Win a Wedding competition.

The lucky pair scooped everything they needed to make their big day special.

But their happiness was not to end there, as just a few days after getting married, Charlotte realised she was pregnant.

And although the baby was not due until January 4, she surprised Charlotte and Peter by arriving on Christmas Day.

The couple had opened their presents and eaten lunch with their four-year-old son Ryan when Charlotte's contractions began.

They went to Southmead Hospital, where Mallie May Oliver was born at 11.31pm, weighing 7lbs 11oz.

The family could not be happier about their special arrival.

"We were quite shocked when the contractions started on Christmas day," said Charlotte.

"But my little boy was three weeks early and I had been in touch with a clairvoyant who said the baby would arrive in early December, so at first I was expecting it.

"Then when she didn't come I thought she'd probably be arriving in January – it just so happens she decided on Christmas Day.

"I'm really glad she's here safely, but hope she doesn't mind having her birthday on Christmas Day!

"We'll have to give her a half-birthday in June. It also means that next year will actually be her real first Christmas, as she nearly missed it this year."

Charlotte, a personal assistant, and Pete, a window cleaner, met more than four years ago through a mutual friend and it was not long before their son Ryan came along.

They were already saving up for their wedding, after Pete proposed on Christmas Eve 2010.

But with a young child and a mortgage to pay it wasn't easy for the pair and they did not know when they would be able to get married.

Then in 2011 Charlotte's sister, Joanne Faulkner, saw what a struggle saving money was for the couple and decided to enter them into The Post's Win a Wedding competition, which included a £12,000 package.

"My sister rang me and told me she'd entered us into the competition," said Charlotte.

"I was quite surprised but thought it would be great if we won."

The young mum then spent the next three weeks recruiting family members to help her collect tokens and vote for them in the paper. In May they got a phone call to say they had come second.

"We received a lovely bouquet but were a bit disappointed that we hadn't won," said Charlotte.

But in November last year the pair got another phone call to tell them the winning couple had pulled out, due to a family bereavement.

"We were told we had won and couldn't believe it," said Charlotte.

"We had already started booking our own wedding and had to rearrange a few things but the amount of money we were saving was definitely worth it."

The pair married at Bristol's Mercure Holland House Hotel & Spa in a civil ceremony on April 14, and enjoyed a special wedding breakfast with 45 guests.

They are now back at home with their two children, and are looking forward to relaxing after a busy year.