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'I didn't want a wedding car, I wanted a dragon boat'

Ben ParkerSuffolk
Contributed Liz Masding and Mike Markham-Lee are sitting on the long black and white dragon boat. There are multiple rowers holding oars on the boat. Contributed
The dragon boat crew picked the couple up in Woodbridge

A vintage car, a limousine, perhaps even a horse-drawn carriage... not many couples opt for a dragon boat to get to their wedding reception.

That is what Liz Masding, 44, and Mike Markham-Lee, 43, wanted on their special day in Woodbridge, Suffolk.

Masding has been a keen dragon boat paddler since she discovered the hobby and has brought her partner onboard.

"I didn't want a wedding car," Masding said. "I wanted to arrive or depart or have the dragon boat involved somehow. So yes, the, the first step in all the planning was to check out the tide timetable."

Contributed The crew of the dragon boat are holding their paddles in the air to create a tunnel for the couple to walk through. The crew are wearing white tops with different coloured paddles. The water is in the background.Contributed
The crew, that Masding is part of, gathered to welcome the couple to the river

The couple married on Sunday at the Shire Hall in the town before heading towards the River Deben where they boarded the dragon boat.

They were then taken towards Waldringfield but the crew treated the newly married couple to a picnic on the way.

"They got the champagne out, the picnic baskets, sandwiches, sausage rolls, they absolutely spoiled us rotten, and it was absolute bliss because in a such a busy day when it's all go, go, go, we had an hour to ourselves whilst we were paddled," Masding said.

Contributed The couple sitting on the dragon boat surrounded by people.Contributed
The newlywed couple travelled up the River Deben to their wedding reception

For their honeymoon, the couple are planning to head to Loch Ness to take part in a boat race with a crew of 18.

They described it as a "real adventure".

It is not only Masding's hobby that played a part in their wedding, though.

Markham-Lee is a keen metal detectorist and the ring he used to propose to his partner was one he found buried deep in the mud at Walton-on-the-Naze.

"I've found my treasure," Markham-Lee said of his new wife.

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