EVERY girl has a vision of what their wedding dress will be like, and for Mandy Bristow it was crimson and size 10.

But the problem was, Mrs Bristow had weighed more than 19 stone for the past eight years, and was a size 20.

So when she and her then boyfriend Rob set the date, she also set herself a target to shed nine stone and fit in that dress.

“I got married when I was 16 and pregnant and I was wearing a crimson dress then, but it was a maternity dress and I was quite big. I was absolutely gutted when I looked at the photos.”

After 15 years of marriage she divorced and pledged never to marry again. But five years ago, after moving to Bicester from Milton Keynes, she met Rob Bristow.

He proposed in 2009 and the wedding day was set for July 1, 2011.

Mrs Bristow, 47, said: “When he proposed I kept thinking of the crimson dress I had wanted to wear the first time around.

“I had wanted to lose weight for a while and never really had any goal in mind.”

Colleagues at Boots Opticians, in Crown Walk, Bicester, where she works as the store manager, recommended slimming classes and she joined up.

Over two years the then Ms Nichols swapped takeways such as fish and chips, kebabs and Chinese food, for home- cooked dinners and became a regular at the gym.

The mother-of-four and step-mum to one had also been diagnosed with borderline diabetes and believes the string of ‘faddy diets’ she had previously tried may have triggered it.

This meant her blood sugar level was up and she was monitored by the doctor and had to check her blood levels three times a day.

She started at 19.2 stone and on the day she got married she was 9.7 stone — having lost the final 4.5 pounds in the week before her big day.

There was also good news on the health front as problems with diabetes disappeared with the weight.

Mrs Bristow, who was married at the registry office in Garth House, said: “The wedding was a truly unforgettable day. I felt wonderful – the people I hadn’t seen for a while couldn’t believe the difference.

“I’m certainly more confident now and a lot happier than I have ever been, not because I just got married, but my whole life in general.

“I know what I want to do and where I want to go with my life.”

Nowadays Mrs Bristow walks or cycles to work and walks her dog five miles a day, where as previously walking made her breathless.

Mrs Bristow is so pleased with her success she has decided to set up a Kidlington diet club, at North Kidlington School, Benmead Road, on Tuesdays from tomorrow.

For more information you can contact Mandy on 07538 878350.