LOCAL newly-weds Lora and Tom George had a white wedding to remember, when even their cake had to be brought by tractor from Newent to Ledbury, because of heavy snow.

Despite the white-out, Lora and Tom were determined that their wedding last Saturday should go ahead as planned, and what followed was a heart-warming epic of community good will, with moments of near disaster along the way.

Tom said: "A lot of our friends were involved, and it's nice to reflect that people were there for us. This was a wedding to remember."

Lora added: "I don't think we would have had it any different, and in the end it made it more fun. You just have to laugh, or else you cry, and it ended up being a great day.

"I don't give up easily."

Less than two hours before the wedding at Hereford Register Office on Saturday, Tom and Lora, of Preston Wynne, were still snowed in.

Friends and neighbours worked with Tom, aged 34, to clear the snow in a race against time, making use of heavy machinery.

But by then the couple were well-used to severe weather challenges, in their run-up to the big day.

On Friday, Lora, aged 29, crashed her car on the Tenbury Road, while returning from a dress fitting; but she managed to tease the damaged vehicle back to Bromyard, where it was abandoned.

Meanwhile, the wedding cake was making its slow but steady procession by tractor from the premises of Newent cake maker, Carly Jones to Ledbury, down the scenic snow-filled lanes.

This blizzard run was accomplished by Tom's big-hearted boss, local tree surgeon Adrian Hope. At Ledbury, another of Tom's friends, Ben Linton and Tom were waiting with a 4 x 4, to get the cake back to Preston Wynne.

On the big day itself, Tom and his friends spent hours clearing the snow from the roads abound the couple's house, with the help of Harry Chase of the Chase Distillery and Ben Linton.

Tom said: "All in all it was a massive effort from everyone involved.Two hours to go and we were still snowed in! But we made it in the end. It was a day to remember."

A JCB from Chase Farm was used to clear the snow, together with a Manitou loadall, courtesy of Ben.

Meanwhile, other pressing problems of the day were being solved.

Wedding photographer Rebecca Read of Bromyard had to use a quad bike to get to a road across snowy fields, where she could be picked up by Lora's sister, Emily, in a four-wheel-drive vehicle.

All went to plan, as Tom and Lora could at last reflect on a day to remember, at their reception at the Golden Cross Inn, at Sutton St Nicholas.

Lora said: "The guests had to leave early, because of the weather, but 90 per cent of them had managed to get there. All in all it was a fantastic day."