Couple 'chilled' and ate KFC before £10k 'secret' wedding

A couple who kept their £10,000 wedding a secret spent the day eating KFC with their dog before surprising their friends and family.

Chris and Maisie Leyshon realised a big wedding 'wasn't for them' and wanted to save money on their special day. After getting engaged on Christmas Day 2022, they made a secret plan the following February.

The pair told guests to be at the Lighthouse in Swansea on September 30 last year - to 'celebrate their engagement'. Only their parents and siblings knew the real reason why everybody had been invited.

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Chris, 28, and Maisie, 25, tied the knot at a registry office earlier that day. At the 'engagement party', the groom then jumped on the mic to reveal the celebration was actually for their wedding - sending everyone 'mad'.

Maisie's cousin Chloe said: "As soon as we walked into the room it was such a vibe but then when the celebrant came out then that's when the real surprise hit us! There were laughs, tears and cheers, it was amazing, now bring on the post wedding hen and stag do!"

The couple, from Port Talbot, are now happily married and estimate they saved thousands by foregoing a big bash. Maisie, a civil servant, said: "We quite quickly we realised that a big wedding wasn’t for us.

"It’s just the stress of it all and the money, and we didn’t really think it would be appropriate to elope."

The couple made the secret plan in February in 2023. They didn't tell anyone about the plan until the first week of September 2023, when they told just their parents and siblings.

Chris and Maisie married at 11:30am