A BEAUTIFUL bride was the ‘belle of the bowl’ when she married her childhood sweetheart at the first ever wedding in Gourock Bowling Club.

Radiant Wendy Calder and her kilt-clad groom Ian Tannock were honoured to be the first couple in the club’s 150-year history to tie the knot at the picturesque venue.

Although the devoted couple are not bowlers themselves, they said marrying at the venue was a dream come true.

Wendy said: “It was fantastic, the best day of our lives, everything went so well.

“It was above and beyond anything I’d ever imagined.

“Ian had organised lots of wee surprises on the day, one of which was getting picked up in a horse drawn carriage. I felt like royalty as everyone was coming out of the shops and waving as we travelled along Kempock Street.

“When we arrived at the bowling club I was piped in by Emma Murray from the Reely Jiggered ceilidh band.” Wendy, who dated Ian for about a year in 1978 before they were reunited 34 years later, said it was an emotional day for everyone as they took in the stunning views overlooking the green.

She added: “The wedding ceremony took place in the club’s lounge, which was lovely.

“It was quite an emotional day.

“Quite a few of the guests told me that they had never seen their husbands so emotional as there were a few tears shed.” After the ceremony, Wendy and Ian, both aged 51, enjoyed posing for photos before re-joining their guests for a slap-up meal and dance.

Wendy added: “The bowling club couldn’t have done more for us, they were fantastic.” After their dream day, Ian from Gourock, and Wendy, from Wemyss Bay, are now looking forward to married life as they set up home together in Gourock’s Golf Road, where they both grew up.