By Emma Morley

Last updated 11:04, Friday, 11 July 2008

A magical Disney adventure awaits Andrea Peile and Richard Wilkinson when they get married next month.

Richard Wilkinson and Andrea Peile are getting married in Florida

The Whitehaven couple, who met in July 2002, decided to tie the knot at Walt Disney World in Florida after being impressed when they first went on holiday there 18 months after meeting.

Teaching assistant Andrea, 31, said: “I remember seeing people who had got married because couples are given Mickey and Mini ears to wear which gets them to the front of queues.

“We both love Disney and Richard had been before with his parents.”

Andrea and Richard got engaged when they went to Dubai to celebrate Andrea’s 30th birthday. As a surprise Richard, 25, who works at Sellafield, took Andrea for a cream tea at Buri Al Arab, one of the top hotels in the world.

“Richard handed me a rose and there was a ring inside,” said Andrea. “There was a lady playing the piano and he asked her to play Lady in Red, because I was wearing a red dress.”

It didn’t take long for them to choose the location of their wedding. Andrea said: “We knew we wanted to go abroad to get married and although we looked at a lot of brochures we knew that nothing could compare to Disney in Florida.”

They chose a wedding package with Virgin Holidays and will be exchanging vows on August 5 in the Disney Wedding Pavilion, which has views of Cinderella Castle. The ceremony will be followed by a champagne reception at Richard’s parents’ villa.

They will then have a meal at the Polynesian Hotel, which is surrounded by a private beach.

Their wedding package includes flowers, a limousine to transport them, a two-tier cake, champagne, a violinist and organist, photographs and Disney passes for the bride and groom for five days.

Andrea has chosen her bridal gown from Cumbria Bridal Centre in Whitehaven and it will be specially packed for the journey. She will have two bridesmaids, cousin Debbie Armstrong and god-daughter Sophie Lee Armstrong, while Richard’s twin Andrew will be best man and his other brother Mark will be usher.

The couple will spend 10 days in Florida with family and friends before flying to Los Angeles to join the Queen Mary on a Mexican Riviera cruise for a week followed by four nights in Los Angeles.

When they return, they will have a wedding blessing on August 30 at Hensingham Methodist Church with 60 guests, followed by a reception at Summergrove Hotel for 200 people.

Andrea, originally from Parton, said: “The main reason for having this when we get back is that our grandparents cannot come to America for the wedding, so we want to have a celebration here.”

Although the couple are feeling relaxed about the wedding, Richard’s stag weekend in Bratislava didn’t quite go to plan.

A few days beforehand he injured his elbow getting out of a taxi. Although it didn’t seem serious at first, within hours it had swollen and he had to spend three days in hospital being treated for celulitis.

Andrea said: “Richard wasn’t fully recovered so he couldn’t drink any alcohol, but he had another stag do in Whitehaven.”

Andrea’s hen celebration was spent in Benidorm at Easter with nine friends.