Hundreds of future wedding guests and more than 200 brides-to-be got a taste of what the big day will be like at the Oxford Mail Wedding Fayre.

Visitors got help and advice about the biggest day of their lives from dozens of wedding-related businesses who set up displays at the Oxford Thames Four Pillars Hotel in Sandford-on-Thames.

More than 150 people visited the stands in the first 20 minutes alone.

Organisers are hailing the fayre as one of the most successful ever, with a total of 700 people attending during the five-hour event.

Two charity fashion shows, which also drew the crowds, raised about £160 for the Helen House Hospice in Oxford. Florist Emma Fawcett-Eustace, who supplied the flowers for the shows, said: "It's been a fantastic day and we were able to give a wide range of advice to all the brides-to-be who visited us."

Lynn Hawkins, of Cake Expectations, showed off her cake-making skills and revealed some of the more unusual requests she has had for wedding cakes - including one in the shape of an aardvark, a 19-tier cake costing £1,000 and one designed as a pair of squirrels... for a Mr and Mrs Squirrel.

She said: "It's certainly been one of the busiest wedding fayres I've attended and we took several bookings."

Each guest at yesterday's event was given a goodie bag with samples from Boots. Bride-to-be Karen Evans, of Abingdon Road, Oxford, said the day had proved valuable to her and fiance Tony Edmunds.

Karen, 26, said: "We got a lot of new ideas and although we're not getting married for another year it was good to see so many things under one roof."

Story date: Monday 28 February

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.