A young couple proved the heights of their love by having their marriage blessed in a hot air balloon.

Brian Hatton, 32, and Clare Hollings, 33, of Reading Road, Cholsey, got married in church before being whisked off in a balloon for the blessing in the skies above south Oxfordshire.

Still, it was no easy task to make their dream come true.

After puzzling over how to find a vicar to perform the mid-air blessing, the bride's sister, Julia, stepped in and saved the day.

Mr Hatton said: "Julia had a friend who was a retired British Airways 747 Captain who had recently been ordained. This sounded perfect. When we approached him he wasn't too sure at first, while he'd flown countless times around the world at 30,000ft he had never been in a balloon."

The couple persuaded the Rev John Dudley, of Caversham, to perform the blessing. However, they feared they would be beaten by the weather. It poured with rain throughout the church service, but cleared up on their way to the reception at Shiplake, near Henley.

Straight away, the happy couple hopped into the basket of the hot air balloon, and watched by their assembled wedding guests, headed skywards.

Mr Dudley then performed the blessing, interrupted only by the firing of the balloon's burners.

Brian said: 'It was magical, really serene and peaceful. The blessing was quite moving for us both."

Ten minutes later the balloon landed - in a muddy field.

Clare said: "It really made my day, we wanted to do something different that we and our guests would remember.

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