But by the time she walked down the aisle with her teenage sweetheart last month, it was four sizes smaller!

Twenty-one year-old Kerry, from Springfield, has become one of Scottish Slimmers' biggest success stories this year after shedding a whopping five stones in just five months.

The stunning dress she wore for her big day in St Columba's Church, Cupar, had to be taken in from its original size 18-20 to a sylph-like 10-12.

Kerry, a play worker in Balmullo, first met 23-year-old James, a mechanic, when they were both pupils at Bell Baxter High School — and they've been together ever since.

Over the years her weight has fluctuated — but it was a photo taken at a cousin's wedding that finally gave her the motivation she needed to lose the pounds she'd piled on as a result of her love of sweets and chocolate.

At 15 and a half stone, she was her heaviest ever, and although James reassured her that he loved her whatever her size, she knew that if she could shift the weight in time for her wedding day her happiness would be complete.

"I knew as soon as I saw the dress that it was the one I wanted," said Kerry.

"But I was pretty heavy when I bought it and it wouldn't lace up the back as it was supposed to.

It was a real incentive to lose weight but I never dreamed I'd lose quite so much.



"By the time the big day came it had been taken in four times and the lacing at the back was perfect.

"James was gobsmacked when I arrived at the church and my dad cried.

"I felt wonderful knowing that everyone was so proud of me. It was a perfect day."

Kerry, a qualified nursery nurse, said that her first visit to Scottish Slimmers in Cupar was 'scary'.

"I had never really weighed myself before and stepping on the scales was a real wake-up call," she said.

"The programme isn't a diet — it's all about sensible eating, and I'm finding it quite easy to stick to.

"I feel much healthier and have alot more energy too."