YOU might expect that a wedding involving a groom due to start chemotherapy and a bride who had lost her job could end up a slightly downbeat affair.

But Bob Bell and Alix Pearson were determined to inject their special day with a sense of fun and a real togetherness.

With the help of their 35 guests – all given tongue-in-cheek job titles, including wasp protection officer, bottle opener and security – the couple organised their humanist wedding in only three months.

It was while Ms Pearson was watching the royal wedding in April that she came up with the idea of gathering their closest family and friends together for a service in the grounds of Jervaulx Abbey, in Wensleydale, North Yorkshire.

Mr Bell, 66, was diagnosed with lymphatic cancer and they managed to organise the wedding two days before he started treatment.

Shortly after his devastating news, Ms Pearson, 50, found out the academic organisation she worked for was being disbanded.

“It was a do-it-yourself wedding,” she said. “So for everyone it was a great fun wedding where we could have everything we wanted without having to please anyone else.”

The couple had a legal ceremony at Hexham Register Office before their unique celebration among the ruins of the abbey, which does not have a licence to stage an official ceremony. A humanist celebrant was hired and the reception was held in two tipis.

The couple, who live in Hexham but spend much of their time in Middleham, took Argentinean tango lessons and performed a dance for guests.

Their teachers then staged a professional performance before everyone had a tango lesson.

They have been together for ten years and met at Sunderland University, where Mr Bell is an academic and Ms Pearson designed courses for people in work.

She added: “Bob is doing really well at the moment – he’s already starting to feel better.

“When faced with bad news, you can just sit and contemplate it, or you can have a great big party – and we’re really pleased we did.”