WHEN care home activities co-ordinator Chantelle Merritt got married she could not have a wedding without involving her “second family”.

So the day after she got back from her honeymoon in Majorca she had a second wedding party for residents at Bridge House care home in Abingdon.

She put her wedding dress back on and her father Paul “walked her down the aisle” into the home’s bistro, to cheers and gasps from the pensioners she cares for.

She cut a second wedding cake and, in the absence of her new husband Clive, who was at work, several residents offered their services for the first dance.

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Residents said the bride looked “stunning” and were overjoyed to be able to share her special day.

Mrs Merritt, nee Oswin, who lives with Mr Merritt, 30, in Roebuck Court, Didcot, said: “In the build-up to the wedding everyone here was so excited about it.

“They have been asking what the flowers were going to be, and I was showing them all my pictures and plans.

“In the home it’s like a big family, and it felt wrong they weren’t all at the wedding.”

The couple had their real wedding at Milton Hill House Hotel, in Steventon, on Sunday, September 14.

She said: “It was fantastic. Everyone had had a couple of weeks without me so they were just excited I was coming back.

“The ladies all wanted to see the dress.

“When someone mentioned having children, one of the residents stood up and said they didn’t want to lose me again.”

The home’s bistro was decorated for a wedding, with floral centrepieces and a “candy cart” full of pick and mix sweets made by her father.

Home resident John Crocker said: “The day Chantelle wore her wedding dress she looked just stunning.

“It was lovely to see Chantelle on her big day coming down the Bridge House aisle, looking more relaxed than the first time round.

“It was wonderful that all the residents were able to have pictures taken with the bride and we had a chance to share her special day.”

Mrs Merritt has worked at Bridge House since February.

Before that she was activities co-ordinator at Abingdon Court, on Marcham Road, for five years, where she met her future husband, a chef at the home.

The new Mrs Merritt had her second wedding on Monday, September 29.

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