Vancouver manoeuvre bags dream wedding

9:37am Sunday 6th March 2005

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A mum-of-two has won her dream wedding by blagging her way from London to Vancouver.

Karla Hubery, who works in Barclay's Bank, Redhill, was one of two brides-to-be challenged in a radio competition to get as far away from Surrey and Sussex as possible in 24 hours with just £10 and wearing a wedding dress.

The determined 24-year-old hitched a lift to Gatwick Airport, convinced an airline to let her fly to Vancouver and hopped on a ferry to Vancouver Island where she was called by organisers Mercury FM and told she had won after her rival could only reach Tobago airport.

Karla said "I've never done anything like this before. I knew roughly where I wanted to go and when I got to Vancouver I got my map out and my first thought was head west, so I changed my £10 into dollars and got a train to the ferry port and then blagged a ferry to Vancouver Island."

Karla, who has been with partner Rob Wood for nine years, was one of hundreds who entered the competition. She explained: "They said three, two, one, go' and I flagged a car down instantly and said where you going?', and the man in the car said he was going to Crawley and would take us as far as he was going.

"So when we got to Crawley we stopped at some traffic lights and he said you'd better get out now so we jumped into the car in front and a guy called Andy took us to Gatwick."

After arriving at Gatwick, Karla went to various flight desks begging them to take her, and finally persuaded Zoom Airlines to take her and a representative from the radio station to Vancouver free of charge. Once on the plane Karla met the captain, sat in first class and was treated to complimentary food and drink all the way.

After landing she exchanged £10 and reached the ferry port, where it took more persuasion to allow her on board, but two kind-hearted receptionists ignored management orders and Karla was allowed on the ferry where she met a man called Ken and told him all about the challenge.

She said: "He said he was being picked up by his wife and she would take us to a motel, somewhere safe in the warm.

"But when she turned up she said 'the safest place to take you is our home, come and stay with us'. They were with us when I got the call."

Karla said: "I've had a permanent smile on my face since I found out, I'm so over the moon. Everything is included in this package, the dress, flowers, car and the ceremony. I'm definitely going to invite Ken and his wife, I'm only allowed 50 people at the wedding, but they did so much for us." The couple, who live in South Godstone with their children Jordan, six, and Chloe, two, have yet to set a date for the wedding but hint it could be March.