Amanda's wedding joy 'I CAN'T STOP SMILING!'

The broadcaster reveals how love turned her into the Princess Bride

- Sophie Neville

Growing up, broadcaster Amanda Gillies wasn’t the kind of girl who dreamed of a big, white wedding. In fact, when her partner of nearly six years Tim Murphy proposed a year ago, she even suggested they sneak off to a registry office to quietly tie the knot.

But on January 18, as she prepared to walk down the aisle in her jaw-dropping sparkling gown to say “I do” to the man she loves, there really was nowhere she’d have rather been than saying her vows in an emotional ceremony in front of their closest family and friends.

“I really surprised myself with how much I embraced the whole bride thing,” she says, catching up with the Weekly just two weeks after the unforgettable day. “I know it’s a cliché, but it genuinely was the best day of my life and I haven’t stopped smiling since.”

It’s true, Amanda, 46, is positively beaming as she recounts the day she became Mrs Murphy. She and Tim, a fellow journalist, hadn’t planned to marry this summer, but when it transpired that all of his family would be together in January, the couple decided to swing into action. They had just seven weeks to pull together a wedding to remember.

“Tim is number nine of 10 kids and it had been a decade since all 10 were together,” explains Amanda. “We said, ‘Wouldn’t it be awesome if there was a family event where everyone could celebrate’ and that’s how it happened. It just made perfect sense.”