Rebecca Adlington shares details from her wedding day
The Olympic champion said it was ‘just the best day’.
Rebecca Adlington has married her partner Andy Parsons in a ceremony in Cheshire.
The retired swimmer and Olympic champion, 32, tied the knot with the facilities manager, who is the father of her five-month-old son Albie, on August 28 at the Scarlet Hall venue.
She told Hello! magazine: “The sun shone, the people we love were there and it was just the best day.”
Adlington was walked down the aisle by her father Steve and accompanied by her six-year-old daughter Summer, from her first marriage to fellow former competitive swimmer Harry Needs, with Summer serving as both flower girl and ring-bearer.
Tom Odell’s song Grow Old With Me played as the bride entered, bringing Parsons to tears.
Adlington said: “We chose all the other music together, but I wanted one little thing that was a surprise for him. He kept trying to get it out of me, but I wouldn’t break.”
Parsons said: “The second it kicked in, I thought, ‘Oh, you’ve really pushed me to the limit with this’ and I felt my composure start to go.”
He added: “So when Becky started walking towards me with her dad, I just lost it. She had the most beautiful smile on her face. She looked incredible.”
After exchanging their own vows, the couple hosted a reception for 80 guests, including Team GB swimming coach Bill Furniss, former competitive swimmers Stephen Parry, Caitlin McClatchey and Fran Halsall, and Halsall’s husband, former England rugby player Jon Wilkin.
The couple, who met through the Bumble dating app in January 2018, had four months to plan their wedding after coming across the venue while looking for summer holidays.
Adlington wore a bespoke dress by Turkish designer Zeynep Kartal.
She said: “Zeynep had made dresses for me before, so she knew what I liked and what works for me.
“We had a little chat and in five seconds flat she’d sketched a dress that I knew was absolutely perfect.”
Adlington won two golds at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and two bronzes at London 2012.
Read the full interview in Hello! magazine, out now.
