Yeovil couple get married at The Tank Museum in Dorset

Wanda Armstrong-Bridges, 53, and Steve Ellis, 58, love the museum so much they moved from London to live near it - and Wanda even proposed there.

The wedding was delayed due to Covid but was eventually able to take place with more than 60 friends and family members in attendance. 

Steve spent 13 years in the 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards and Royal Dragoon Guards on Chieftain tanks finishing his military career as a corporal. 

They each have two daughters from previous relationships and their shared love of tanks brought them together eight years ago.

Wanda said: “I had always wanted to be in the RAF but just before I was due to join I suffered a fractured skull and was deemed unfit for service.

“However, I have always loved military history and when I met Steve we realised we had a lot in common.

“A few years ago, I was made redundant and we decided to go travelling for six months.

“When we returned, we wanted to live near the Tank Museum because we loved it so much.

“So we got out a map and drew a circle around the museum within which no point was more than an hour away – and we ended up in Yeovil.

“It was just before Covid when I proposed to Steve at the museum on February 29, 2020.

“I gave him some dog tags that matched his real ones – and on one I’d had engraved, ‘Will you marry me?’.”

Picture: www.BobbieLee.co.uk

Steve added: “Unfortunately, Covid meant our wedding was delayed and it kept being delayed because we had guests coming from all over the world.

“But finally we had the perfect wedding at a place we both love and visit all the time.

“The museum staff were brilliant and even got the wedding licence for us because no one had been married there before.

“We showed our guests around the museum and we’ll keep returning, but now as a married couple.”

Steve, a facilities manager who trained in Bovington at the start of his military career, and Wanda, a radiological compliance manager, are now planning a honeymoon to the Pacific Northwest.

Rosanna Dean, visitor experience general manager at the museum, said “Wanda and Steve have been supporters of The Tank Museum for a long time and we were so pleased when they decided to get married here.

“They chose to have a full day with us, including a ceremony overlooking the Tank Story Hall, afternoon tea and a buffet and reception in the evening, in sight of the kind of tank has Steve served on.

“It was a fantastic day and I know I speak for everyone at the museum when I wish them every happiness.”