THE finishing touches are being put in place at the Goddard Arms Hotel before the wedding of the Evening Advertiser Bride of the Year 2002 tomorrow.

After months of planning and preparation, Katrina Bennett and David McCarron will tie the knot at the Old Town venue.

Many of the 75 guests at the wedding will be arriving in Swindon today.

Katrina, 25, said: "Guests are coming from all over the place.

"My parents are coming down from York, we have people coming up from the south coast and people coming all the way over from Ireland."

Katrina has taken two days off before the wedding to make last-minute arrangements.

She said: "I am running around like a headless chicken at the moment.

"I picked up the dresses and suits from Cirencester and am taking the chocolates and the cake to the Goddard Arms today.

"I also have to pack!

"I am really looking forward to the honeymoon in Antigua. I think I will be ready for it by then."

Katrina says she is not feeling the pinch of nerves yet though.

She said: "I thought that when I finished work, I would be nervous but that hasn't happened yet.

"I think it is because there are still lots of things to be done."

Groom-to-be David, 27, is getting more excited by the hour.

He said: "We are going to go for something as traditional as possible with the civil ceremony. It will be as traditional as it can be outside a church."

After conducting a long distance relationship for a while, he and Katrina are happy to be settling in Swindon.

David said: "It is really excellent to be living with one another at last.

"I think Katrina has been a little bit busier than me, especially with sorting out the dresses and that kind of thing.

"But we have both been really excited by it all."

Staff at the Goddard Arms Hotel in Old Town are preparing the ballroom for the first civil ceremony in the competition's history.

For the finishing touch to the tables, 50 chocolate favours will be provided by La Zahra of Victoria Road.

Owner Ashifa Moledina has been involved in our Bride of the Year competition for more than three years.

She said: "We will be providing the chocolate favours for the wedding.

"They will be two Belgian chocolates in a gold box, each with a personalised detail."