A bride shed two-and-a-half stone in five months to look like a “princess” on her wedding day after she was “disgusted” by her dress fitting photos.

Nikki Holland vowed to lose 35lb before her fairytale wedding after her weight ballooned to 12 stone.

Just 20 weeks later, the 27-year-old from Dartford dropped two dress sizes, from a 14 to a 10, and reached a svelte 9st 7lbs.

She also lost five inches from her waist and two inches from around her arms.

Blonde Nikki said: "That picture of me at my wedding dress fitting was a big wake-up call.

"I was disgusted by how I looked and knew that I needed to do a lot of work to get in shape for my wedding.

"I told the wedding dress makers not to make the dress too big because I was going to be a lot lighter on my wedding day.

"They went ahead and made the dress for the size I was at my first fitting.

"They said that all brides vow to lose weight before their wedding but few actually achieve it, and it was a lot easier to take a dress in than make it bigger.

"Well, they didn't bargain on how determined I was to lose the weight.

"I really knuckled down and managed to get down to my ideal weight in five months.

“I exercised every day with my fiance Ant.

"While I lost weight on the treadmill, he was toning up in the same gym so we'd both feel and look fantastic on the beach in our honeymoon pictures."

News Shopper:

Nikki didn't like what she saw when she first wore her wedding dress

Nikki, who works for the Financial Conduct Authority in London, had struggled with her weight for years.

It would yo-yo up to 12st before she would go on a diet.

She had piled on the pounds the year before her wedding after payroll worker Ant, 27, broke his leg and they stopped going to the gym together.

Nikki added: "I just let myself go - my diet was pretty bad with lots of fattening takeaways at weekends. We both got out of shape while his leg healed."

She followed the Forza Supplement plan for five months, which involves swapping breakfast and sometimes lunch for one of Forza's Shake It Slim meal replacement drinks.

Nikki swapped fattening pasta dishes and snacks of bags of crisps for healthy meals and fresh nuts and began going to the gym most days.

She said: "I noticed the difference immediately and the weight start to fall off me quite quickly.

"The whole process became quite addictive and I would feel really guilty if I hadn't been to the gym.”

She added: "I started to feel a lot more confident about my body but I was still stunned to see the difference at my final dress fitting just before the wedding.

"They had to take in the dress by two inches so that it would fit me. I did tell them that I was determined to lose the weight."

Nikki and her childhood sweetheart Ant tied the knot at a hotel in Blackheath and then headed to Cancun in Mexico for their honeymoon.

She added: "My wedding day was perfect.

"I was the princess that I always wanted to be and everything went exactly as we'd planned.

"Ant just said: 'You look beautiful' which are the words any bride wants to hear.

"I looked at my wedding pictures afterwards and felt really proud.

"I loved wearing a bikini on the honeymoon. All that hard work had paid off and I had the body I always wanted."

Nikki's weight loss tips:

1. Don’t do the same exercise every day, make sure you change it up so you are always shocking your body.

2. Plan your meals, this helps you stick to eating healthy foods.

3. Portion control – you will be surprised how little you actually need until you are full.

4. Drink plenty of water – if you’re feeling hungry have a drink of water – you may just be thirsty.

5. Don’t drink your calories.