As wedding season begins, brides, grooms and guests all over the country are busy prepping venues, guest lists and their all important outfits for the big day.

Nicola Evans has been a part of the wedding fever season getting ready for her dream day after shedding over 4 stone with Slimming World.

Nicola is a consultant for the Ystradgynlais Slimming World group but has never let go of the fact that she has always been a member at heart.

She first became a member in 2010 after giving birth to her son Oliver where her confidence was rock bottom – she got to target and became a consultant.

She then became pregnant with her second child and after having Mali Haf and gaining two and a half stone during pregnancy she knew it was time to really get back to plan as post pregnancy really left her feeling low.

When her partner proposed on St Dwynwen's Day in 2018 she knew exactly how she wanted to look and feel on her big day.

Many people look back on their wedding pictures wishing they had made the effort to shift the pounds to look and feel their best for their big day and Nicola knew that she didn’t want to “look back in anger” on the pictures which would be hanging on the wall for years to come.

Operation shredding for the wedding was to begin.

With support from group members and following the body magic element of the plan with a personal trainer, she was feeling determined and the results were incredible

Nicola said: “I wanted to feel truly confident inside and for this to show on the outside.

“I had always dreamed of this day, the one day I could feel like a princess and nothing was going to stop me from feeling the best version of me.”

After years of struggling with her weight, Nicola has seen – and felt – a change since joining Slimming World.

“When you’re overweight, it can be hard to feel confident as the centre of attention so getting to my target weight for my wedding feels fantastic, she said.

“To share my special day, and the journey that led to it, with all of my friends, family and members was always going to be truly special.

“Motivating and inspiring my members on a weekly basis is a huge honour.

“Helping change members lives weather for health reasons, confidence or to look and feel better really is an incredible role as losing pounds really gives you so much more than just losing weight.

“It changes perspectives, it opens doors and gives confidence to achieve what might have seemed impossible.

“I never joined Slimming World to become a consultant.

“I joined to feel better about myself when I felt rock bottom and I can 100 per cent hand on heart say without it I would never have had the confidence to go and follow my passion to become a teacher.

“It really has opened doors. For the first time, I was in a room full of people that really understood what I was going through.

“The support I’ve had from my group is the driving force behind my weight loss. Without their care, compassion and encouragement; I really don’t think I’d be where I am now.

“It’s also great that schools are now running schemes to encourage staff to lead a healthier lifestyle and its possible that school staff could benefit from these schemes.

Nicola lost weight by following Slimming World’s Food Optimising eating plan.

This plan encourages members to fill up on a wide range of ‘Free Food’ from pasta and rice to lean meat, fruit and vegetables:

“I was expecting to have to cut back on all of my favourite foods in the build up to the wedding, but it has been the complete opposite, said Nicola.

“I can still eat everything from pasta dishes and jacket potatoes to curries and chips. I even had a glass or two of wine to get through all the planning. The best thing about it all is that you never feel hungry or deprived.

“As I lost weight, I even found the confidence to start exercising.

“I started making small changes such as using the stairs instead of getting the lift.

“Soon I started to notice a difference in what I was able to do but more importantly what I felt like I could do.

“As I got fitter my confidence rocketed. Before, I’d avoid activity at all costs but now I love it and follow a personal training programme three times a week and am considering following that path myself to help people further in their quest for all round healthy lifestyles.

“I might not have had the world’s media snapping photos on my big day, but I do have amazing memories, and photos that I can look back on and feel truly proud of myself and what I achieved.”

“Weddings are a real motivator for people to lose weight.

“Sadly, lots of people believe that to look and feel fantastic on their big day, they need to starve themselves.

“This isn’t the case and one of the best parts of my job is the look on a new member’s faces when I tell them that they can still tuck into their family favourites – including French fries.

“We know that the hardest part of losing weight is taking that first step so to help slimmers to achieve their weight-loss dreams, we have a countdown offer to rocket potential members weight loss results being a bride, groom or guest this wedding season."

Anyone who want to make their dreams come true can head to Nicola’s Ystradgynlais Slimming World group at Glanrhyd Corronation Club on Thursday 5.30pm and 7.30pm or Saturday 9am and 11am or call Nicola on 07718 053121.