Show jumper Ben Maher to marry Kathleen Baker

British show jumper Ben Maher is to marry his girlfriend Kathleen Baker tomorrow.

The Olympic rider proposed while the couple were on holiday in the Maldives last December. They will be tying the knot in church on Thursday (3 September), followed by a reception at Gosfield Hall in Essex.

"I'm so excited," Kathleen Baker, "It's all a bit manic now though, we're doing the last-minute decorations and making sure everything is organised."

Kathleen Baker added she will be wearing an ivory dress studded with Swarovski crystals designed by Ian Stuart which she described as "high fashion rather than traditional".

"I know every bride says their dress is amazing, but this is so beautiful, I loved it straight away," she said.

"We are having a four tier cake — two fruit layers and two chocolate, at Ben Maher's insistence. It is decorated with roses, hydrangeas and twinkly lights and will be very unique, it was actually the first thing we decided on."

Seventy people have been invited to the ceremony and 200 will be attending the evening reception, including former and present H&H show jumping editors, and Kathleen will be arriving in a glass coach pulled by white horses.

But Kathleen Baker does not know where the couple will be going on honeymoon.

"Ben's booked a surprise and won't even tell me what to pack, so I have no clue," she said. "He just said bring a couple of nice dresses."

But the newlyweds are only going for a couple of days as they have to be back for Calgary [the Spruce Meadows Masters] on 9 September.

Ben Maher finished best of the Brits at last weekend's European Championships at Windsor, finishing 15th on Robin Hood W.

He was lying in silver medal position coming into Sunday's final but unfortunately notched up eight faults in each round, plus a time fault.

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