A pair of lovebirds who got engaged during a romantic picnic tied the knot in a beautiful Cumbrian spot.

Anna-Maria Lenz, 27, and Joshua Williams, 32, said ‘I do’ at Ambleside’s Cragwood Country House on July 27 after the couple first met seven years ago.

The big day was a ‘relaxing’ affair, which saw Mr Williams have time to even take their dog Juno for a midday walk, but not everything was as calm when it came to the surprise proposal.

Mr Williams said: “ I surprised Anna-Maria on her birthday in July last year. I arranged a picnic at a beauty spot.

“I had a mug made with ‘Will you marry me?’ printed on the inside of the mug at the bottom.

“During the picnic I made sure she had a full mug of tea.”

However, some time had passed and the bride-to-be asked for a top-up without drinking the full cup.

“I had to convince her to finish the entire mug so she would see the message,” said Mr Williams.

“Eventually, she did, at which point I presented her with the ring, asked the question and she said yes.”

Mr Williams, who works as an investment manager, met his future wife, who is originally from Hamburg by chance after a night out in Somerset in 2013.

The now Mrs Williams, who works as a strategic planning specialist, said: “Josh struck me as caring, genuine and passionate.”

Mr Williams said: “I was attracted to Anna-Maria’s sense of adventure, determination and intrigued by her love of horses.”

The newlyweds eventually got hitched on July 27.

When it came to the planning the big day the pair kept things simple at the beautiful Ambleside venue and were only accompanied by witnesses and friends John and Aniko, along with their furry friend Juno.

Mrs Williams said: “We started the day with breakfast in bed just the two of us.

“The hotel had a gazebo for the wedding to take place outside which would have been our preference but unfortunately it rained pretty much the entire day.

“This didn’t ruin our day as we embraced the wet weather and had our ceremony in the library which had a fantastic view of the lake.

“We walked down the aisle to The Darkness’ Love is Only a Feeling, said our vows in a very private ceremony with our friends and Juno.

“We signed our marriage certificates to Elton John’s Tiny Dancer and then left the room together as a married couple to Saint Motel’s ‘Cold, Cold Man’ followed by a champagne toast.

For the honeymoon, the married couple originally planned to head to United States, but had to postpone the trip till next spring.

All photography featured in the article is by Tiree Dawson. She is available to contact at info@tireedawson.co.uk.