Market Deeping firefighter and police community support officer marry in Stamford after their emergency services jobs brought them together
A couple who were brought together by their emergency service jobs have tied the knot.
Police community support officer Raechell Culff met her future husband after turning up at the fire station unannounced for a nose around the offices.
At the time the police station in Market Deeping was threatened with closure so she wanted to check out the building she could be moved to.
While there, she met watch manager Mickey Culff.
Raechell, 45, said: “We hit it off straight away and a few weeks later after a bit of Facebook ‘stalking’ I decided to ask him out for a drink.”
Two months later Raechell moved to Market Deeping from her home near Spalding and the couple have been together ever since.
Their paths have often crossed at work, most commonly at the scene of road accidents.
Raechell said: “It never made a difference to how we worked. When you’ve got a job to do, the fact that your partner is there too is the last thing on your mind.”
Mickey, 48, admits there are benefits to having similar jobs. He said: “It can help you understand each other, especially if you’ve had a bad day.”
Two years ago Raechell took a career break when the couple became foster parents.
Having made the first move at the start of the relationship, the job of proposing also fell to her.
She bought Mickey a chocolate heart decorated with the words ‘will you marry me?’.
He quickly polished off the chocolate but kept his partner waiting months for an answer, losing his engagement ring in the meantime.
Mickey finally gave Raechell his answer in November and she jumped straight onto the phone to book a venue.
Unfortunately in her excitement to get organised, the bride-to-be forgot to check the size of the venue and had to ‘uninvite’ 20 guests after discovering they wouldn’t all fit.
Despite the setback, the couple tied the knot at Stamford Registry Office on December 28.
The bridal party arrived in a Winnebago provided by former firefighter Joe Dickins, who was at the fire station the day they met, but not before a quick trip to McDonald's to feed a hungry page boy and buy a lemonade to go with Raechell’s gin.
The couple were joined by their children Shelby Culff, 23, and Nico Viner, 18.
The reception took place at The Stage in Market Deeping where the staff provided a themed cake with Mickey climbing a firefighter’s ladder to reach his bride.
The tables were decorated with miniature fire engine models painted rose gold.