A bridal gown and top hat and tails or suit for the groom will be given away at the Westcountry's largest wedding event this week, The Real Brides Show, on March 15 and 16.

Somerset wedding dress expert Caryl Kendall is giving away a bridal gown worth up to £1,000, while Exeter suit specialist Jonathan Hawkes is offering to fit out the groom.

The prizes, worth more than £1,000, can be won when people visit The Real Brides Show, which takes place at the Westpoint Arena, Exeter.

Caryl, who has two ABC Wedding Dresses shops in south Somerset, stocks several hundred wedding dresses, bridesmaid dresses, and ball gowns, in all sorts of styles and colours.

ABC Wedding Dresses has been a frequent exhibitor at The Real Brides Show, which regularly features more than 100 specialists from across the region who provide a one-stop shop for brides and grooms and everybody else involved a wedding.

Jonathan Hawkes, which has a shop in Exeter's Harlequin Centre and has recently celebrated its tenth anniversary, also offers advice on points of etiquette and style.

The Real Brides Show is staged twice a year, in the spring and in the autumn, and brings the quality of a top London-class event to the heart of the Westcountry.

The spring show this year even has a French connection with former Devon artist and printmaker Tanya Short, travelling from the Loire Valley to exhibit her wedding and celebration stationery business Lebigkiss.

Tanya relocated to France eight years ago and uses the internet and modern communications to work with clients in the UK just efficiently as if she was still here.

The two-day The Real Brides Show also features a marquee fully decorated for a wedding with top table and guest tables all laid and ready for a wedding breakfast, provided by Claremont Marquees, of Crediton.

The Real Brides Show is open from12 noon to 5pm on Saturday, March 15, and from 10 am to 4pm on Sunday, March 16. Tickets, which start at £5, can be purchased online at www.realbrides.co.uk, where there are also full details of the show, including video clips.