A rabbi is preparing for the happiest day of her life when she becomes one of the first lesbians to marry at a synagogue.

Rabbi Elizabeth Tikvah Sarah, of the Brighton and Hove Progressive Synagogue, is to marry her partner of three years Jess Wood on Saturday, March 24.

Two days after the civil partnership ceremony, the couple will have a traditional Jewish wedding at the synagogue in Lansdowne Road, Hove.

A community of more than 300 worshippers has been invited and the couple have been inundated with messages of support.

Rabbi Sarah was one of a group of rabbis from the Liberal Judaism tradition who helped draw up the marriage liturgy, called Covenant of Love, for same-sex couples.

She said the fact she was now able to marry her partner in a synagogue showed how much progress had been made since she trained to be a rabbi in the Eighties.

She said: "When I started out as a rabbi I was put on five years' probation instead of one year, along with another lesbian rabbi. That's how scared of us they were.

"Things have changed completely now.

"I didn't know what the congregation would say about the marriage but people have been incredibly supportive and we have had so many people congratulating us."

Jess is director of the Allsorts project for lesbian, gay, bisexual or unsure young people in Brighton and Hove, which she helped to set up in 1999.

She said she was proud of Liberal Judaism for being the first mainstream religion to hold marriage ceremonies for same-sex couples.

She said: "This is not just a personal thing for us, it's the culmination of our lives' work. It will be a wonderful day. We have had so much support from the community.

"I spoke to a 75-year-old woman today who said how happy she is for us.

"It just shows how totally unacceptable homophobia is now. I didn't ever expect the day would happen. It's amazing the way the Government has embraced the equal opportunities agenda."

The couple are travelling to Venice for a four-day honeymoon. Jess said: "We are both very slushy people and it was love at first sight between us. A lot of people said when they saw us together for the first time that we'd end up together."

So far there have been 203 civil partnership ceremonies in Brighton and Hove, and 712 more have been booked.