A couple are planning a wedding day with a difference in memory of a friend who died from cancer.

Sharon Millar and Colin Batney are tying the knot next month but instead of wedding gifts they are asking for donations to charity instead.

The couple are also planning a fancy dress theme and holding a raffle at the reception to help boost funds.

The pair want to raise as much as they can for Macmillan Cancer Support and the Bevern Trust.

Ms Millar's closest friend Dionne Silburn died last year at the age of 39 after a short fight against cancer.

Ms Millar, 40, said: “After a discussion we decided that we would like to raise money for charity and we asked Dionne which one she would like us to support.

“She felt the Macmillan nurses had done such a great job for her and her family, they should be the ones to benefit.”

The couple also plan to raise money for the Bevern Trust, an Eastbourne-based charity which runs a home for people with profound disabilities and which has cared for her brother Mark Barrows, for ten years.

The couple, who have adopted a cartoon characters theme for the wedding, have already had several donations for their fundraising raffle and there is still time for local businesses to make a contribution.

Anyone interested in contributing can email colin-sharon@sky.com.