A COUPLE will return to the location of their first date after becoming the first to book a wedding at a zoo.

The Welsh Mountain Zoo in Colwyn Bay was recently granted a wedding licence and Llysfaen couple Ian Berry and Cassandra Boczek will tie the knot there next July.

The couple enjoyed their first date at the zoo after meeting at a New Year party in 2013 and became engaged in May.

“It is a unique place because of the setting and the animals, and as we had out first date there it is a perfect circle,” said Ian, a 32-year-old nurse at Glan Clwyd Hospital.

“We wanted our guests to have a good day and as a lot of our families are not from North Wales, it will be the first time they will have been to Colwyn Bay – so we thought it would be a good way to show them the place we’ve made our home.”

Robert Haley of Graze Catering, Cassandra Boczek and Ian Berry with Nick Jackson, director at the Welsh Mountain Zoo. (Picture: Dave Thomas)

Cassandra, 30, a science teacher at Denbigh High School, who has a degree in marine biology and zoology, said: “It’s so pretty.

“It is a perfect place and the location is stunning. Not many zoos are on a hillside and the animals are lovely,” she said.

Justin Tilley, director and partner of Graze Catering at the zoo, said: “We are thrilled to have attained our wedding licence, alongside our recently granted liquor and entertainment licence.

“We look forward to working in close partnership with the zoo to create both wonderful and memorable moments for our marital couples and our function business.”

For more information about weddings at the Welsh Mountain Zoo, call Robert Hayley on 01492 650369 or visit zoo@hotelsandtaverns.com