A SELFIE capturing the precious moment a couple got engaged has been preserved in a portrait as a wedding gift.

Hannah Hughes, 32, was stunned when her boyfriend Alex Fitzmaurice, 31, unexpectedly popped the question on Frodsham Hill on July 10 last year.

The couple had been together for 10 years and are currently renovating a house in Davenham.

Her mum Jan decided to surprise her again on the morning of her wedding with a lasting keepsake of the proposal.

Jan, from Moulton, said: “I’d racked my brains trying to think of a little momento. Hannah isn’t into horseshoes or engraved glasses, I wanted something a bit more unique.”

She contacted her friend Anne Gregory, from Winsford, whose husband Geoff is a portrait artist.

“Hannah thought they were going for a walk and had no make-up on and her hair was scraped up but it was such a beautiful picture,” said Jan.

I just thought that a drawing could capture that moment.

“Geoff pulled out all the stops to get it done in time. I only asked him to do it a few weeks before the wedding.”

Former County High School pupil Hannah, a nursing sister at Wythenshawe Hospital, married Alex, an EasyJet pilot, at St Wilfrid’s Church in Davenham on Saturday, September 22.

Guests celebrated afterwards in teepees at a reception at Cherry Orchard Farm in Delamere.

“As she was getting ready at her bridesmaid’s house I gave her the portrait,” added Jan. “She was overwhelmed and emotional.

“The wedding was amazing from start to finish. Hannah beamed all the way through the day. They looked so intensely happy.”

Portrait artist Geoff, a retired manager of a chemical company, has converted the bedroom of his house in Winsford into a studio.

His wife Anne, a retired college lecturer, said: “Geoff has always done art work as a hobby. He is completely self taught.

“When he retired he decided to set up a portrait business and it has gone incredibly well.

“He tends to do a lot of dogs which seem to be popular.

“My friend Jan showed me the photo taken when Alex proposed to Hannah. How thoughtful and wonderful to have a portrait drawn to give to her on the morning of the wedding.”

Hannah and Alex spent their honeymoon on the Amalfi Coast in Italy.