ALWAYS look on the bright side of life!

That's the way Toni Mason lives, and it's helped her win a competition to be named Britain's most optimistic person.

Mrs Mason, 36, of James Street, Great Harwood, suffered a series of catastrophes on her wedding day that might have caused a weaker-willed person to give up.

But mum-of-two Toni, a housewife, put the disasters, including a DJ who had all his equipment stolen, a destroyed cake and late wedding rings, behind her.

Despite the catalogue of disasters that could easily have ruined Toni's special day at St John's Church, St Hubert's Road, Great Harwood, the wedding itself, to husband Lourie went off without a hitch, and the pair are happily married.

And she then entered a competition run by a national magazine, which saw her scoop the title.

She said: "There were quite a few things that went wrong. My husband crashed his works van the day before then my gran fell down the steps in the beer garden where we had our reception. She couldn't walk the rest of the day.

"My dad turned up with a broken tooth and a black eye because he had fallen over at the stag do. He walked me down the aisle looking like he had done three rounds with Mike Tyson.

"My friend who did the cake for me dropped it putting it in the car. One side of the cake was smashed and we had to disguise it and turn it round.

"It's quite a series of things that didn't go to plan, but everybody had a good day so it was fine."

Toni says she is a naturally optimistic person, and coped with everything her 'special day' threw at her.

She said: You're not there for a cake, are you? You're there to exchange vows and that is the meaning of the wedding. Not the small details."

So Toni entered a competition in Chat magazine, and won. For her troubles with the wedding in August 1999, she was presented with a tumble dryer and £1,500 worth of holiday vouchers.

And Toni has plenty of advice, to help people keep their chins up!

She said: "If you fall down stairs and break your leg, you're lucky you didn't break your neck! It's just the way you look at it. If you crash your car you're lucky you're not injured, or that you're not driving your other car which is worth more."

Toni's trials

Toni's husband crashed his van the day before. Toni said: "His boss told me, don't worry he's all right. As soon as I heard that it took any worries away."

Her gran fell down steps at the afternoon wedding reception. Toni said: "She said she was fine and happy with people bringing things to her. She was waited on hand and foot, like the Queen Bee!"

Toni's dad turned up with a broken tooth and a black eye. She said: "I just laughed because it's so typical of him. He's always getting into scrapes. It made it more memorable!"

The wedding cake was dropped. Toni said: "We just disguised it. It was going to get cut into pieces anyway!"

The DJ they had chosen sent an unknown replacement. Toni said: "At least we weren't resorting to a ghetto blaster on a table in the corner! If there was no DJ we would have had to sing songs or something."

The hairdresser turned up late, so Toni had to style her hair herself before the afternoon reception. She said: "She arrived just as I was leaving the house. It was too late to do anything then so I just said we will have to sort it out later. I got two styles in one day."

The rings didn't arrive in time so the couple were forced to order some more two weeks before the wedding. Toni said: "They weren't heirlooms, there was no sentimental value to them, so the ones we ended up with were just as nice."