TRADITIONALLY it's the bride who arrives late for her wedding.

But one groom was forgiven for failing to show on time - after he rowed across the Atlantic to tie the knot.

Louise Robertson, from Hampshire, was left waiting a few extra days for her adventurous fiance Neil Ward to arrive in Barbados for the ceremony.

Mr Ward, 38, had taken part in a gruelling journey of more than 2,000 miles from the Canary Islands as part of a crew of 12 taking part in the Atlantic Rowing Race.

The bride, a 29-year-old ski instructor, wore a classic white wedding dress but her new husband wore beige shorts with a pale blue shirt for the ceremony.

Amid blue sky and palm trees, friends and members of Mr Ward's rowing team lined up their oars for a nautical ''guard of honour''.

The couple, who live in the French Alps, celebrated their wedding in the sunshine of Almond Beach Village yesterday - a day later than originally planned.

Travel operator Tropical Sky, which organised the wedding, was bale to postpone the ceremony.

The new Mrs Ward, who is originally from Shawford, near Winchester, and went to Peter Symonds college, said: ''We had no idea where or how we wanted to get married.

''When Neil joked he'd row the Atlantic just to marry me, that was the idea that stuck."

Welshman Mr Ward, who hails from Pembrokeshire, met his wife in the Alps and got together through their shared love of the outdoors.

Their first dates involved climbing mountains together, and just six months later he proposed after arranging a hot air balloon trip over the Alps.

Offshore oil worker and expedition organiser Mr Ward sailed to Ireland on his own at the age of 16 and went on to take on numerous extreme challenges.

Steve Garley, Tropical Sky's commercial director, said: ''Tropical Sky has arranged some unusual weddings in the past; from ceremonies with elephants in Sri Lanka and a Maasai Warrior in Kenya to saying nuptials on the tip of the Grand Canyon with a horse-drawn wagon for transport, but this one is definitely the most unique."