Bride-to-be Oriana wants to become Mrs Hamilton...aboard the Oriana Hamilton

Oriana Mees, 26, was always aware of her connection to the P&O cruise ship Oriana and two years ago she spent a romantic break on it with her now fiancé 31-year-old Tom Hamilton.

But it wasn't until she arrived to board the ship that she realised it wasn't only her name the ship shared, but her partner's surname too.

The Oriana is in fact registered to Hamilton in Bermuda and so the name on the ship appears as Oriana Hamilton.

Oriana said: "I knew I wanted to spend my wedding day on the ship as soon as I saw it.

"I was totally in shock because I knew all my life about the ship because people would say when I told them my name, 'oh, like the ship?'

"But it wasn't until I got there that I saw it had 'Hamilton' underneath which I now know is the ship's port of registry.

"It was as though it was meant to be."

When Tom popped the question last year, Oriana knew exactly where she wanted to become Mrs Hamilton.

But when the hopeful bride-to-be, who lives with Tom in Brighton, contacted P&O they initially said it was not possible.

Oriana said: "Originally I wanted to get married on the ship, but I was told that in order to do that the ship had to be 12 miles from land to conduct it under Bermudan law but also that I would need to be on a seven-day cruise as a minimum.

"I then asked about hiring the venue for just the reception when docked, but I was told that wasn't possible either."

It was then that Oriana got in touch with The Argus who was able to persuade the cruise liner to allow the couple to have a small celebration on the ship on their big day.

P&O have since offered a tour and drinks reception on board for three and a half hours for a maximum of 20 people.

A spokesman said: "We were delighted to hear Oriana's story. Our ship of the the same name is a very special one and we will do everything we can to help Oriana celebrate her big day on board."