Chartered surveyor David Evans from Teddington, Middlesex, and his partner Allan Carlsson have won a £60,000 luxury wedding and honeymoon in a competition to mark the advent of civil partnerships in the UK.

The couple, who have been together for nine years, were selected from a shortlist of 10 same sex couples at a special pre-wedding reception staged by wedding planning company Fabulous Gay Weddings and GaydarRadio at the Waldorf Hotel in London.

David, 32, and Allan, 33, will now tie the knot at a lavish reception for 100 family and friends at Madame Tussauds, followed by a honeymoon at Sydney Mardi Gras in Australia where they will take part in the main parade.

Ireland born David said that he and Allan, a safety security advisor for British Airways, had already made a lifetime commitment to each other before the news that civil partnerships were to become legal in the UK.

“When the Government announced that they were introducing gay partnership rights I couldn’t believe it as my boyfriend Allan proposed to me on a romantic weekend in Stockholm in Easter 2004 and I thought that it would never be possible,” said David.

“We have been through bad and good times together and I really know that Allan is the one for me.

“We have just recently bought our first place together and I have this is the first job where I have properly come out, so getting married is the first step to show our love and commitment to each other and finally have our place in society.

“We still cannot believe that we have won”

With the wedding now just two months away, the couple are busy on a draft invitation list. On getting married, they have decided to take each other’s surnames, becoming the Carlsson-Evans.

“In the eyes of the law I will have more rights now that I am Allan’s partner. We really will be a couple,” said David.

The competition was staged by Ascot based Fabulous Gay Weddings to mark the advent of civil partnerships which become legal from December 5. More than 150 couples entered the competition.

“Choosing a final winner was virtually impossible, but in the end we were won over by the just how genuine David and Allan really were and how committed they are to each other,” said Fabulous Gay Weddings Managing Director Jenny Crandley.