A Harley Davidson fanatic will marry his fiancee at the Baildon bikers’ rally his uncle started more than three decades ago.

Pip Lawrence, who started the Shipley Harley Rally 31 years ago, will be best man for nephew Rik Lawrence when he marries Hazel Higson at the charity event’s first wedding.

More than 100 people will watch the couple tie the knot in a marquee at the rally, which is expected to attract Harley Davidson riders from across Europe.

Miss Higson, 51, said: “Rik has been going since he was a boy and he asked me when we went up to the Stirling rally last year if I would marry him. Of course, I said yes straight away and it was inevitable that we would get married at the rally.”

Miss Higson will be given in marriage by her son Owen, 21, and will have daughter Elfie, 20, as her bridesmaid.

She added: “I’m excited but I’m also quite nervous because its going to be massive.”

Pip Lawrence started the rally at his Dobrudden Farm, Baildon Moor, in August 1976, when 11 Harley Davidson riders turned up. In 2004, the rally was moved to Baildon Rugby Club in Jenny Lane and, last year it attracted about 600 riders.

Organiser Pete Griffith said: “Pip Lawrence started it in the seventies when there were not that many Harleys in Britain and it has grown from there.

“This year there will be three different clubs from Holland, Belgium and France, with one guy coming over from Brittany and another coming from the Pyrenees, a 900-mile trip!”

As in previous years, the Bank Holiday rally will start on Friday night with live music and a disco at the rugby club followed by a poker run across West Yorkshire on Saturday.

On Sunday, there will be a charity bike run, delivering toys to children’s charity groups at the Harewood House Steam Rally. There will also be a bike show during the weekend.

Mr Griffith said: “The villagers in Baildon turn out in their thousands to see us off on the Sunday. It is a fabulous event.”

Miss Higson, who lives with Mr Lawrence in Skipton, said she had been “overwhelmed” by the help of the rally organisers in arranging the wedding.

“We have asked all our guests to donate children’s toys instead of wedding gifts so they can be donated to the local children’s charities that the event supports,” she said.