'Quitting saved my health and my dream wedding' Leon Curry's marriage plans could have gone up in smoke. But thanks to the fact the 28-year-old gave up cigarettes in September 2004, he and fiancée Lindsay Harper, 27, are set to have their dream wedding when they tie the knot in June this year. Leon, an advertising rep from Langley Park, County Durham, used to smoke 30 cigarettes a day and estimates he spent more than £2,700 a year on his habit. But, since successfully quitting, he has been saving his £5-a-packet cigarette money and the cash is earmarked for his and Lindsay's nuptials. Leon, who smoked for 11 years, was spurred into giving up after developing a chest infection. He says: "I was coughing a lot, and you can't be coughing all the time when you're only in your 20s. I became worried and decided to pack-in smoking. Since then my health has improved greatly. Breathing is a lot easier and I've joined a gym. "An extra plus is that I'm saving money. When I worked out how much I had been spending I couldn't believe it. Now I don't smoke and that money is going towards the cost of the wedding." He and Lindsay, a volunteer co-ordinator at The North of England Open Air Museum at Beamish, Durham, will spend about £5,000 on the wedding, which includes a two-week honeymoon in Italy. "By not smoking I'm allowing us to have the wedding we want," says Leon. His decision has had other unexpected financial benefits. The premiums for his mortgage protection insurance have dropped: "I've just added Lindsay's name to the mortgage and, because I haven't smoked for over a year, the premiums on our mortgage insurance will be dropping. "I'm much less of a health risk now." | 
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