THEY say true love leaves a permanent mark on your heart.

But when Bournemouth girl Helen Grinyer fell for a tattoo artist, she soon found him leaving more visible imprints on her skin.

As the couple tied the knot at Bournemouth Town Hall a year and a half later, it was clear that groom Jay Cooke had wasted no time in decorating his muse.

Jay, known in the trade as The Cookie Monster, says together, he and Helen are a work of art. “She came into my parlour one day asking about designs,” he said. “So we went about getting her ‘sleeved up’.

“I think creatively and imaginatively we just hit it off. Whenever we’re at home not doing anything, we work on building her tattoos up.”

Helen, who now has four hearts tattooed on her temple, said: “We linked up one night to talk about what I should get done.

“But we didn’t talk about tattoos at all. Now I think it was just an excuse for him to take me out. We haven’t spent a day apart since.”

To their gothic-style wedding, the 36-year-old bride wore a silver and burgundy gown with black veil. Jay, 29, had a black velvet top hat and a cane.

The bridegroom’s mother Vivienne Cook said: “I think she looks lovely, quite the painted woman. He’s never tattooed one of his girlfriends before. With Helen the immediate attraction was that they both had this strange desire to cover themselves in pictures.”

The couple will holiday in Devon with children Kaidon and Dylan, from previous relationships, before a honeymoon in Turkey later this year.