SHE was supposed to make their special day simply perfect.

Sarah Vernon was employed as a wedding co-ordinator at the exclusive Elmers Court Country Club with its New Forest setting offering an idyllic location for weddings.

Couples handed over thousands in cash deposits because Vernon told them they would get a discount.

Yet all the while she was pocketing their money and splashing out on a car and clothes while trying to repay debts of more than £20,000.

Her deception was described at Southampton Crown Court as a “gross breach of trust” as she was handed a nine-month jail term suspended for 18 months.

Throughout her court appearance Vernon, 40, sat head bowed with a purple suitcase by her side because, the court heard, she was expecting to be sent to prison as she had a history of stealing from work colleagues.

Her latest offences came to light when she went missing and enquiries by police at Elmers Court Country Club revealed she was being investigated for theft.

The court heard how bosses sacked her as their wedding co-ordinator because of her “unsatisfactory performance”.

A full audit on the accounts soon after revealed she stole £12,540 from four guests.

Police later tracked Vernon down to her sister’s home in Wales.

During police interview, she came clean about her theft, confessing to officers how she told couples she would give them a discount if they paid their deposits in cash.

But Unyime Davies, prosecuting, said: “Once she had stolen the money, she said she was scared about being found out because she knew she was not clever enough to disguise the theft.”

The court was also told how Vernon had been cautioned and convicted for stealing from colleagues in the past for which she received a community order.

Charles Gabb, defending, said she had been disowned by her family and was living alone in a women’s hostel in Chester.

A statement from Macdonald Hotels & Resorts, who run New Forest Elmers Court Country Club in Lymington, said: “Sarah Vernon was employed as a conference and events manager for a period of 18 months until July 2011.

“Macdonald Hotels & Resorts can assure all of its valued clients that this remained an internal issue with no impact on the first-rate service and quality that Elmers Court provides to its patrons.”

Along with the suspended sentence, Vernon was ordered to carry out 125 hours of unpaid work.