Chris Smalling and Sam Cooke attend wedding rehearsal

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Chris Smalling and his fiancee Sam Cooke are preparing to get married in Italy
The Manchester United defender and glamour model have put in final touches
Bride and groom attended their wedding rehearsal at picturesque Lake Como

Published: 11:01 EDT, 21 June 2017 | Updated: 11:19 EDT, 21 June 2017

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They will tie the knot at the picturesque Lake Como in Italy — and Chris Smalling and fiancee Sam Cooke cut relaxed figures on the day of their wedding rehearsal.

The Manchester United defender and his glamour model partner were pictured near the Villa del Balbianello ahead of their big day.

Smalling and Cooke, who got engaged during an eventful summer holiday in Bali last year, have been joined by family and friends in northern Italy.

Manchester United defender Chris Smalling has arrived in Italy ahead of his wedding

Smalling and friends enjoy a trip on a speed boat as he puts in final preparations for wedding

The bride and groom attended their wedding rehearsal this week before dining out at a nearby restaurant.

Keen to make the most of the Italian sunshine, Smalling stopped off to enjoy an ice lolly while going for a walk with his soon-to-be wife.

The Manchester United defender and fiancee Sam are a pair of intrepid travellers and their wedding continues the theme.

Getting married at Lake Como in Italy is not overly extravagant, in relative footballer terms, but once you factor in the distances the couple will travel for the stag, hen and honeymoon that is a lot of air miles, more than 30,000 in fact.

Smalling makes his way towards the boat (left) while his model fiancee Sam follows suit (right)

The footballer's soon-to-be wife leads the way as she walks ahead of her female friends in Italy

The round trip to north Italy is 2,000 miles, the England defender made a 10,100 mile journey for his stag do in Las Vegas and Cooke took her friends and family to Barbados last month, racking up 8,300 miles in the process. Once wed, the couple will jet off to the Seychelles, another 10,400 round trip.

Smalling, 27, proposed to Cooke, 30, during a trip to Bali last summer.

But the holiday was marred when he was rushed to hospital after he collapsed during a severe bout of poisoning and suffered a gruesome head injury.

England defender Smalling stopped off to enjoy an ice lolly while going for a walk with Sam

The 27-year-old looks on from a balcony alongside his friends as he gears up for his big day

Smalling recovered enough to get down on one knee and ask the question, to which Cooke gleefully said 'yes'.

She announced the engagement on her Facebook page shortly after, saying: 'Last night in the most perfect setting Chris asked me to be his wife. Ridiculously happy'.

Once Smalling finishes his wedding celebrations, he will return to Manchester to report for pre-season duty with United.