Life went one better than art on Saturday when six Sydney women – who were not bridesmaids - arrived at a wedding reception all accidentally wearing the same A$160 (£95) dress.

Mirroring the 1993 Alan Ball play, Five Women Wearing The Same Dress, after some initial confusion the six women – whose group photos have prompted amused horror from women around the world - eventually bonded, before dancing the night away.

"Imagine the odds," Debbie Speranza, one of the six women, wrote on a Facebook post on fashion brand Forever New's Facebook page. That photo has since received 39,000 likes over 9,500 comments.

Ms Speranza set the scene for the Telegraph two days later: "My cousin and I walked into the reception and saw each other [in the same dress] and started laughing, but then another walked in … then another one … and another one. There was about 200 people.”

The A$160 dress sold by Forever New

After some initial shock, Speranza says the six had a lot of fun with the amazing coincidence.

"A couple of the women were a little bit 'ahhhhh' but then we all saw the fun in it. There’s a video of us telling the bridesmaids ‘ok if you girls stuff up we are ready’. We were like accidental sisters.”

Fearful of breaking wedding etiquette, Ms Speranza asked the bride, Julia Mammone if she was upset. “She said ‘ not at all’", Ms Speranza said.

Ms Mammone joined in the fun on social media and was due to appear on Australian television with three of the six women on Wednesday morning.

The women have been questioned over whether the incident was staged.

“We kept being asked that. No it wasn’t a set-up, I swear. I only knew one of the six women. Three were from the bride’s side and three from the groom.”

Ms Speranza had not heard of the Alan Ball play.