You're all invited to Our Gay Wedding: The Musical! Benjamin and Nathan find a singing registrar and enlist their family, friends and even some celebrities to make a production of their marriage

Femail was a guest at one of the most extraordinary weddings ever seen

We watched as two British grooms tied the knot at a musical ceremony

The event was filmed for Channel 4 and is almost entirely sung

It's hosted by Stephen Fry and features numerous celebrity cameos

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO clips from the musical below



There’s a lot of stress involved in a wedding – choosing a venue, preparing speeches, the politics of who’s on which table… the list goes on.



So the pressure and worry felt by one couple who tied the knot on Saturday can only be imagined – because they had all the usual wedding worries, plus the fact that their big day was a musical, filmed for national television.



The stars are grooms Benjamin Till and Nathan Taylor, who became husband and husband for Channel 4’s Our Gay Wedding: The Musical, on Saturday, when gay marriage became legal in England and Wales.

And Femail was there on the big day.



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Showstopping: Benjamin Till (left) and Nathan Taylor during filming for Channel 4's Our Gay Wedding: The Musical

Noteworthy: Mr Till (left) and Mr Taylor (right) listen to the singing registrar, Franschene Allen Mothers' Day: Mr Taylor and his mum Celia Lawley (left) and Mr Till and his mum Noelle The show must go on: If either groom had made a mistake during the declarations, the registrar would have had to correct them

The idea for the show was dreamt up by Mr Till and Mr Taylor, both 39, a few months ago, but Channel 4 only commissioned it at the beginning of February.

So they had just seven weeks to write all the music and lyrics, rehearse 15 musicians and 30 soloists and record cameos from the likes of Stephen Fry, Jon Snow, Ed Miliband, Nick Clegg and Will Young.



Plus, they had the mindboggling pressure of having to declare their declarations without a single mistake, for legal reasons, while the cameras were running – and sing their vows to each other as-live in front of their friends, relatives and several celebrities.



Despite both being brilliant performers and composers, with Mr Till having penned musicals for national TV before, and Mr Taylor being a seasoned West End performer – tempers inevitably frayed on the run-up to the big day.

Here come the grooms: Nathan Taylor and Benjamin Till (left) after becoming Mr and Mr, with celebrity guest Gok Wan pictured right

On song: Our Gay Wedding: The Musical features friends and family of the grooms - and many of them are established professional singers Speedy: The musical was written by Mr Till and Mr Taylor in just seven weeks

Mr Till, 39, told Femail: ‘It was mayhem. I slammed a door a day. I threw my headphones across the room on countless occasions. Seven weeks all in to write, record, recruit, perform, film and organise a wedding. We're mad. But also the luckiest men alive!’



In the end, the big day went incredibly smoothly – and Femail had a ringside seat, because the author of this article has known Mr Till for over two decades and was a guest at the ceremony in a Victorian theatre inside London’s Alexandra Palace.

He also has a very small part to play in the video involving a sausage and an egg...



The experience was an emotional rollercoaster – and will make for a highly entertaining slice of TV.



Guest Gok Wan described it as 'fantastic'. But we've a feeling that thousands of others will think the same after it's aired.



Mums are the word: Noelle Till and Mr Taylor's mother, Celia Lawley, sing a very moving duet in the Musical



Highlights include the grooms being walked up to the aisle while The Feeling sing a beautiful arrangement of The Beach Boys’ God Only Knows, a rendition of Respect by Erasure’s Andy Bell – who was in fine voice – and a touching duet featuring the grooms’ mothers, about how they felt when their sons came out.

When that was played back to the 200 guests at the ceremony, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.

Tears bubbled up with equal force when the vows were sung, too.



This is the part where the happy couple reach into their hearts and express their undying love for each other in their own words.



Cameo: Channel 4 news anchor Jon Snow gets in on the act

Hair we go: Singer and actor Dan Cooper is one of the performers

Mover and shaker: Choreographer Drew McOnie gives the guests some instructions

Respect is due: Andy Bell from 1980s band Erasure, pictured here with his partner Stephen Ross, performed an arrangement of one of his hits Happy days: Mr Till with smiling guests (from left to right) Jo Emery, Nicola Harrison, Emily McKensie and Natalie Walter at the reception

OUR GAY WEDDING: THE MUSICAL - BY THE NUMBERS

Groom Mr Till on the figures involved:

120 hours in the recording studio

Three weeks of solid writing starting at 8am and finishing at 2am in the morning

One day off in seven weeks (for the stag do)

200 guests all of whom need to learn two numbers

150 members of the London Gay Men's Chorus

30 soloists

15 musicians

It was an emotional high point that left the grooms struggling to keep their voices steady.



Mr Taylor said afterwards: ‘When we sung our vows to each other, I’m not quite sure how either of us held it together. We just held on to each other’s hands for dear life and looked into each other’s eyes. It was the most intense thing. It was like the world wasn’t there at that point, that we were the only two people there. It was magical.’



Mr Till said: ‘Listening to Nathan’s vows for the first time, I was in such shock at how beautiful it sounded. Also because it was orchestrated by Fiona [Brice], a very close friend, so I could hear her voice in the background as well.’



Possibly the most intense moment for the grooms, however, was actually the part when they had to speak.



By law, the declarations of intent, when the couple say their full names and solemnly swear to stand by their other half, have to be spoken.



If either Mr Till or Mr Taylor had gone wrong – even if they were unclear - the registrar would have had to correct them and that would have formed part of the show.



Not ideal television. You’ll have to tune in on Monday to see how that scene went.



Some, however, won’t be tuning in to Our Gay Wedding: The Musical – because they appear to have written it off before it’s even aired.



What pressure? Groom Nathan Taylor looks composed and relaxed during his performance Flamboyant: The Musical is a colourful celebration of gay rights

DAN GILLESPIE SELLS' FEELINGS ON GAY MARRIAGE

The Feeling's Dan Gillespie Sells sings the grooms up the aisle for an event he believes is very significant. He said: 'It’s very significant for many reasons. Being a gay man, it means that I’m now on a level footing with other people in society who want to represent and show their love for another human being and for it to be recognised in the same way, by all kinds of different groups, by the tradition of marriage.

‘I think it’s important for marriage, as well, because I think, to flip it on its head, I believe that marriage needs us gays as much as much as we need marriage. Without this constant evolution of traditions, they kind of lose their footings and become pointless. So it’s a great thing for marriage as well as being a great thing for gay rights'

One Pink News reader said ‘I can't believe Stephen Fry is hosting what is likely to be car crash TV’ and another commented: ‘I was hoping for some gravitas on this one off, ground-breaking, historic moment [gay marriage being legalised].’



The show does in fact have its serious moments, with Andy Bell singing to a backdrop of facts and figures about how laws that repressed homosexuals have gradually been rolled back over the years.



Guest Nicola Harrison described that moment afterwards as ‘almost overwhelming’.



Mr Till just hopes that people give it a chance.



He said: ‘This is a dignified, political piece. Anyone who would attempt to judge it before seeing it, simply doesn't understand the importance of music and that's not a debate I can even enter into.



'This is a musical about March 29, which just happens to feature our wedding. That's really important. It's a political piece as much as it's a piece about celebration. It's also a piece about hope. If, in the UK, we can go, in 50 years, from being second class citizens who were blackmailed and often sent to jail, to being people who are able to get married on TV, then there's hope for teenagers in Russia, Nigeria, Sudan...’



It’s also a musical that features incredibly catchy songs. Afterwards, John Hay, the show’s Commissioning Editor, told Femail that he’s been waking up with the tunes in his head and walking down the street humming them.



And director Ellen Hobson added: ‘Benjamin Till? That boy can write a song.’

Our Gay Wedding: The Musical airs on Monday March 31 at 10pm on Channel 4.

Smiles better: Chorus member Julie Clare, left, and Edward Till, Benjamin's brother, who was the musical's waistcoated 'MC'

Frying game: This particular scene features the article's author - expressing his desire not to be in a musical



