It’s the moment in a wedding ceremony where everyone holds their breath: when the minister asks whether anyone has any objections as to why the couple should be wed.

On the majority of occasions though - in real life rather than rom-coms, anyway - no one says anything.

But that wasn’t the case for the wedding of Lancashire couple Mark Whiteley and Joanne Green though.

Whiteley and Green at their 'wedding'

With 100 friends and family members assembled to watch them tie the knot, guests were left gobsmacked when a woman stood up to object, saying Whiteley and Green were already married.

It was a dramatic moment when, as the congregation gasped, the best man stormed over to the woman to have words.

Only then was it revealed that the people Whiteley and Green were married to were in fact each other, and the whole scene was one big stunt - they’d married in secret months earlier and hadn’t told anyone.

With their real marriage certificate

Whiteley is a theatre boss, and the officiant, objector and best man were all actors playing roles.

He and GP receptionist and nurse Green had had a shotgun wedding whilst on holiday in Nashville, Tennessee in March - they said their vows in the Rhinestone Wedding Chapel.

The objection scene was all rehearsed to distract their guests’ attention before a video of their legal wedding ceremony was played, revealing the truth.

“We didn’t set out to do anything different but once the seed was sown we had the recipe for an amazing (possibly terrible) day,” 50-year-old Whiteley told Rossendale Free Press.

“We hedged our bets that it would work out. We just wanted to do something a bit theatrical, we’ve got a flair for a drama. We were worried about people being upset because it’s extremely sneaky to have been married three months and not even told our children.

“We hadn’t worn rings until the ceremony and we thought that was really important. But it has taught us how important marriage is and how important the sharing of your love with your family and friends is, and it was amazing to exchange rings.”

After all had been revealed, Green and Whiteley went on to celebrate with their guests.

Not all of them may have been surprised by the couple’s antics though.

“We decided it would be much more fun to get married in America, so we hatched a plan,” 49-year-old Green said. “We were so nervous, we didn’t know if it was going to work.

“Most people kind of expected something unusual because of who we are. It was a mix of nerves and excitement knowing we were going to really shock everybody, but they all thought it was brilliant.