Bride and groom1 Kerry Bevan and Wayne Davies got married 500ft below ground in an old slate2 mine

Radiant Kerry wore a traditional white wedding dress and Wayne donned the usual smart morning suit but they had to add hard hats and wellington boots.

The couple spent ￡560 hiring a cave deep within the Llechwedd mine in North Wales to get hitched³.

They invited just 15 guests to witness the unusual ceremony.

Their first descent into the abyss started with an 800 metre ride through tunnels and caverns⁴ on the old Miners Tramway, a train hauled by a battery-electric locomotive.

Once there, they squeezed through a tight space through to the "wedding chamber⁵" where they were greeted by registrar⁶ Olwen Jones.

Assembled guests stood in silence for the thirty minute service and broke into a round of applause when they were finally pronounced husband and wife.

They were then back up to the surface for a champagne⁷ reception at a local hotel.

Kerry, 26, said: "It really was a wonderful day and certainly one that I'll remember for the rest of my life.

"Both myself and Wayne wanted to do something a bit different for our wedding day but at the same time wanted to maintain a little bit of tradition.

"So although we opted⁸ to get married in an old slate mine, I still wore a ￡700 white dress and Wayne wore a smart dark colored suit.

"The only difference between us and any other couple tieing the knot is that we had wellies on and hard hats which read "bride" and "groom" on the back.

"I was a bit concerned about getting the dress dirty and tried not to brush against any of the cave walls. We had an umbrella to keep specks⁹ of dust off us.

"It felt slightly claustrophobic and when we got down there it was very chilly¹⁰.

"But we both felt we were getting married somewhere which had so much history and atmosphere."