TOWIE’s Mark Wright cried tears of joy at the altar as he married actress Michelle Keegan in a historic church today.
Mark, 28, could not contain his emotions as former Coronation Street star Michelle, 27, walked down the aisle in her ivory coloured strapless dress.
The couple tied the knot in front of 120 guests in an hour-long service which was described as “very beautiful” by Mark’s celebrity friend James ‘Arg’ Argent.
Michelle was 30 minutes late. A chorister said: “I don’t think Michelle shed a tear – but Mark was a little emotional. It was a lovely service.”
Guests included Michelle’s former Coronation Street co-stars Brooke Vincent and Antony Cotton, Emmerdale star Andy Sugden and 1980s TV personality Pat Sharp, who appeared in I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here with Mark.
His former Strictly Come Dancing partner, Karen Hauer, also attended. Karen was due to perform a routine with Mark at the bash.
The couple went to incredible lengths to avoid being photographed after selling the rights to their wedding to Hello magazine for a reported £1million.
Both were smuggled into church behind screens and umbrellas to avoid being snapped by paparazzi photographers and fans with phone cameras.
Mark, who was an original cast member of The Only Way is Essex, wore a black tuxedo and bow tie at St Mary’s church in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk.
He arrived in a stretch Hummer limousine as it began to drizzle at 12.20pm and ran in with his head down while security guards shielded him with umbrellas.
The service was due to start at 1pm, but the bridesmaids in ivory blue dresses - including Mark’s sister Jess - did not arrive until 1.18pm in a vintage white Daimler convertible.
Michelle was nearly 30 minutes late when she arrived eight minutes later in a cream convertible Rolls Royce decorated with ribbons.
Both cars had blacked out rear windows so the occupants could not be seen.
Hymns sung at the ceremony included Lord of the Dance, Bind Us Together Lord and Give Me Joy in My Heart.
The choir sang Christ Be With Me and the 1978 Boney M hit By the Rivers of Babylon while the couple signed the register.
The best man is believed to have been Mark’s footballer brother Josh Wright, 25, who is a midfielder for Leyton Orient.
Mark and Michelle left the service in the Rolls Royce which brought her to the church and were driven to their reception at 16th century Hengrave Hall.
Other guests were taken in two coaches to the Tudor mansion around four miles away.
James Argent beamed with happiness as he left the ceremony with girlfriend Lydia Bright.
He said: “It was fantastic – very beautiful.”
Earlier, he tweeted his congratulations to the couple and hinted that he would be shedding a tear during he ceremony.
He tweeted: “The day has arrived! So excited for @MarkWright_ @michkeegan big moment. Love them both so much!!! #TissuesToTheReady”
Jack Tweed, the husband of late reality TV star Jade Goody, added: “It was beautiful.”
It is believed that the couple paid the standard fee of £610 for the use of church with the choir and an extra £80 for the bells to be rung.
The church which can sit 900 people is the third largest parish church in Britain, has the second longest aisle and the tomb of Mary Tudor, the sister of Henry VIII.
Its website boasts that it is “one of the finest settings in the county for a traditional wedding”.
Three vans transported towers of white flowers to decorate the interior of the church for the ceremony, conducted by St Mary’s vicar Canon Malcolm Rogers.
Recap: All the wedding gossip as it happens
Mark, who appeared in Strictly Come Dancing last year, booked out all of 35 bedroom Hengrave Hall and its grounds for their wedding party.
Guests sat down to a wedding breakfast in the banqueting hall with another 80 people due to arrive for an evening party.
Mark and Michelle, who played barmaid Tina McIntyre in Coronation Street from 2008 to 2014, were due to spend their wedding night in a four poster bed at the hall.
Family members are thought to be staying in other bedrooms, but guests are also staying at several hotels in the area.
St Mary’s Church was also used for the wedding of financier and environmentalist Ben Goldsmith and banking dynasty heiress Kate Rothschild in 2003.
Homeless Michael Longden, 37, who lives in a tent in a corner of the churchyard said he had not been asked to leave by anyone before the ceremony.
Michael, who has been homeless in the Bury St Edmunds area for 20 years, said: “I have heard of Michelle Keegan – but I do not know about Mark Wright. Is he the son of Steve Wright on the radio?”