The marriage of Miss Carys Bellweather and Mr Tobias Nunthorpe was halted for eleven minutes on Saturday between the vows and the kiss, after guests holding phones were unable to fit the couple's reaction in frame.

The ceremony, held at the village hall in Grumelow Underchurch, had been proceeding normally until the registrar, Mrs Eileen Trask, invited the couple to declare their consent. At that moment more guests rose from their seats than remained sitting, each attempting to position the couple within a portrait frame suitable for short-form video.

Several guests tripped over the microphone lead. One, a cousin of the groom, climbed onto a chair to secure an overhead angle, and was asked to descend by the best man, who was himself filming.

The complaint

The delay was called by Miss Bellweather herself, who raised a hand during the second vow and observed that her grandmother's reaction was being captured by several separate devices, none of which included the couple saying the words.

"You can get married once," Miss Bellweather told the hall. "The footage is forever. I want everyone to have it."

The couple then repeated the vow segment, with guests instructed to hold their phones horizontally and step back beyond the second pew. Mr Nunthorpe delivered his consent a second time with what one guest described as "less sparkle".

The kiss was performed three times. On the first attempt the groom's brother coughed during the walk-in shot. On the second, the couple were judged too far apart for the frame. The third was ruled usable by general consent, and the ceremony continued to the signing of the register, which was filmed from both sides of the table.

The reception

Mrs Trask said the pause was consistent with guidance issued by her office, which now recommends that officiants schedule "a buffer" into all ceremonies for framing adjustments and retakes.

"A marriage that exists only in the memories of the people present is, frankly, a marriage that did not happen," Mrs Trask said. "If nobody saw the bride's face when she heard the words, the words were wasted. I have officiated at ceremonies where nothing was filmed at all, and I do not care to discuss them."

The professional photographer hired by the couple spent the day at the back of the hall. He said he had been asked not to obstruct anyone's view of the phone screens.

The couple departed in the early evening, following a group retake of the departure. Guests who missed the second kiss have been invited to a re-shoot at the hall next month, with light refreshments.