Given Ray Quinn and his bride Emily Fletcher are both performers, it’s not surprising their wedding day music was one of the most important aspects for them.
The X Factor and Dancing on Ice star and his dance teacher bride tied the knot in a stunning ceremony on October 2 and had a special celebrity performer on hand to entertain their guests.
Ray, 35, asked his friend Shane Nolan, the son of Loose Women ’s Coleen Nolan and her EastEnders ’ actor husband ex Shane Richie to perform at the evening wedding reception with The Shane Nolan Band.
The couple said their 'I Do's' in a stunning and intimate ceremony at the grand Peckforton Castle in Cheshire , which gave them a “fairytale” day.
“Music’s really important to me and Ray,” Emily told us after the ceremony, which was exclusively covered by OK!. “We both love our music. If we have a spare minute, we’ll have music on in the house, in the kitchen, just dancing and singing along. So we chose songs that we love.”
Following their stunning ceremony - with Emily dressed in an ivory open-back mermaid dress with delicate glittering lace by Stella York and a long cathedral veil - the guests and newlyweds enjoyed a night of dancing in the castle’s incredible Grand Hall , with its 10m-high vaulted ceilings and stunning decor.
Shane and his band performed songs such as Bruno Mars’ Treasure and Uptown Funk and hits from Walk The Moon and The 1975, which the couple say had everyone on the dancefloor.
“Everyone was loving it, especially the kids,” says Ray. “They were sliding around on their knees!”
As well as Shane and the band, Ray and Emily hired saxophone player Danny M, bongos by Rachel Lasham and DJ Robin Kershaw - who was once in the Guinness World Records book for the world’s longest golf putt!
Dancing On Ice winner Ray, who has been performing on P&O Cruises around the world for the last few years, also couldn’t resist getting up (after a few champagnes) for a turn at the mic.
As a surprise treat for Emily - and their daughter Summer, one, Ray’s son Harry, 10, and Emily’s son Lucian - Ray serenaded his new bride with The Temptations’ My Girl.
He also had another surprise up his sleeve for Emily and their guests.
“When Emily was in her teens she was the lead singer in a rock band and she’s a brilliant singer,” Ray told us.
“So for a bit of fun, I called Shane beforehand and asked if his band could learn Sk8ter Boi as a favour because I knew she’d either go mad or love it! So he introduced her onto the mic and she was like, ‘What’s going on?’ But she got up and sang it and the crowd went wild.”
* Video: Greg Burnett / @gbweddingfilms
