WEDDING guests got the chance to rub shoulders with the rich and famous when a Darwen man got married and invited his celebrity pals to the reception.

As the senior lifestyle promotions manager for adidas, Gary Aspden often finds himself chatting to stars such as David Beckham and Madonna about the latest adidas gear they want to be seen in.

So when he married yoga instructor Samantha Drouin, who he met in a London chip shop three years ago, stars who through work had become his friends, wanted to join the couple and their East Lancashire guests for their celebrations.

The star-studded guest list included Oasis' Liam and Noel Gallagher, Liam's wife and former All-Saint Nicole Appleton, ex-Stone Roses frontman Ian Brown, Happy Mondays lead singer Shaun Ryder, model Jade Jagger, singer Terry Hall from The Specials, snooker champion Ronnie O'Sullivan, Ian Broudie from the Lightning Seeds, Texas lead singer Sharlene Spiteri, band members from The Coral, Chris Lowe of The Pet Shop Boys and Mike Pickering from M:People.

Gary, 36, a former Holy Trinity Primary School pupil, said: "We got married at Chelsea Register Office just with 30 of our closest family members and God-children and held a reception and evening bash at an American-style brasserie called Automat' in Mayfair for 350 people.

"People had travelled from as far away as Los Angeles, Tokyo, Paris and Germany as well as from East Lancashire.

"We were just as blown away by the fact that so many people from Blackburn and Darwen travelled down for the wedding as we were that famous faces wanted to be there with us.

"We were very privileged Terry Hall agreed to be our wedding singer and serenaded us with Burt Bacharach.

"Apart from the official photographers, we put a No Photo' note on the invitations as we wanted to protect everyone's privacy and make sure it could be relaxed and everyone could just enjoy themselves. It was an amazing day."

Gary's nephew Archie Twist, six, from Mill Hill, Blackburn, added to his collection of pictures with celebrities when he met Ronnie O'Sullivan.

Allan and Lilian Aspden, Gary's parents, live in Kelvin Street, Darwen.

Gary's mum said: "Gary was born and bred in Darwen, his roots are here and he comes back to see us as often as possible.

"He is a big Rovers fan and there was even a signed Rovers shirt hung up over the bar at the wedding reception.

"It was wonderful to see and meet these celebrities as I had wondered what people like the Gallagher brothers would really be like.

"They were great and everyone from up North thought it was a brilliant wedding too."