Newlyweds Ian and Virginia Willmott billed their wedding reception as the second invasion of France when they transported their whole entourage across the Channel.

The couple codenamed their wedding plan Operation D-Day 2000 after discovering it would cost a fraction of the price to stage their nuptial knees-up on the Continent rather than on home soil.

The French charged just a tenth of the £35 corkage charge the Willmotts faced in the UK and the couple saved £500 on room hire. Food at £22 a head was also a third cheaper than the British option.

Mr Willmott said: "Not only was it cheaper, but it was different and everyone enjoyed it.

"It would be a good business for someone to get into because it was cheaper than holding a reception here and that was without asking for special deals."

Guests' invitations asked them to arrive with passports in hand at the couple's home in Longhill Road, Ovingdean, Brighton. From there, they were taken by coach to the Powdermills Hotel, near Battle, to watch the couple exchange vows at noon on Friday.

Then they jumped back on board to start their journey, pulling over on in a lay-by en route for glasses of Champagne and freshly-made sandwiches.

After an unscheduled stop in a Tesco car park in Folkestone to pick up Mr Willmott's daughter, whose flight from Edinburgh had been delayed by a snowstorm, they headed for the Channel Tunnel.

When the party arrived at the hotel near Calais they were greeted with afternoon tea before the reception, which featured a magician and singer who had also been imported from the UK.

Mr Willmott, 63, a retired chemical engineer, said he had planned the manoeuvres with military precision.

They had taken six crates of Champagne and their wedding cake to the French hotel during a holiday in September and asked the chef to keep dropping brandy into it.

The break also allowed them to organise flowers.

A photographer took pictures at the ceremony in England but the reception was captured through cameras left on the tables. There was even time for a short shopping trip in France before the party arrived back on English soil on Monday.

Mr Willmott, who had been divorced for ten years before meeting widow Virginia 18 months ago, said: "They were completely mystified by English icing, but we explained what we wanted and they did it.

"The French hotel fell over backwards to do what we wanted, but here you can ask them until you are blue in the face and you still probably wouldn't get it.

"In the summer people should do it from Newhaven to Dieppe.

"You can eat and drink as much as you like and the food was really splendiferous.

"It's definitely worth thinking about for other couples who want to save money."