Most brides are desperate not to be upstaged on their big day, but Charlotte and Juliette Roberts were happy to share the limelight when they married their respective partners in a joint ceremony.

After discovering that they had unwittingly become engaged at the same time, the sisters decided to combine their weddings, and on Saturday tied the knot with Laurie Whitehair, 30, and Steven Cooper, 24, respectively in a remarkable double wedding.

First down the aisle was Charlotte, 25, who was given away by the sisters' grandfather, Eric Thornton-Roberts. Then, as she reached the front of the church, she turned and watched as she was joined by Juliette, 24, who was accompanied by their father, Tony Roberts.

Speaking before the ceremony, at St Faith's Church in Gaywood, King's Lynn, Charlotte said: 'I get to go first because I am the oldest, but Juliette gets to say the vows and giving of the rings first. She will get to say 'I do' before I do.

'It will be emotional - I will be watching my little sister get married.'

She spoke of the groom's thoughts about having a double wedding: 'I think they were excited as they don't like to be the centre of attention, so the pressure is off. Plus they were happy to save money.'

Canon Beryl Wood, who was to perform the service said double weddings were rare.

'It's the first I've done in all my ministry, that's 27 years,' she said. 'It's a great joy to do it. It's an amazing opportunity and a great joy to have two sisters getting married on the same day.'

She added: 'The hardest thing is making sure I don't mix up their names and end up marrying the wrong one to the wrong one.'

After both couples got engaged on a trip to Las Vegas in 2012, they decided to take the unusual step in sharing their special day.

Charlotte explained: 'With the high cost of weddings and also we would have the same guests, we thought why not? Our parents were over the moon but didn't know how it would work.'

The sisters even got their dress at the same time from the first shop they went into. Juliette opted for a long-sleeved vintage-style dress.

Charlotte said: 'Hers is more Kate Middleton, but mine is more Big Fat Gypsy Wedding.'

They had eight bridesmaids, four each, to tend to them.

'We did have a different colour schemes,' said Juliette. 'Mine is baby blue and Charlotte is baby pink.'

Between them, the grooms had two best men and six ushers.

Around 135 guests attended the wedding with the ceremony lasting almost an hour.

Then after pictures at the church, the wedding party headed for a meal at the Knight's Hill in King's Lynn.

Both couples had their own first dance and own cake, and are heading off on separate honeymoons - Charlotte and Laurie in Italy and Juliette and Steven in Gran Canaria.