Here comes the bride...and 44 bridesmaids!

But for Jayne Blakeway picking who was going to be her bridesmaids proved a tough task - so much so that she decided to have 44 bridesmaids accompany her on her very big day.

The gathering - featuring 12 page boys, seven chief bridesmaids, seven ushers and three people walking the bride down the aisle - is thought to be the Black Country's biggest wedding party.

The whopping wedding was a memorable occasion for the happy couple Jayne Blakeway and her groom Shaun Lawrence and also friends, family and stunned passers by.

Special seating arrangements had to be planned at St Paul's Church, in Blackheath, to accommodate the supersized wedding.

There was even support from three Police Community Support Officers to manage the traffic as the group arrived outside the church, in Long Lane, on Saturday afternoon.

But luckily the wedding party did not have to travel far as the happy couple only live in Vicarage Street, 200 yards from the church.

They made their way to the church on foot with bridesmaids walking behind alongside the page boys with the sound of The Chapel of Love by the Dixie Cups playing through speakers.

Jayne, aged 50, who works for Dudley Council in customer services for the adult social care department, has known Shaun since she was aged around 18 but they became romantically involved more recently.

Shaun, who works in road maintenance, proposed on Jayne's 50th birthday back in May and they wanted to get married on his 53th birthday to add to the occasion.

"It's a true Black Country wedding and we don't do things by halves," she said.

"I got the wedding I always wanted and it is extra special coming at this time in my life that I can share it with more of my family.

"I just wanted everyone to be part of the day."

She is already part of a big family with one sister and seven brothers and wanted as many of the family as possible to share in her happy day.

The bridesmaids included friends, nieces, great nieces and great nieces, each wearing various shades of purples, blues and pinks. Four generations of the family took part in the day.

Jayne went down the aisle accompanied by her youngest brother Stuart, 48, and her sister Yvonne, 71, and her husband Glyn, 70.

All three gave her away and she was followed by all the bridesmaids and page boys

She picked I Just Can't Help Believing by Elvis Presley, which is one of the couple's favourite songs, to walk down the aisle too.

Groom Shaun added: "It is as fantastic as I thought it would be. It is the biggest wedding in Blackheath at least."

After the ceremony, conducted by The Reverend Mike Sermon, who is the vicar based at St Paul's, the happy couple walked out to applause and to one of Jayne's late mother Lydia's favourite songs Gracie Fields' Sing As We Go.

Jayne's great niece Amanda Haltout, aged 30, who is also from Blackheath, was one of the bridesmaids and said it was an amazing day.

"She has always said that there would be at least 20 bridesmaids with all her nieces," said Mrs Haltout, who works as a sales administrator.

"And as the family have grown over the years the more there has been to take part.

"It is exciting as we don't have a big family gathering like this very often. This suits Jayne's personality down to the ground."

The Rev Mike Sermon said: "It is a personal best for me in terms of number of bridesmaids.

"We like to be flexible and adaptable. We were delighted that Shaun and Jayne chose to marry here.

"We were very happy to be part of that process. It was little unusual but it was great and it helped everything go along with a swing.

"We talked about how things would work. We reserved some pews and talked about how the bride would enter the church and exit and it was lovely.

"It made it a very moving moment. This particular occasion we just had a larger number of bridesmaids to accommodate."

The happy couple had a wedding party at Wilson Hall, in Halesowen, after the ceremony with the bridesmaids arriving by coach.

Mr and Mrs Lawrence and will go on honeymoon to Cancun, in Mexico, in a few weeks time.