A couple surprised their guests with storm troopers at their wedding - after spending £20,000 on their Star Wars themed day.

Kate and Edward Coates, both 38, knew they wanted to incorporate the popular franchise into their wedding - after connecting over Star Wars when they met.

Kate wore R2D2 Heelys, had a Princess Leia figure in her bouquet and each guest was given a miniature lightsabers as wedding favours.

The Star Wars super fans decided to surprise their guests with Storm Troopers – kicking off the evening reception - and said everyone was "shocked" by their arrival.

Kate, a freelance graphic designer, from Keithley, West Yorkshire, said: “When we hired Storm Troopers, we actually held that from everyone, so no one knew they were coming.

"It was a massive surprise. Everyone was really shocked.

“The best man said, 'oh I can’t believe you did that that was the best thing ever'.

“Rogue Trooper Hire sent us a few Star Wars themed song mixes for our DJ to play whilst they were there, and they definitely came alive in those."

Kate and Edward, a plant operator, met in school but only started dating in December 2020, after discovering their children went to the same school.

Kate said: “We knew each other at school but were not close friends. Acquaintances I’d say.

“We just got chatting in the school playground and things just went from there.

"We started talking on Facebook. We spoke about Star Wars - that is how we kind of connected."

After quickly hitting it off, Edward proposed in August 2020 and the couple knew they wanted a themed wedding.

Kate said: “Star Wars was such a big part of us getting together. In our front room we have got a Darth Vader and storm trooper hat each side of the tv.

"We have quite a lot of Star Wars things so we thought we would incorporate it into the wedding in some way.

“I think it was just right. It was just such a good day.”

The couple tied the knot on May 28, 2023, at Hollins Hill, Baildon, and incorporated Star Wars in every way they could.

Kate said: “My wedding shoes were R2D2 Heely. I had a Princess Leia figure in my bouquet.

“Everything had a little bit of Star Wars in it. Even the buttonholes had little Lego figures of Star Wars characters for each of the groomsmen and they had Star Wars socks.”

The couple hired two Storm Troopers for £250 each.

Kate said: "The Storm Troopers arrived at 7pm whilst we were cutting the cake.

"They escorted us to the dance and then kicked off the evening reception by dancing and entertaining the guests.”

They even bought a wedding runner in the style of the famous ‘In a galaxy far far away’ opening crawl text at the start of the films.

Kate said: “To be honest, it wasn’t hard to organise. We knew we wanted to have the two storm troopers come.

“Each table had a character name, and the wedding favours were all miniature lightsabers, the red and blue ones. They looked really good in the photos.