The Offbeat Groom: Jem

His offbeat partner: Ellen

Date and location of wedding: Woodland Manor Hotel, Clapham, Bedford, UK - June 1, 2013

Our offbeat wedding at a glance: I have always been a huge Doctor Who fan and I whisked Ellen off in the TARDIS for this exciting adventure in time and space. I wore the 11th Doctor's outfit and Ellen even managed to track down the same Paul Smith shirt that Matt Smith wore in his first series.

The bridesmaids wore TARDIS blue dresses, and our son Elliot wore a bow tie. Ellen's amazing dress wasn't intended to be a Doctor Who reference at all, but it was remarkably similar to the one Karen Gillan, as Amy Pond, wore in "The Big Bang" episode.

The guests included K9, built by me, and a Dalek. A star chart guided guests to their tables, named after planets from Doctor Who. The table centrepieces were designed and built by me, inspired by the central column of the TARDIS console.

The lighting in the centrepieces was infrared-controlled and could change colour with a flick of my sonic screwdriver.

The favours were little jars of Jelly Babies, decorated with the Seal of Rassilon and a burgundy bow.

Ellen's sister made the fabulous wedding cake, based on a gold/white Dalek design. The opening music for the disco was "Space and Time" by VNV Nation, and the DJ's final set began with the brilliant Green Day/Timelords mashup "Doctor Who on Holiday" by Dean Gray.

Tell us about the ceremony:
Time went a bit wibbly-wobbly on the day with the bride getting lost in the time vortex (aka the A428 Cambridge to Bedford road) and arriving half an hour late for the ceremony. But it all went well after that.

Here's an excerpt from my wedding speech:

I'm not really the Doctor. I'm not a Time Lord. I don't have two hearts. I'm not from Gallifrey. I don't have a time machine and I don't go whizzing around time and space with a wide-eyed girl in a short skirt.

When I was a kid I used to live for Saturday evenings, sitting through those interminable football results, wishing Grandstand would hurry up and finish. My one heart beating rapidly as the continuity voice to announce a brand new, exciting adventure in time and space for Doctor Who. That familiar eerie music would start and I'd be whisked away to distant planets and futuristic space stations with wobbly walls and inhabitants made from bubble wrap and sellotape.

Like many fans, I was completely bereft when it was taken off air in 1989. But somehow I persuaded this amazing woman to let me bring my childhood fantasy with us on this very, very special day. Like the Doctor and River Song, we never do things in the right order. Traditionally we'd have got married, bought a house, and then had kids. We bought a house, then had our three wonderful children, and after only 15 years we got married. She really is "the girl who waited."

And here we are. It's a Saturday evening and this time it really is the start of a brand new and exciting adventure. I feel like a Time Lord on the planet Gallifrey. I even have a TARDIS, a robot dog, and a Dalek to battle... and a stunningly beautiful companion to share this adventure. Today, I am the Doctor and I really do have two hearts. Mine and hers.

Our biggest challenge:
Building the props was challenging and far more time-consuming that we thought, especially the centrepieces. The six centrepieces were finished only the day before the wedding. Plan ahead and plan early!

Care to share a few vendor/shopping links?

Enough talk - show me the wedding porn!