Flintstones wedding

Richard and Jill Noble (Barney and Betty Rubble) with Andrea and Simon Bean (Wilma and Fred Flinstone). . It started with a tipsy joke, but ended with a full-blown Bedrock wedding as the perfect way to lay the foundations of a new life together.

For their special day, two Norfolk couples decided to turn to the Stone Age for inspiration and recreated the children’s cartoon show The Flintstones by dressing up its main characters.

Andrea and Simon Bean, aka Fred and Wilma Flinstone, and Richard and Jill Noble, aka Barney and Betty Rubble, celebrated their double wedding at Weston Park Golf Club on Saturday by taking a quick trip to the next door dinosaur park for some spectacular wedding photographs sure to raise eyebrows on any mantelpiece.

With 165 guests dressed as cavemen and women, two best men dressed as dinosaurs, and a spectacular tiered wedding rock cake, both Wilma and Betty entered the ceremony to the traditional organ sound of Wagner’s Bridal March.

However, this was quickly replaced by an organ version of The Flintstones theme tune.

Mrs Bean, nee Thurston, who lives in Grange Close, Hoveton, said: “It was a fantastic day and all the guests made such an effort.

“We had so much fun and the registrars were absolutely brilliant.

The couples are close, as the new Mrs Noble, of Starston in South Norfolk, is Mr Bean’s sister, and the idea was borne out of a fun stay at Alton Towers theme park, when they joked about Mr Noble laughing like Barney Rubble and ended up calling each other by the names of the four main characters.

Mrs Bean, 36, said: “We have been criticised by some people as not taking the wedding seriously, but we did take our vows very seriously.

“Some people out there don’t agree with it, but a lot of people enjoyed it and agreed with what we decided we wanted to do.”

The couple’s outfits were made by Future Couture and the ladies’ hair done by Chinelo’s Hair Studio, both in Magdalen Street.

Instead of wedding presents, the couples asked guests to donate money to the Children’s Liver Disease Foundation and raised more than £1,200 on the day.

The charity is close to Mrs Bean’s heart as her son Sam, now 15, had a liver transplant when he was just eight months old and she has since raised about £27,000 for the cause.

Mrs Bean, who works for her new husband’s stainless steel products company Greasebusters, said: “My son wouldn’t be here today if somebody hadn’t donated their liver to him, so I’m always urging people to sign up for organ donation too.”