From ring-bearing hounds to romantic football tunes, Westminster City Council's registry office has received a number of quirky requests over the years.

With the local authority's Marylebone Town Hall facing eight ceremonies throughout St. Valentine's Day, Westminster revealed it has played host to weddings and civil ceremonies featuring a Wizard of Oz themed Yellow Brick Road and a harp rendition of the Match of the Day theme.

One groom surprised his bride-to-be by arriving in full lion attire, demanding the registrar place particular emphasis on the more leonine allusions of:  ‘It is with great pride that I now pronounce you husband and wife'.

A breakfast marriage at The Ritz hotel saw a couple clad in dressing gowns, while page boys were replaced by dogs carrying wedding rings at another service.

Westminster City Council's chief registrar, Alison Cathcart, said: ‘People clearly have highly individual tastes for their special day which we do our best to accommodate.

‘We have yet to have a couple present us with a wish list we couldn't accommodate. Though I did draw the line when a couple asked for an inclusion in the ceremony to say that the bride wouldn't promise to pick up the groom's underwear off the floor!'