In the best of traditions, the bride and groom arrived in separate cars. But this was about the only conventional aspect to the civil marriage of Georgina Ahern to Nicky Byrne of Westlife at the health centre in Wicklow town yesterday.
The society wedding of the year it may be, but with a €1 million magazine deal at stake, the couple also left in separate cars.
Hello! magazine has bought exclusive rights to the couple's church wedding and lavish reception in France this weekend. Security aides appeared determined to ensure that no photograph of the newly-weds made its way into the public domain before Hello! hits the shelves next week.
With the exception of the heavy security detail and media scrum, everything else about yesterday afternoon's ceremony was deliberately low key, with the couple arriving and leaving through a drab iron-gated back entrance to the building housing the registry office.
The couple got married in complementary outfits: both wore blue jeans. The bride completed her ensemble with an oriental style black and white short-sleeved top, while Nicky completed his outfit with a pale blue T-shirt and red Ferrari baseball cap.
From early yesterday morning, the media began to gather in the car-park outside the East Coast Area Health Board's (ECAHB) regional headquarters at Glenside in Wicklow town.
The drab 1970s utilitarian building was in stark contrast to the splendid Chateau d'Esclimont south of Paris where the reception is to take place on Saturday.
There was uncertainty from the outset as to whether the couple would be turning up, with last week's rumours of ceremonies in Kerry and Dublin resulting in wild goose chases.
Under French law, the church wedding cannot take place before a civil ceremony, and the couple would have to be resident in France for a month before such a state ceremony could take place.
The confirmation by the ECAHB that Georgina Ahern and Nicky Byrne had indeed given official notice on July 14th they intended to marry in a civil wedding service there gave the assembled no consolation.
The date and time of any intended marriage was confidential information, Ms Mary Heaslip of the ECAHB told assembled journalists. The couple, however, was entitled to cancel any ceremony arrangement they had made, and could also make any number of bookings in other registry offices around the State.
In the morning, journalists were allowed up to inspect the register book and registry office on the first floor, fitted out with chairs for the couple, two witnesses and 30 guests.
The room has peach walls and a blue carpet; at the top is a small table where wedding registrar, Ms Catherina Long, usually sits.
Details in the registry book, signed by Georgina on July 14th, included the fact that the couple was complying with an eight-day residency requirement by staying at King Edward Lawns in Bray. Georgina described herself as a recruitment manager, while Nicky's occupation is listed as musician/entertainer.
As the press pack grew, so too did the number of fans and interested onlookers. By the time Westlife security, headed by Mr Paul Higgins, arrived, there were 200 people outside the offices.
Despite being one of the hottest days of the year so far, a heavy shower of rain just before the bride arrived made it a typical Irish wedding day.
The ceremony itself lasted less than 15 minutes. The bride was in the building for less than 45 minutes, leaving at 4.30 p.m. in a black Mercedes 4x4, flanked by her mother and new mother-in-law.
The groom left in a maroon pick-up half an hour later, to join his wife at an unknown destination for their first night as a married couple, no doubt hoping to enjoy a brief respite from the media glare - at least for the time being.