Thousands Marry In South Korea Mass Wedding

Thousands of members of the Unification Church have married in a mass wedding in South Korea.

Altogether, 3,800 couples from more than 50 countries were at the event at the Cheongshim World Peace Centre in Gapyeong, some 60km (37 miles) northeast of Seoul.

The brides and grooms were mostly young people dressed in white wedding gowns and dark suits respectively.

The ceremony was conducted by Unification Church leader, Hak Ja Han, widow of the controversial church founder Sun Myung Moon.

Around 800 of the couples had been "matched" at an engagement ceremony only a few days earlier.

The others were already married but renewed their vows before the church.

One couple had come over from Canada to take part.

"It's exciting. It's overwhelming. It's a really happy day," said bride Nadia Famularo, as she posed for pictures with her parents.

"It's kind of a big a relief also."

Her new husband Christian Vlcek said: "It's the culmination of a lot of preparation and a lot of thought coming together."

The church was founded by the evangelist Moon in Seoul in 1954.

It held its first mass wedding in 1961 with 33 couples present on that occasion.