A couple who have been engaged for 15 years will tie the knot this summer in an extravagant Harry Potter-themed wedding.

Ian Rogers, 37, and Gemma Elliott, 35, of The Churchlands, New Romney, will be transforming the Leas Cliff Hall’s Channel Suite in Folkestone into various scenes from Hogwarts on Saturday, August 19.

They have also applied to the Guinness Book of Records to come and confirm Miss Elliott’s 93 wands as the largest collection of replica wands from the wizard world of Harry Potter.

Mr Rogers, who works in security, admitted he is not a dedicated Harry Potter fan but said it is his fiancée who loves the magic of J.K. Rowling’s best-selling fiction.

Mr Rogers said: “Last year, we lost a few family members that we were close to.

“So we decided that before anyone else left we were going to have our wedding and we wanted it to be about having a bit of fun. Weddings are great but they can become a bit stagnant.”

With five months left until the big day Mr Rogers said a lot of the props, which include broomsticks and a display cabinet for the wands, had been handmade by him.

Large backdrops have been printed for picture opportunities and the event is also set to include a magician and children’s entertainment.

A lot of the planning details cannot be revealed as the couple want to keep some surprises back for the 300 guests to enjoy on the day.

Their four bridesmaids will also have their dresses in colours to represent the four Hogwarts houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Slytherin and Ravenclaw.

He added: “The children are heavily involved. They love all of the creativity but they are not keen on watching the films over and over again to get ideas.”

Miss Elliott, who is from Wales, met her future husband at Butlins in Minehead when she was working on-site. Mr Rogers, who is from Romney Marsh, was also working as security there.

Now the couple have four sons, Jake, 16, Luke, 12, Charlie, 10, and Ollie, six.

Despite plans for the venue’s magical theme, the couple aim to get married in traditional attire as opposed to wearing wizard robes.

“Everyone has been really good about it,” said Mr Rogers. “I have had a few people laugh but it’s our day.

“On average a wedding costs between £14,000 to £16,000 and ours isn’t even half of that. I have never been to a wedding like it.”