On the first day of the year BBC soap Eastenders aired its first Asian wedding in full spectacular style.

Amira and Syed, played by Preeya Kalidas and Marc Elliott respectively, got married.

Eastenders’ first traditional Pakistani wedding featured horses, drummers and plenty of dancing.

The wedding saw the Syed – played by Nina Wadia and Nitin Ganatra – dancing during the wedding.

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Asian Network reporter Shabnam Mahmood told The Daily Mirror newspaper: “Preeya’s costume was bought in an Asian boutique in East London then sent to India for a fitting.”

“The scriptwriters watched videos of a real British Pakistani wedding as research. And the mehndi (henna) was done by Pavan – the fastest mehndi artist in the world.

“If it wasn’t for someone shouting ‘action’ I’d have thought I was at my cousin’s wedding.”