Fireworks as Wayne Rooney and Coleen celebrate wedding

The couple laid on the spectacular display as part of their £5 million nuptials.

Rain had threatened to scupper their plans, but the experts hired to oversee proceedings ensured that it all went with a bang despite the dismal weather.

On the stroke of midnight, the newlyweds and their guests watched from a clifftop abbey as the fireworks were let off from a floating platform out to sea.

The sky flashed pink, gold and green and the sound could be heard by every resident in Portofino, most of whom were tucked up in their beds and may not have been best pleased to be disturbed by the celebrations of an England footballer and his bride.

The reception at La Cervara, a medieval abbey which also played host to the wedding of Rod Stewart and Penny Lancaster, began at 5pm.

Guests, including Rooney's fellow Manchester United stars Wes Brown and John O'Shea and his former Everton team-mate Duncan Ferguson, were ferried to the venue from a five-star hotel in Genoa.

Rooney and McLoughlin, both 22, are believed to have had a Catholic blessing performed by their local priest from Liverpool before sitting down to the wedding breakfast.

Prior to the reception, the couple had a civil ceremony at the 17th century Villa Durazzo in nearby Santa Margherita.

The deputy mayor of the town, Gianni Costa, conducted the ceremony in a room strewn with white rose petals. It had to be relayed via an interpreter because neither bride nor groom speaks Italian.

Mr Costa told how the bride sobbed with happiness and the guests cheered when the couple were pronounced man and wife.

He is reported to have told local reporters of his disappointment that the multi-millionaire couple did not offer a donation over and above the 2,500 Euro cost of hiring the venue.

But Mr Costa later denied making any such comments.

He did, however, offer up plenty of detail about the ceremony, including the fact that Rooney did not wear a tie.

"That's the fashion these days," he shrugged.

The groom may have smartened up for the reception, at which his bride wore a white Marchesa gown said to have cost £200,000.

Dozens of photographers descended upon the abbey hoping to snatch a picture of McLoughlin in her finery, with some crawling commando-style through the undergrowth and hiding out for hours.

But the combined efforts of the local carabinieri and the security guards hired by the magazine appear to have succeeded in protecting the all-important exclusive.