Couple serve a 'junk food' wedding banquet made of ingredients destined for the bin on their big day (and only tell the guests AFTER they've eaten it)

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An eco-conscious couple served their wedding guests an after-dinner surprise when they revealed that the banquet they had just enjoyed was made entirely of food destined for the bin.

Nikki Pope, 48, and Cate Bauer, 51, from Manchester, staged a 'junk food' wedding by using ingredients and products which were destined for supermarket waste disposal skips.

But they only enlightened the 110 guests at their wedding in Chorlton about the menu choice when the wedding breakfast was over.

Nikki and Cate, pictured on their wedding day, admit they are passionate about upcycling and transforming waste - and love taking property wrecks and making them into family homes

Cate Bauer, 51, and Nikki Pope, 48, and staged Manchester's first-ever 'junk food' wedding by using ingredients and products which were destined for supermarket waste disposal skips

Nikki and Cate admit they are passionate about upcycling and transforming waste - and love taking property wrecks and making them into family homes.

In that spirit they support The Real Junk Food Project - a chain of cafes that create healthy meals out of food destined for waste and 'salvage and make beautiful what others have discarded'.

For their wedding breakfast at Chorlton-Cum-Hardy Golf Club, they asked the Real Junk Food Project to supply the food from the products it 'intercepts' on the way to the supermarket waste bins. 

Speaking to BBC Inside Out North West, Nikki said before her wedding: 'We're very aware that when people hear about the Real Junk Food Project they could be really put off our food.'

Nikki and Cate are passionate about upcycling and transforming waste - and love taking property wrecks and making them into family homes

For their wedding breakfast at Chorlton-Cum-Hardy Golf Club, they asked the Real Junk Food Project - a chain of cafes that salvages food destined for waste - to supply the food from the products it 'intercepts' on the way to the supermarket waste bins

Speaking to BBC Inside Out North West, Nikki said before her wedding: 'We're very aware that when people hear about the Real Junk Food Project they could be really put off our food'

She added: 'They might even think that somehow… it's been fished out of a bin! So we're not gonna tell' em! We're not gonna tell 'em till after the lunch.'

Nikki said: 'I think most people will understand that if we were worried about it we wouldn't take a risk at our wedding. And that's the real passion for us – we're really committed to the project and we're really committed to helping them get it right.'

Fortunately for the couple, the cook in charge of preparing the wedding meal was award winning chef Mary-Ellen McTague, who was head chef at acclaimed restaurant Aumbry.

Fortunately for the couple, the cook in charge of preparing the wedding meal was award winning chef Mary-Ellen McTague, who was head chef at acclaimed restaurant Aumbry

Mary-Ellen prepared a Middle Eastern mezze style menu for the wedding, in line with the request from Nikki and Cate - and the response was positive from the guests (pictured)

Bury-born Mary-Ellen said: 'I was really surprised by how much food we're losing every week to waste from supermarkets that was a really shocker to me, I didn't realise it was that much.

'In terms of restaurants, at really high-end Michelin environment restaurants it's just by necessity very, very wasteful because if something is not perfect it can't be served so you end up wasting a lot of food.'

Mary-Ellen prepared a Middle Eastern mezze style menu for the wedding, in line with the request from Nikki and Cate.

Guests were amazed when the surprise was revealed with one commenting that they 'won't be putting the food in the bin'

Guests were amazed when the surprise was revealed with one commenting 'I would have thought that was a bespoke menu made to order' and another saying 'it was lovely food and I certainly won't be putting it in the bin.'

The Real Junk Food Project has cafes and other outlets springing up across the North West, the UK and around the world.

The organisation's founder Adam Smith has almost 30 cafes supplied from a central warehouse in Yorkshire.

Nikki and Cate's junk food wedding is featured on a special report to be screened by BBC Inside Out North West on Monday at 7.30pm on BBC One.