Magali Jaskiewicz had planned to marry her boyfriend of six years Jonathan George in November 2008.

However just two days before the ceremony was to have taken place, Mr George was killed in a motorcycle accident.

The French civil code allows a posthumous marriage if all the formalities of the wedding were in place prior to one of the partners' death.

Ms Jaskiewicz had already purchased her wedding dress and provided the couples' bank details to prove to officials that she fitted the criteria, the Daily Telegraph in London reports.

About 30 family members and friends attended the wedding ceremony on Saturday, as Ms Jaskiewicz was married to a portrait of Mr George in the village of Dommary-Baroncourt.