Tori Spelling becomes 'reverend'

Tori Spelling played Donna in teen soap Beverley Hills 90210

Actress Tori Spelling has officiated at her first same-sex union after applying for permission over the internet.

The ceremony took place at the bed and breakfast she runs with her husband Dean McDermott in California, which features on their reality TV show.

Spelling, who shot to fame in Beverley Hills 90210, said: "I was so honoured when the couple asked me to officiate.

"We did it on the front steps of the Chateau as 40 of their friends looked on seated in a lounge-like atmosphere."

Her TV show, Tori & Dean: Inn Love, which begins a second series in August on the Oxygen network, focuses on her bed and breakfast business as well as her colourful personal life.

Contentious issue

Speaking about her wedding duties, she said: "It was so beautiful as I united Tony and Dex as life partners in love.

"They wrote their own beautiful vows and there was so much love surrounding them that there wasn't a dry eye in the driveway," Spelling wrote on her MySpace page.

Same-sex marriages in California have been a contentious issue for many years and their legality continues to be fought in the courts.

The state does recognise civil unions, giving many of the benefits afforded to married couples, but does not recognise them as marriages.