RESIDENTS across the Cotswolds raised a glass to the new Duke and Duchess of Cambridge as royal wedding fever gripped the county on Friday.

Hunters Care Centre, in Cherry Tree Lane, Cirencester, treated residents to a glass of bubbly and strawberries to celebrate the occasion.

About 20 people gathered in the activity rooms to watch the wedding unfold on a large screen projector.

Hardworking staff at the centre went to great effort to make sure residents did not miss out on the festivities and spent hours making party food and decorating the place with Union Jack flags.

Many could remember Royal weddings of decades gone by, in particular, it was Prince Williams' parents the Prince of Wales and Princess Diana, that stuck in resident's minds.

Friends Shelia Muir and Mary Higgins were glued to the TV as the happy couple exchanged their vows in regal style.

Both women were impressed with Kate's dress, which they called modest but elegant.

Mrs Muir said: "It was absolutely wonderful and I thought her dress was just beautiful."

The carriage ride from Westminster Abbey was a must-see moment for Mrs Higgins. "The ceremony was just lovely and Kate looked very pretty in her dress – the lace arms were lovely," she said.

General manager at the centre, Tracey McDonald, thanked staff for their support and was pleased to bring a smile to the residents' faces. "It’s good to put this on because they're all having a great time," she said. Over in South Cerney residents packed their picnic baskets with food to share with neighbours at the village hall where they watched events unfold live on a television projector.

Jenny Jay and Anne Stuart, both of Upper Up, Chris Pollard, of High Street, and Sue Poulton organised the event and decorated the hall with bunting and banners.

Villagers paid just £1 each to cover the TV licence and the group also organised a hat competition, challenging creative residents to make a Royal wedding-themed hat.

Jenny said watching the wedding with neighbours and friends made the atmosphere more exciting. "The event has been really well-supported and we've had just short of 60 people turn up – it's a lot of fun," she said.

"The four of us got together and decorated it with bunting, which we made ourselves especially.

"Everybody has brought their own food which they are sharing around and people can stay here for as long as they want.

"About 20 people entered the hat competition so that was a great success."

Winner Jackie Wreford-Brown decorated her hat with Union Jack colours and used matchsticks to attach photos of Wills and Kate. She even dressed up her little poodle with red, white and blue ribbons.

She said: "I made the whole thing myself and I was quite pleased with when I won. The day has been brilliant and the wedding was just lovely – Kate just looked beautiful and I'm so happy for them."

South Cerney Parish Council chairman Mike Stuart, of Upper Up, had fun mingling with residents and said the event had run quite smoothly.

"The wedding was absolutely marvellous – nobody does it better than the British," he said. "It was superbly done.

"I remember his mother and father's wedding but William and Kate have done a much better job and you can tell that there's just much more love there between them.

"It's always great to have a good, old village get-together and get the community spirit going."

Back in Cirencester, community minded Liz Williams went on a one-woman mission to organise a street party with bouncy castle, inflatable gladiator dual contest and other children's games.

Liz rallied together Vyner Close neighbours who shared food and raised their glasses to the married couple.

Neighbours shared their thoughts on the ceremony and more than 15 people turned out with many more due to come before the party ended at 8pm.

Residents pulled together to decorate lamposts, barriers and other street furniture all proudly waving the British flag and bunting.

Liz, who spent hours painting Union Jacks onto her fingernails, said the wedding was wonderful and very well-organised.

"Kate looked absolutely beautiful, just amazing," she said. "The wedding was purely remarkable.

"I thought that it would be nice to actually get the neighbours together, not just to celebrate these occasions, which don't come around that often, but also it's just really good to have a catch-up with people you may not have seen as much as you would have liked to."

The party saw young and old mix together. Twelve-year-old Lucy Long said: "Kate looked amazing and really pretty and I also really liked the bridesmaids. I would love to marry a prince one day."

Resident Brenda Wills said everyone was very grateful to Liz for the effort she had put into organising the event.

"This is just absolutely brilliant as it doesn't happen that often," she said. "Liz has done so well and worked so hard – we're all proud of her."