WHEN Prince William and Kate Middleton walk down the aisle at Westminster Abbey today, most people will be glued to their TV screens sharing in the moment.

Many people across Notts will be celebrating the royal nuptials with street parties or other celebrations thanks to the extra day's holiday from work.

But for Chris Wilkinson, the royal wedding signals one of the most important jobs of his photographic career.

Mr Wilkinson, of Mapperley firm Upper Cut Promotions, will be taking his 100mm lens camera up to the bell tower of the Methodist Central Hall in Westminster to take photos of Westminster Abbey from a height of 100 feet.

The 31-year-old said: "It's an amazing event and the sort of thing that rarely happens, so it's a privilege to capture it from such a great vantage point.

"We're putting together a massive 180-degree panorama shot of the Abbey and people will be able to either zoom out and see the view or zoom in and see the diamonds on Kate's ring.

"I'm very excited about it all but a bit nervous at the same time because I have to concentrate throughout to make sure the camera is working properly and in focus."

Mr Wilkinson will be carrying his camera and other equipment up the thin spiral staircase at 5am to ensure it is all set up by the time the crowds arrive.

He will then take between 70 and 80 high resolution images of the Abbey, with a computer then stitching them together to complete the scene.

He said: "It is quite an early start and it will be pretty cold all that way up in the air, so I'll have to keep warm.

"But it is the biggest event that I have ever covered by far, and I hope to capture the enormity of the event.

"I've got a brilliant view of the whole thing and I love taking amazing photos so I hope everything runs smoothly."

Mr Wilkinson usually uses a remote helicopter to capture events, but couldn't do the same for the royal wedding because of safety concerns.

The panoramic image will be sold by an agency and is set to appear in numerous magazines including OK!

Mr Wilkinson said: "Once I've packed up all the equipment, I have to get the memory cards down to the computer to stitch the images together to create the big picture.

"We've had a £3,000 computer specially built for the job because it takes quite a lot of power to deal with such large images."

Another person who will be getting up early to prepare for the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton will be Ruddington resident Louise Third.

She is organising a royal wedding breakfast for people in the village to get the party started early, ahead of the wedding itself at 11am.

She said: "We want people to come together in the morning but also be able to leave our party in time to watch the ceremony however they wish.

"It will be a great community event, we have around 90 metres of bunting, yards of ribbon and a massive flag to celebrate the day.

"We will also be holding a royal wedding quiz and people will be invited to sign a massive greetings card that we have made for the couple."

Mrs Third, 50, of Manor Lane, said the plans for the party were coming together well.

She said: "It's really important that we celebrate the wedding, but more importantly, that we celebrate love and marriage.

"We have invited the Rev Glyn Jones of Clifton to give a short talk about marriage to the children so they understand what the fuss is all about.

"We've had some great support from the local shops and Ruddington has a strong sense of community, so it will be really good to see it all come together on the day."

At Hollygirt School in Elm Avenue, in the Arboretum, the pupils have been learning about the history of the royals.

They have been compiling family trees for the royal family in anticipation of the wedding and the school's celebrations culminated in a royal tea party with a quiz on the school's playground yesterday.

Gemma Wand, reception and year one teacher at the school, said the pupils had enjoyed learning about the history of the Queen.

She said: "We have been teaching numeracy and literacy through the royal family, so it's a really good way of tying the big wedding to the curriculum.

"It is important for them to have an understanding of all the fuss around Prince William's wedding.

"Also, our celebrations have seen pupils from all the years coming together as a small community, so that's been really nice to see."

Pupils from reception classes and year one had designed dresses for the event and sent their sketches to the Queen.

They even received a reply from Buckingham Palace saying they had enjoyed looking at the designs.

Six-year-old Red Rose, said: "When we got a letter back from Buckingham Palace, I couldn't believe it."

Laura Jane Baxter, 11, said: "We have decorated and made flags and done creative writing pieces about the wedding.

"It's been really interesting and made me look forward to the wedding even more."