600 Zimbabwean couples tie the knot in mass wedding

Over 600 couples got married in a mass wedding ceremony in Zimbabwe's capital Harare, according to a media report.

Grooms dressed in black suits and red ties exchanged vows with their brides in white wedding gowns at the Harare City Sports Centre on Sunday in a ceremony presided over by popular church leader Emmanuel Makandiwa, the Herald newspaper reported.

"I have been to several places and seen their places of attraction, but I have never seen any sight as beautiful as this mass wedding," Makandiwa was quoted as saying.

"This is history, you have done it in a different way," he told the 606 couples, before taking them through their vows.

Makandiwa's United Families International Church draws thousands of congregants to its Sunday services and tens of thousands to its annual "judgement night" prayer rally at the National Sports Stadium.

Makandiwa, who has stirred controversy for promising "miracle money" to some of his low-income followers, said he was only able to accommodate half the couples who had wanted to get married.

He said another mass wedding would be held early next year.

The church was started at the height of Zimbabwe's economic crisis in 2008 and has amassed a huge following, mainly in Harare.