Meghan Markle enjoyed Jamaican beach wedding first time around

Staged on a Jamaican beach, with guests dancing the night away barefoot, Meghan Markle's first wedding could not have been more different from her royal nuptials.

At the tourist hotspot of Ocho Rios on the island's north coast, Ms Markle and her then partner American producer Trevor Engelson tied the knot in front of dozens of guests in 2011, after dating for more than five years.

The venue is a far cry from Windsor Castle's medieval St George's Chapel, where the actress will marry Prince Harry on May 19 with the eyes of the world watching.

During Ms Markle's first wedding, the celebrations were staged on the beach, with those invited dining on barbecue food before enjoying themselves on a small dance floor dusted with sand from the shore.

Pictures have emerged of the wedding's fun and games, with Ms Markle pictured wearing a bikini as she takes part in a human wheelbarrow race on the beach.

By contrast, the imposing setting of Windsor Castle's St George's Hall will be the venue for an afternoon wedding reception hosted by the Queen and attended by hundreds of guests.

Later, 200 of Harry and Ms Markle's family and close friends will enjoy dinner and celebrations staged by the Prince of Wales at Frogmore House, a favourite of Queen Victoria and other royals for centuries.

For her first wedding dress, the US actress wore a white, strapless, floor-length outfit probably bought at a department store or a women's boutique.

But for her royal nuptials, Ms Markle is thought to have asked for a specially-created gown from a well-known designer that will cost thousands of pounds.

Ms Markle and her first husband are said to have split amicably a few years after they married as her career took off following a move to Toronto to work on the TV series Suits.