Minutes before a suicide bomber blew himself up in the grand ballroom of the luxury Radisson SAS in Amman a joyous wedding reception was in full swing.

The bride and groom were making their grand entrance surrounded by women ululating the traditional shrill calls of celebrations while the elegant guests swayed to the sounds of tambourines.

The unsuspecting group failed to notice one man who managed to elude the parked police car outside the hotel, making his way into the ballroom wearing an explosives belt under his clothes.

Within seconds the festive wedding turned into a massacre.

"I lost my father and my father-inlaw on my wedding night" the groom Ashraf Mohammad said.