It was a display of sheer will and determination to celebrate the lives of their two beautiful daughters.

From the moment the Chapman and Wells families went into Ely Cathedral - walking together, talking and supporting each other - to the end of the service, they kept their emotions under tight rein.

But as they came out of the cathedral, the tension seemed to drain from them, leaving only their overwhelming sadness.

Jessica's father, Les, threw his arms around Holly's father, Kevin, holding him as they walked out, blinking in the evening sunshine.

The two fathers clung to each other as they left the cathedral, two men who have been amazingly strong and composed throughout their ordeal of news conferences, public appeals and private grief since the disappearance of the two girls on August 4.

Both families had endured so much already in the 25 days since Holly and Jessica vanished.

And if the service of celebration and remembrance for the tragic girls proved unbearably moving, they endured it with the dignity and courage they have shown throughout this ordeal.

As they left the cathedral, the two fathers embraced before Mr Chapman, 51, dropped back to walk hand-in-hand with his wife, Sharon.

The families had arrived en masse, accompanied by the Bishop of Ely, the Right Reverend Anthony Russell and the parish vicar for Soham, the Reverend Tim Alban Jones.

The mothers, Nicola and Sharon, had deliberately worn pretty pastel colours, both a similar shade of lilac, and Jessica's sisters, Rebecca, 16, and Alison, 14, wore pale pink.

Nearly 2,000 joined them to celebrate the lives of the murdered schoolgirls and hear Holly's father pay a personal poetic tribute.

Mr Wells' voice was unwavering as he read Soham's Rose - a poem he had written himself.

"Your right to grow, to mature and play, so cruelly denied in a sinister way," read Mr Wells, 38.

"Attentive and caring, a parent's delight but so young at heart, needing comfort at night.

"Our memories, now shared, with the nation's hearts, small crumbs of comfort, now it is time to part.

"We will never forget you, heaven's gain, as it knows, is simply you Holly, our beautiful Soham rose."

The service was held 13 days after the bodies of Holly and Jessica, who vanished while walking near their homes in Soham, Cambridgeshire, were found near a track near Wangford, Suffolk.

The congregation, of friends, relatives, neighbours, teachers and police, had been asked to "celebrate and remember" the ten-year-olds.

There were moments of confusion during the service as a foreign broadcast crew could be heard over the address system giving a translation of the proceedings, and it later transpired the crew was using the same frequency as the cathedral.

Three generations of the Wells family could be seen struggling to control their feelings; Holly's brother Oliver sat with his father and mother and his grandmother, Diane Westley, all with their heads bowed.

Mrs Wells appeared to wipe away tears after Holly and Jessica's headteacher, Geoff Fisher, gave the Bible reading and the congregation rose to sing Give Me Joy In My Heart.

The choir rose to sing the dismissal, a poignant blessing which seemed to send a shudder through the congregation.

The service had passed unbelievably quickly. However, as the Bishop reminded the congregation, the families will soon be back in church again - next time for two separate and completely private funerals.

It could be that the families were thinking of those services, for as they left the cathedral their mood seemed to have changed entirely from the determinedly happy groups who had entered it.

They had resolutely chosen to make yesterday's service one of celebration, with frequent mentions of the girls' achievements and their happy natures.

With that celebration over, they must face the final hurdles of funerals and life without the two little best friends whose lives and deaths have so united them.