Big Fat Gypsy Wedding

From oversized pink meringue dresses to enormous diamante tiaras, Channel 4 reveals the traditions which gypsies take part in to plan for their big day.

It has got everyone talking…can the next wedding really be more outrageous than the previous week. We’ve seen couples as young as 16 walk down the aisle ready to begin their journey into married life together but for the bride this is the most spectacular day of her life. This is her chance to be a princess for the day so everything has to be perfect.

                                                     

 

The dresses are far from simple and plain, the bigger the better a lot of the happy brides to be say. With exotic pinks and purples to radiant layers of white ruffles, each gypsy bride dream of their unique and special dress. Famous for her gypsy style wedding dress designs for the Channel 4 show, dressmaker Thelma Nadine loves creating the extreme dresses.

She says “When that little girl gets married she can have anything she wants. Whatever she wants, she can have.” When the girls say, ‘I want it bigger’, I always tell them they are only standing for an hour now – they’ll be walking around all day. They say, ‘I don’t care, I want it bigger!’”

The brides don’t make it easy getting around on her big day with some dresses weighing up to 20st with 20ft trains. One bride even had mechanical butterflies on the sleeves of her dress and another with neon lights through her veil to really stand out on her special day. Even the bridesmaid dresses are outstanding, obviously not as big as the brides.

Not only is this a big day for the bride, but also for other single teenagers hoping to grab a man (or in gypsy traditions boys grab girls) Girls have the chance to dress to impress to find their future husband as a tradition in the gypsy culture is to marry young so every occasion is a girls chance to meet her ticket for her dream wedding.

Next on the list is the almighty cake which again takes a lot of work to create. You would never see a simple tired white sponge at a gypsy wedding. Their cakes are as spectacular as the dresses. We’ve seen some wonderful designs from fairytale castles, dresses to go around Barbies and 17 tiered cakes with 20 small ones. The brides don’t see the cake until the day of the wedding but every bride so far has been ecstatic with their beautiful cake.

Arriving at the wedding in style is a big priority to some gypsy brides. Horse and carriages are the ultimate princess way to travel and many brides choose this way, if they can fit all that dress in the carriage. Lucky the parents and the extended family are there to pay the bill for this one special day.

 

 

I know I’ll be watching next week as rumour has it, this wedding will be even more outrageous.