The gypsy brides are known for their lavish and over-the-top weddings. And their bridal gowns are particularly unusual. Would you want a wedding dress made from flowers, yards and yards of ruffles, embellished with a Christmas tree topper, or one that weighs more than you do? All this and much more you can see on a gypsy wedding, where parents wish to spend thousands on their daughters’ happy day. Here are 20 most opulent and costly bridal gowns and wedding trends from the TV show “Big Fat Gypsy Weddings”.
Most brides want their wedding gowns to be chic and stylish. But some women believe bigger is better. You won’t believe your eyes when you see these bridal dresses.
Flower power
Most brides want flowers incorporated into their wedding. But most brides don’t cover their bridal gowns in them. However, this woman did just that. Gypsy Wedding (“Big Fat Gypsy Weddings” is a British documentary series about the weddings of several Irish Traveller families) dress designer Sondra Celli had a few difficulties creating the gown.
The bride’s first choice was yellow gerbera daisies. But these proved too difficult to handle, and they made the dress too bulky.
The flowers had to last a 14-hour drive to the venue. So Sondra asked a florist for advice on which blooms to use. And ended up with roses, carnations, dianthus, hydrangea, orchids, and dahlia.
It took 12 hours to stick them all on, and 3 seamstresses were sent home after having allergic reactions. When Sondra loaded the dress into the van, she found 3 spiders living in it.
Seashells
What do you do if your wedding is being held by a lake? Ask your bridal gown designer to theme your dress to the ocean, of course. Well, that’s what this bride did.
She had Sondra create a dress and accessories covered in shells. Not just any old shells, of course, but shells covered in crystals.
The high-low hemline had a flash of blue beneath the skirt, to hint at the blue of the ocean.
In total, there were 250 seashells on the gown and 10,000 stones.
If you think shells are a bit out there for wedding dress embellishment, then what about coins?
Lucky coins
There are certain traditions that become quite outrageous when they’re taken a step too far. Like the Romanian tradition to carry a coin in your pocket for luck. That’s totally low-key.
But when a wedding gown designer like Sondra gets her hands on a tradition like that, it can get pretty lavish. Like coins dripping from the bride’s entire outfit, from her toes to her tiara.
This bride wanted a Princess Jasmine-inspired dress from her wedding. And she was able to combine that with her Romanian heritage by having coins adorning everything. Her veil, her necklace, her earrings, her bracelets, her shoes – they all had coins added. Even her silk flower bouquet had coins embedded in it.
Ice Princess
Dressing like a princess is quite a theme with gypsy weddings. For this bride, the inspiration came from an ice princess.
Her tiara was made to look like icicles.
To make the skirt, Sondra’s team cut 600 yards of tulle into points to make them look like ice shards. Keeping with the cold theme, she had a custom cape made with a dramatic hood.
The groom was dedicated to the theme too. He spent three hours learning how to ride a husky sleigh on the morning of their ceremony day. His fur-trimmed coat was totally keeping with the ice-cold style.
Two for one
What’s more elaborate than one fancy gypsy wedding dress? – Two fancy gypsy wedding dresses, of course.
These two sisters got married in a double ceremony. And they went for matching gown designs. The only difference was the standout color. One wore hot pink and the other wore electric blue.
They called them “mullet dresses” because of their high-low hemlines, with 60 yards of organza crystal fabric.
Their ruffled skirts had hundreds of pieces of fabric sewn together. To help keep those ruffled skirts up, they both wore umbrella cage support structures over mini skirts.
Their bouquets and shoes also featured lots of crystals.
Double trouble
It seems that double weddings aren’t quite as rare as you’d think in the gypsy community. Two other sisters got married in a double wedding and went for coordinating dresses. One was red and one was blue. So that’ll help the guests tell them apart.
They both wanted their gown to be the biggest. But one had to be slightly larger, and Sondra made one of the dresses bigger by just one inch.
What they did definitely have in common was the crazy number of crystals – 15,000 on each gown. The bodices, in particular, were packed full.
Their skirts were so wide, their grooms had to stretch to reach their hands.
Tangerine dream
Bridal gowns don’t have to be white or ivory. Many brides choose to wear other colors. But if you’re marrying a gypsy, then that bright gown is going to be way over the top.
And if your fiance’s favorite color is orange, then you’re going to have to get colorful to please your man. That’s exactly what this bride did. The theme of her gown was orange sherbet swirl.
It was a tale of two halves. On one side, it was ivory, and on the other, it was tangerine and peach organza.
It was covered in 12,000 Swarovski crystals, as were her custom shoes.
There were two petticoats to add volume and support the weight. And it was topped off with a 14-inch tiara and cathedral-length veil.
Goth bride
Gypsy brides are often associated with pink, puffed up dresses. But this bride bucked that trend with her all-black goth-inspired bridal look.
Sondra custom-designed a leather dog collar complete with crosses and spikes. She also made spiked leather cuffs and a gothic cross brooch, which the bride wore on a hair comb.
Her black tulle veil was adorned with turkey feathers and was deliberately torn. Black turkey feathers also covered the skirt – 1,100 of them, to be precise.
There were no fancy heels for the bride. Instead, she wore heavy black boots.
Sondra named this look “black swan gothic chic”.
Gypsy bride
Other gypsy brides, however, want to go the traditional route with a huge, colorful gown. And some want to shout it to the mountains that they’re a gypsy bride and proud. This bride was so into her role as gypsy bride, she had those two words spelled out in crystals on the two satin tails of her gown.
This bride had experienced two failed relationships with non-gypsy boys. So she followed her heritage and decided to marry a gypsy boy.
Her mother was deep into the traditional side, too. So much so, she insisted her daughter wear a traditional veil of darkness. It was made of 5 layers of black netting. The veil was so heavy, the bride couldn’t even see her groom until she arrived at the altar.
Flash some flesh
Bridal gowns are usually quite demure. But that’s not the case for this gypsy bride. She wanted something “sophisticated” for her wedding with her childhood sweetheart. So she did what anyone else would do, and opted for a thigh-high slit in the skirt. And a keyhole cutout on the side.
The bodice had a low-cut sweetheart neckline, too. The whole gown was skintight.
All of this was made in a silver lame material, sheer glitter spandex, and tulle. Of course, it was covered in crystals.
Victorian bling
When you hear that a bride’s fashion icon is Kate Middleton, you expect something pretty subtle and classy. But this bride’s wedding gown wasn’t quite what the Duchess of Cambridge would typically wear.
The color palette was inspired by “Victorian romance”. That is, if Victorians loved bling. The corset alone was covered in 8,000 Swarovski crystals. Her veil also had 8,000 crystals adorning it. And her open-toed platform shoes had a mass of 7,200 crystals on them.
No wonder it took 9 workers 3 days, to make the outfit of this bride’s dreams.
Follow the train
At very fancy weddings, like royal ones, the bride often has a long train. But you can’t beat the excessive length of a gypsy bride’s train. They can go on and on for so long that they need several bridesmaids, flower girls, and pageboys to hold them up.
And it’s not just the length that’s over the top, it’s also the fabric. This bride’s train wasn’t just a straightforward slip of satin material. Oh no. That would be far too subtle. It was a full-on frilled affair. It was so deep that it looked like a very extravagant, thick rug. You could hide an entire flower girl in that thing.
Fairy-tale carriage
Your wedding day is a chance to feel like a princess for the day. And plenty of brides indulge in that fantasy. But not many take it to the most literal level like some gypsy brides.
In addition to the huge tiara and massive dress, there are other aspects to think about. Like the transportation. Forget about arriving at your ceremony in a standard car. If you want to go all out, you need to arrive in an actual princess carriage.
Presumably, these horse-drawn carriages weren’t actually magicked from a pumpkin. But they’re every inch the fairy-tale style.
Star on top of the Christmas tree
Lots of women want to look like a fairy-tale princess on their wedding day. But do many of them want to look like a Christmas tree topper? This bride combined two classic Christmas tree decorations in her bridal outfit.
Her star-shaped tiara looked just like the star you’d place on top of your Christmas tree. And her sparkly outfit was reminiscent of the fairy or angel that often sits on the topmost branch. Keeping with the star theme, she even had the shape repeated all over her dress.
Maybe she was keen to point out the fact that she was the star of the day.
A sea of gown
What would be your #1 priority when it came to your wedding dress? For this gypsy bride, it looks like it was all about the size. You can just imagine her thinking, “I want my gown to be wide enough to look like a white sea when I sit down”. And if that was the case, then she certainly got her wish.
As she poses for pictures in a field, it looks like she’s sitting on the white foam of waves rolling into the shore. Judging from the width of her bridesmaids’ bright pink dresses, they’d be able to create the same effect if they sat down.
It makes you wonder how they manage to fit through doorways.
Cat theme
Most brides choose a color theme for the wedding. Or they might go for a traditional theme, like a certain type of flower. But this bride wanted to display her love of something else on her wedding day. And not just her new husband.
She decided that it would be totally appropriate to have a cat-themed bridal gown. This involved having a massive cat shape front and center on her bridal dress. Her tiara had what looks like two cats facing each other in the middle.
Well, at least she didn’t wear a tail and a pair of cat ears.
Rushed job
Planning a wedding usually takes months of preparation. Brides want to spend ages making sure their dress is just right. But for this bride, time was of the essence for her big day.
She caused a scandal by spending time alone with her boyfriend. So she was rushed up the aisle as quickly as possible. Perhaps that’s why she isn’t beaming with happiness in her wedding pics.
Fortunately, she had just enough time to sort out her bridal gown and her bridesmaids’ outfits. And she certainly didn’t scrimp on the wow-factor.
Her girls were dressed in huge pink gowns, complete with pink top hat fascinators and white fluffy stoles.
The bride brought the bling to her own outfit with a diamante tiara and necklace.
Parental pressure
One of the reasons many of these gypsy brides have such lavish weddings is because of their parents. And so no expense is spared. Everything has to be big and bold.
Like with this bride. From the bridal gown itself to the number of bridesmaids. She had 8 bridesmaids. They all wore huge electric pink dresses. They had matching pink feather hair accessories. And held posies of red and pink roses.
The bride herself wore a big, white gown and was dripping in diamante bling. From her tiara to her necklace to her earrings and bracelet.
The men wore white suits, as they often do at these lavish gypsy weddings.
Burlesque bridesmaids
What do most brides want their bridesmaids to look like? Probably not the singers in the music video for “Lady Marmalade”. But this bride’s bridesmaids looked like they took inspiration from Christina Aguilera, Lil’ Kim, Mya, and Pink in their burlesque-style outfits.
The top hats, the bustiers, and the feathers in the hair. They looked like blinged up circus masters. And they also totally stole attention from the bride herself.
That’s a real lesson for brides to learn that less is most definitely more when it comes to bridesmaids’ outfits. Particularly if you want the spotlight on you.
Heavy duty
Some people say that marriage is a heavy duty to bear. Well, this gypsy bride went into married life with the heavy duty of wearing a bridal gown that weighed more than she did.
The 5 foot 3 bride wore a dress that weighed 10 stone. Which is heavier than she is.
It was so wide she barely made it down the aisle to the altar. And it stuck out so far at the back that she could have hidden her bridesmaids in it.
The gown, which was covered in Swarovski crystals, of course, cost 6,000 euro. That is over $8,000. It took the bride a massive 20 minutes to put it on.
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