My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding star Thelma Madine saw her daughter tie the knot at the weekend – in a stunning wedding dress she created.
Thelma made three different lavish dresses – worth £32,000 in total – worn by Katrina Armstrong, 20, who exchanged vows with husband Michael Lazarus-Bhatti, 22, on Saturday (January 11). Katrina wowed guest as she walked down the aisle in a dress that had thousands of pearls and crystals were individually sewn into the dresses by Thelma’s talented seamstresses.
Thelma – known by millions of TV viewers for making hundreds of spectacular dresses for traveller brides – said she felt ‘added pressure’ to create the perfect gown for her daughter. It took 22 of her staff more than 300 hours to create all three dresses – one for the ceremony, one for the evening party and another for comfort later in the evening.
More than 200 guests attended the lavish £120,000 party at swanky Holland Hall in Up Holland. Thelma said: “Nobody else would be up to the job. Katrina didn’t even know what any of her dresses looked like, she left it all up to me.
“It definitely felt like more pressure than normal, it had to be perfect, didn’t it?”
My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding star Thelma Madine saw her daughter tie the knot at the weekend – in a stunning wedding dress she created
Friends and family made up the 100-strong guestlist that attended the wedding itself, while another 100 were invited to the evening party. A magician, hypnotist and singing waiters entertained guests, with indoor and outdoor fireworks going off during the flamboyant bash.
It also featured a medium, bouncers with dwarfism, dancing mirror men, a casino, a 360 photo booth, champagne girls, two singers and a string quartet. And the families put £10,000 behind the bar so nobody had to buy a drink at the swanky event, which was dressed by Travellers Extravagent Events.
A £3,500 seven tier wedding cake was gifted to the couple by Gill Broadfoot, who featured on My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding as a specialist baker for traveller ceremonies. Trainee nurse Katrina, of Liverpool, featured in the hit Channel 4 show and a spin-off called Thelma’s gypsy girls which aired in 2012.
Katrina wowed guest as she walked down the aisle in a dress that had thousands of pearls and crystals were individually sewn into the dresses by Thelma’s talented seamstresses
She and property developer Michael – son of Freddie Flintoff’s business partner Tony Bhatti – had dated for more than 10 months after meeting on Tinder.
Katrina, who was walked down the aisle by her dad Dave Armstrong, said: “It has been a whirlwind romance but we both knew from the start that we were made for each other. We are so happy and can’t wait to spend the rest of our lives together.”
After the extravagant party, the couple jetted off to Fuerteventura for their honeymoon. Proud mum Thelma said she and Dave ‘knew straight away’ that Michael was ‘the one’ for Katrina and the couple have bought their own house near Preston where they will live.
More than 200 guests attended the lavish £120,000 party at swanky Holland Hall in Up Holland
She said: “She’s really happy. From day one, we knew he was the one. They just seem to have clicked.
“I’m not a traveller, but I treat her like travellers treat their girls. I would never let her go out to bars or anything.
“He’s perfect for her, she can be hard work, but he is really good. He lets her have her moments and they’re so good together. He understands her.”
It took 22 of her staff more than 300 hours to create all three dresses
Katrina said of her dresses: “I didn’t have any idea what any of my three dresses would look like. I didn’t see the fabric or the sketches my mum did. I went for my first fitting two days before my wedding.
“I knew they would all be amazing because my mum is the best at what she does, but when I walked in the reveal room in my mum’s factory and saw my dresses, I was completely blown away. I couldn’t stop crying.
“They were so much more than what I was expecting. Now I understand how all the thousand of girls my mum makes dresses for feel. And when they say she makes dreams come true she really does. She is a fairy godmother.
Thelma made three different lavish dresses – worth £32,000 in total – worn by Katrina Armstrong
“I could hear guests gasping when I walked down the aisle. All day and night at my wedding where coming over to me, telling me which dress they liked best on me.
“My wedding dress was out of this world but my first after dress definitely stole the show.
“Which girl wouldn’t want their mum to be Thelma Madine. I feel so privileged.”
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