Watch out, Kate! Traveller Mary hopes to leave Miss Middleton in her big fat billowing wake on the eve of the Royal Wedding

By Daily Mail Reporter


What Royal Wedding? Irish traveller Mary hopes to match Kate Middleton and Prince William's big day with her lavish wedding gown and no expense spared ceremony


All eyes will be on Kate Middleton next Friday as she walks down the aisle at Westminster Abbey and finally marries her Prince.

But her dress will no doubt look positively plain to some people, particularly those in the gypsy community.

Because anything William and his bride-to-be can do, travellers Mary and Paddy are hoping to do better - and bigger and fatter.


Next Thursday night, Channel 4 will be airing a special one-off episode of its hit TV series My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding, which it promises will be 'the biggest, fattest wedding of the year'.

And although all gypsy wedding are big and flamboyant and, in some case, rather garish, this time the families wanted to create the most lavish wedding possible with no expense spared.

Mary and Paddy got married last week but the big day was filmed for the special episode next week.

In true traveller style, Mary's dress is absolutely huge - and at 18ft long and 11ft wide, is broader than the antique ivory and taffeta lace gown that William's mother Princess Diana wore on her big day in 1981.

I hope it doesn't rain on my parade: Mary may not have millions of people lining the streets to wave at her carriage, but she will be travelling to her wedding in style

Centre of attention: Just like Miss Middleton, Mary will also have the TV cameras following her every move


And it was decorated with 40,000 individual crystals that turned the snow white gown into a huge glitterball.

And the 23-year-old - an age which is considered old for a gypsy bride - said all she wanted to be on her big day was like a member of royalty.

As she deliberated over how long her train should be, she said: 'I just want to feel like a princess.'

There's a bride in there somewhere: Mary shows off her 18ft long extravagant wedding dress


The gown was created by Thelma Madine, the Liverpool seamstress who has featured in the series as the number one dress maker for all the gypsy weddings, and had just three weeks to make it.

A source on the show told The Sun: 'Poor Thelma and her team were drowning in all this material and sewing on the crystals was painstaking work.

'Most people take months to get weddings sorted but they were under the tightest deadline imaginable.

'Mary was very keen to impress that she should look like a princess on her big day.

Finishing touches: Dressmaker Thelma Madine, left, and her staff help Mary with her final fitting

Your carriage awaits: Mary and Thelma pose for a photo before the bride heads off to marry her gypsy prince


'She spoke about Kate Middleton and how she wanted her wedding to be just as showy as she imagined Kate's would be.'

A spokesperson for Channel 4 said: 'Viewers will have front row seats to celebrate the wedding of the year.'

The show source added: 'It really was a dream come true for Mary. She and Paddy might not have the millions that Kate and Wills have at their disposal.

'But they made the best of what they had and it was a day that they will cherish for ever.'


Will one be overshadowed? Kate Middleton and Prince William will be married the following day


source:dailymail