document: Unveiled : Thirty years of big , fat celebrity weddings In 1981 , as Britain was in the midst of a biting recession , Lady Diana Spencer married Prince Charles , while the world watched . Elizabeth Emanuel , designer '' `` Until Diana 's dress , wedding gowns had been uniformly the same : white , ankle-length , A-line , long-sleeved . We brought the wedding dress into high fashion . Diana was introduced to us by Vogue ; she did n't yet have her own sense of style , but she loved the very theatrical , fairy-tale dresses we made . When she asked us to make her wedding dress , it was life-changing . She told us to be secretive , but there were no instructions from Buckingham Palace , no protocol . There was so much speculation in the press after she wore a gown of ours to an official dinner , the Palace was forced to make an announcement through Reuters . The whole world went mad . There were photographers at the studio constantly and we had to take on security . We left false trails for the tabloids in the rubbish bins and we locked the dress in a trunk every night . We even made a spare dress in case our real design was leaked . On the day itself we realised this was n't just a wedding dress , it was a moment in history . We dressed her at Clarence House , with the bridesmaids and the Queen Mother . Diana was excited but very calm . There was a moment , waiting for the coach , when we all stood in total silence for what seemed like an age . Then she stepped into the carriage and the crowds went mad . '' '' Nicky Haslam , interior designer and writer '' `` Princess Diana 's wedding was extraordinary because it was a royal wedding . One thinks of watching the coronation on newsreels , there 's this incredible formality to it , which does n't exist now . It was certainly very traditional . There was a ball afterwards , given by the Queen , but Prince Charles and Princess Diana were n't there . In those days , the bride and groom left after their reception and went on honeymoon . To give a dance the night of your wedding was seen as incredibly bad form . The last thing you wanted was the bride getting reeling drunk so she could n't consummate her marriage . '' '' Bruce Oldfield , designer '' `` The Eighties was a showy decade . I made a dress for an Australian bride in 1984 . We had three appointments and each time she said the sketches were n't quite right , until she finally said , '' `` You 've missed the point . We want our guests to know we 've spent an absolute bloody fortune and that this is Australia 's royal wedding ! '' '' . Even three or four years after Diana 's fairy-princess dress , wedding gowns were changing to suit the times . This Australian bride wanted the full skirt , but also to be able to detach parts of the dress to reveal her very good figure ; there were moves afoot to sex up wedding dresses . '' '' Rob Van Helden , florist '' `` I started my business in 1986 . Back then , carnations and chrysanthemums were standard wedding flowers , now they 're so unfashionable , as is the way flowers were arranged then -- all mixed together in one big vase . People certainly did n't spend money on flowers . Weddings followed a simple routine : ceremony , reception , meal , dancing . The wedding party sat on a long table and the dance floor was in front of them . Now the DJ is flown in from Ibiza and there 's a secret nightclub revealed behind a curtain at the back of the marquee . '' '' In the nineties , influenced by a growing culture of conspicuous consumption , weddings became more extravagant and individualised , assisted by changes in the law , in 1995 , that meant civil ceremonies could now take place in castles , hotels or stately homes . Meg Matthews '' `` Noel -LSB- Gallagher -RSB- and I were going to get married on Valentine 's Day , 1997 , on a barge in Little Venice , but it got leaked to The Sun so we had to cancel it . Noel said , '' `` Leave it to me '' '' . We went and had our suits tailored at Daniel James in Savile Row -LRB- I had an amazing white suit modelled on the one Bianca Jagger wore to marry Mick , and a hat with a veil -RRB- . Noel said , '' `` The car is picking us up in the morning . We 're going to get married . You ca n't tell anyone '' '' . I remember passing Kate -LSB- Moss -RSB- on the stairs in the morning -- she was living with us at the time -- and I was carrying a huge hat box in my arms . I thought it was so obvious , but she did n't clock it . I knew we were going to Las Vegas , but it was still a secret operation . Noel and I flew there via Phoenix . My mum and dad flew via Chicago . Noel 's mum , Peggy , came via somewhere else . We all met up at the Liberace suite in Caesar 's Palace at midnight , got dressed , then went to the Little Chapel of the West to get married . They played The Beatles , there was a beautiful big cake , flowers -- and bottles and bottles of chilled Cristal . Even Walkers crisps . It was about four in the morning by this time , then we all went for steak and eggs and hit the blackjack tables . It was so much fun , just us , our family and Noel 's manager and his wife . There was all this rubbish printed about Noel being so drunk he could n't remember his wedding , but he was n't even drinking . I drank the Cristal ! For our honeymoon , we went to New York . Everyone flew out -- Dan Macmillan , Kate , DJ Shadow , we were all in our suite , partying . It was n't about going away to a tropical island for a week -- tradition was n't in our heads . It was 1997 , Oasis were at the peak of their career . It was rock 'n' roll ! '' '' Kate Halfpenny , bridal designer '' `` There were so many divorces happening in the late Eighties and early Nineties , marriage just was n't as popular as it had been . Minimalism was in fashion so you had brides like Jemima Khan , in her elegant dress and jacket , or Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy in her simple white sheath dress . '' '' Rob Van Helden '' `` My first huge , huge wedding was that of Prince Pavlos of Greece , in 1995 . I had never seen a wedding like it . It went on for four days and there were 1,200 guests . In the Nineties , flowers became a luxury business . The flower world became like the chef world . You had your celebrity chefs and your celebrity floral designers . '' '' Phillipa Lepley , bridal designer '' `` The fabrics got ever more sophisticated in the Nineties . Those slubby silk dupions , or rough taffetas , were out . The look was cleaner , straighter -- though brides still wore sleeves , which is not the case now . '' '' The new millennium . After the recession of the late Nineties , a bullish economy was reflected in a rise in the average wedding costs , -LRB- from # 10k in the 1980s , to # 15k today -RRB- , giving rise to a new wedding industry , worth millions of pounds -- an industry which was quick to capitalise on the new laws regarding civil partnerships , passed in 2005 , for gay couples , celebrated memorably by the wedding of Sir Elton John to David Furnish . Alice du Parq , Brides Magazine '' `` Martha Stewart launched her magazine in the US in 1994 . It took a few years but by the beginning of the Noughties , her influence was being felt in the UK , too . Here was a new way to do weddings -- personalised , bespoke , hyper-individualised -- which focused on making a visual impression . Couples began to create a continuous theme between the venue , flowers , cake , bridesmaids , cocktail and table décor . '' '' Fiona Leahy , event planner '' `` A lot of upscale , modern weddings are a form of branding -- they 're a way for a couple to impart and share with guests their personal taste . The first wedding I organised was for Dita Von Teese and Marilyn Manson . Their stamp was on everything . It was n't all plastic bats and striptease , it was chic , and quite Victorian in style . Couples are far more imaginative now with their weddings -- especially since there 's no pressure to get married at home . Huge numbers of couples now marry abroad , in France , Italy , Barbados . '' '' Bruce Oldfield '' `` Everything has become more casual in our society , so of course couples want their wedding to be less formal , just as every generation wants less formality than the previous generation . It 's an easing up of the rigours -- which , in a bride , means not having to have a veil over her face , or wear a tiara . Now a wedding is as much about the ceremony as it is about dancing and having a good time with friends . '' '' Nicky Haslam '' `` People clap in church now when the couple kiss . It 's a completely new invention . You never had guests taking cameras into the church , taking pictures of the bride as she walked up the aisle . Nor would you have brides in strapless dresses in the church . Weddings have become more of a public spectacle . They 're more a reason for everyone to get pissed . And they go on far too long -- some are seven-hour marathons . '' '' Kate Halfpenny '' `` No bride wants that strapless , A-line dress that was so popular five years ago . Very few brides want a corset , either , because there is now this obsession with being comfortable on your wedding day . Veils have become very unpopular , they 're seen as too old-fashioned . Which is funny because vintage has been , for the past 10 years , a huge trend in fashion . Some mothers of the bride I see absolutely adore the vintage dresses I make , because they remind them of what they wore themselves on their wedding day . Others hate them for the exact same reason . Although , brides are older now -LRB- and some onto their second or third marriages -RRB- so their mothers have far less say in what they wear -- I 've dressed brides for synagogue ceremonies who were definitely showing cleavage . '' '' Alice du Parq '' `` Princess Diana was just 20 when she got married . It 's rare for a bride to be that young now -- the average bride in the UK is 34 . Today 's 20-year-old is carving out a career , or finishing university , dating , and figuring out the type of woman she wants to be . She 's not thinking about being someone 's wife . Most couples live together for years before they decide to marry . It means that wedding lists have changed , too : people already have the kettle and toaster by the time they walk down the aisle . '' '' Tom Konig Oppenheimer , co-owner of PR firm , The Communications Store '' `` When the civil partnership law changed we initially did n't want to get married -- Adam and I have been together for 14 years , we did n't feel the need . But then we thought , actually , it 's an honour , especially because , for decades , our type could n't be recognised like that . It was a first for everyone , including us . We 'd never been to a gay wedding so we made it up from scratch . We married at Chelsea registry office , then we had 130 for dinner at Tramp 's . I was working with Abercrombie & Fitch at the time ; I thought , if we 're going to be gay , we might as well be really gay , so we got the Abercrombie male models to come and serve vodka , semi-naked . I had recently '' `` won '' '' Thandie Newton at an auction -- so she sang after dinner . Simon Sebag Montefiore wrote the evening up for The Spectator -LRB- God knows what they thought -RRB- and Vogue covered it too -- it was the first time they 'd featured a gay wedding . It was a lovely , joyous night . '' '' As the decade progressed , celebrity coverage became all-pervasive ; couples could now imitate the weddings they saw in glossy magazines . And with the advance of the internet into our lives , couples could now access vast amounts of information -- locations , flowers , food , themes -- making the choice in how they wed almost infinite . Rob Van Helden '' `` I 've done a few footballers ' and celebrity weddings that have been covered in Hello ! . You have to keep the flowers under sheets to stop the paparazzi at the door from spying . Brides often come to me with pictures of Hollywood weddings -- though they do n't realise quite how much those American florists charge . With the vast scope of magazines and the internet , there 's so much more choice , and brides have become more choosy . It 's no coincidence that the term , Bridezilla , has come about . '' '' Fiona Leahy '' `` The internet has made weddings more egalitarian . Unless you were royalty you would n't have your own monogram on your wedding invitation . Now , with computer-generated software , you can make your own . It 's given couples more freedom to be individual and creative . It follows from the way we live now : we blog , we Tweet . It 's all about self-definition . '' '' Weddings became increasingly lavish , until , in 2007 , the credit crunch strikes . Rob Van Helden '' `` The build-up of spending power , up till 2007 , was incredible . It was all about more , more , more , and , '' `` God , did you go to that wedding where there were 20,000 white roses ? '' '' . Then we were all brought back down to earth . People have started to believe in the elegance of a wedding , the simplicity . That less is more . It 's all about a more relaxed sensibility at weddings now . '' '' Fiona Leahy '' `` At a wedding in the Middle East , I organised , as favours for the guests , mahogany boxes containing individual perfume bottles from Henry Jacques in Paris , worth # 500 each . Another occasion , I had to track down albino peacocks for an all-white themed reception . I 've had to fly wedding cakes , business class , in their own seats , and send a driver to France to pick up foie gras for a wedding in Scotland . But I 'm finding fewer people want to be ostentatious in that way now . People still want to be opulent , but in a less showy manner . '' '' Bruce Oldfield '' `` I opened my shop in Beauchamp Place in late 2009 . The first six months were very , very quiet . People were tightening their belts , downscaling their weddings . There was suddenly something vulgar about spending masses of money on a single day . '' '' Vicky Ward , writer '' `` I wrote a book about Lehman Brothers . In August 2008 , a senior-level banker at the firm had rented the biggest , most expensive house in St Tropez for his wedding . It was filled with his bride and all their guests , including those he 'd flown over from the States at great expense , not least the photographer , Terry Richardson , who was there to take their wedding pictures . But where was the groom ? Stuck in New York with a broken leg , and the shit about to hit the fan at Lehman 's . No one in that office was going anywhere . In the end he got the red eye over to France , hobbled up the aisle -- still wearing the clothes he flew in -- saidhis vows , then got straight back on a plane and went home . God only knows how much money was wasted . Lehman 's went down on 15 September . Talk about wedding of the moment . '' '' In reaction to the extravagance , and in line with Britain 's growing eco-awareness , weddings moved towards more low-key celebrations . Mimicking the bohemian atmosphere of a music festival -- or the traditional village fête -- country weddings became all the rage . Kate Halfpenny '' `` The press say that I 'm making Kate Moss 's wedding dress -- I 'm not . I would n't be surprised if she had a quintessentially English wedding , teepees in an apple orchard , fairy lights , but with a rock 'n' roll party edge . That kind of English wedding feels more modern than hiring the Dorchester and a sit-down dinner for 150 . '' '' On 29 april , Prince William will marry Catherine Middleton at Westminster Abbey . Vicky Ward '' `` I think it 's admirable William and Kate are conscious of austerity Britain , but this wedding is important for the world . No one will replace Diana , but Kate is the fairy tale again . There 's no obscure , '' `` Whatever love is '' '' , with this couple , they really do seem to be in love . And everyone wants a wedding that reflects that . We 're in need of a fairy tale . '' '' Bruce Oldfield '' `` Royal weddings tend to be predictable , and this one will be predictable in so far as there are things that have to be done , in ways that are set . But there will certainly be some surprises . We 're making quite a lot of things for the bridal party . People are going for it -- hat makers are busy , shoemakers are busy , glove makers are busy . No one does a wedding like the English . '' ''
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