Inside 'UK's most expensive Traveller wedding ever' with 350 guests and a £250k bill
Inside 'UK's most expensive Traveller wedding ever' with 350 guests and a £250k bill
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A Traveller couple has pulled off the most-expensive wedding in their community to date after splashing out £250,000 on their nuptials. Louise Durant, 21, and Billy Maguire, 22, put on a winter wonderland-themed wedding at The Dorchester. Room hire at the fancy Mayfair hotel costs a whopping £10,000 - and the couple had 350 guests. The bride - who comes from a Traveller family - told the MailOnline it was "beyond her wildest imaginations".
"The day started amazingly and just got better and better. It was perfect," she added. Her family spent two years saving the cash for their special day. Though Louise's parents were unable to recall the exact amount they spent, they believe it was over £100,000. Though they also mentioned numbers like £250,000 without flinching. The 350 guests revelled in the same hotel that the likes of David Bowie and Richard Burton stayed at during the 60s and 70s. The five-star venue was decked out with white flowers, cold blue lighting and a dance floor made to look like an ice rink. Each table featured a snow globe and Christmas crackers, with bible verses inside.
Footage of the impressive specatacle shared by Hope Purvis of luxury wedding planning firm Social Soiree showed the beaming bride smiling from ear to ear in her structured ivy gown. Her social media followers dubbed the event a wedding fit for the royals. The couple, who live in Yorkshire, had been in a relationship for four years before getting engaged. On December 14, the celebration began as four of the old-style London double decker buses picked up their guests from the Hilton on Park Lane. They were then driven to St John's Church in Hyde Park for the ceremony.
Meanwhile, Louise and her bridal party of 12 bridesmaids were carried to the church in a horse-drawn carriage. The service lasted around an hour before guests were taken to The Dorchester, where they were served mushroom soup topped with a pastry for starters. For the main course was Christmas turkey dinner, with a sticky toffee pudding for dessert. Louise and Billy shared their first dance to Ain't Nobody by Rufus and Chake Khan, with music provided by The Function Band and DJ Andrea Shillingford. Singer Belsie Connors also performed. The couple stayed a few days before jetting off on a three-and-a-half week honeymoon to New York, Barbados and Orlando.
