My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding dress maker Thelma Madine designs custom bridal gown for her daughter (but can't resist wearing white herself!)
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My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding star Thelma Madine wore white to her daughter's nuptials over the weekend, with the dressmaker's outfit bearing a striking similarity to the bride's gown. Thelma, who is best known for her appearances on the Channel 4 series, picked an all-white dress, with fur trimmings, that matched her 20-year-old daughter Katrina Armstrong's off-shoulder ensemble.
![[Thelma, who is best known for her appearances on the Channel 4 series, picked an all-white dress, with fur trimmings, that matched her 20-year-old daughter Katrina Armstrong's off-shoulder ensemble]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/13/15/94039685-14279013-Thelma_who_is_best_known_for_her_appearances_on_the_Channel_4_se-m-20_1736782276730.jpg)
Like her celebrity mother's own dress, Katrina's gown also featured fur trimmings as well as thousands of pearls and crystals that were individually sewn into the dresses by Thelma's talented seamstresses. In total, Thelma, 73, crafted three custom dresses worth £32,000 for her daughter, who exchanged vows with husband Michael Lazarus-Bhatti, 22, on Saturday.
![[Trainee nurse Katrina, of Liverpool, featured in the hit Channel 4 show and a spin-off called Thelma's Gypsy Girls which aired on Channel 4 in 2012]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/13/15/94039687-14279013-image-a-3_1736782086963.jpg)
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.
![[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]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/13/15/94039695-14279013-image-a-22_1736782303778.jpg)
On her most important assignment yet, 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?'.
![[Proud mum Thelma said she and husband Dave Armstrong 'knew straight away' that Michael was 'the one' for Katrina and the couple have bought their own house near Preston, Lancs, where they will live]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/13/15/94039697-14279013-image-a-5_1736782100025.jpg)
