‘I was very keen!’ Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen reveals he helped design daughter Hermione’s wedding dress for her marriage to childhood sweetheart Drew Marriott
Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen has revealed he helped design the wedding dress for his daughter Hermione’s recent marriage to her childhood sweetheart Drew Marriott.
The TV personality, 56, who is best known for his home designs, also helped create outfits for his wife Jackie, also 56, and eldest daughter Cecile, 26, for the big day.
Hermione, 23, married her fiancé, 24, at the 12th century Church Of St John The Baptist in Cirencester, having changed their original plans due to coronavirus restrictions.
Stunning: Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen has revealed he helped design the wedding dress for his daughter Hermione’s recent marriage to her childhood sweetheart Drew Marriott
The Changing Rooms host told Hello! magazine the dress was ‘very big, very flourishy and very us’ but that there was ‘realness to it too’.
He said: ‘I was very keen that Hermione should wear something elegant. She needed something architectural and youthful.
‘I came up with a simple design – a white satin dress with a nipped-in waist, sweetheart neckline and a little white velvet cape with a (fake) fur trim.’
Loved up: Laurence, who walked Hermione down the aisile, said: ‘She was desperate to get to Drew, who was beaming from ear to ear’
Hermione said she was happy to entrust her father with the job as she knew he would have her ‘best interests at heart’.
The church ceremony was followed by celebrations at Mansion House Cirencester Park, which is owned by close family friends the Earl and Countess of Bathurst.
Laurence said of the Covid setbacks: ‘Poor Hermione. She’s been so patient about all this, but nonetheless felt, “Oh my God, am I ever going to get married?”
Family: The TV personality, 56, who is best known for his home designs, also helped create outfits for his wife Jackie, also 56, (centre-right) and eldest daughter Cecile, 26, (far-left) for the big day
‘But Lady Sara Bathurst was a superhero. She put her pants outside her tights like Wonder Woman and said, “You’ve got to have it here.”‘
The TV presenter said his highlight of the day was walking Hermione down the aisle, describing the experience as ‘like a film’.
He reflected: ‘Because we were walking down this runway of candles, it was so cosy.’
‘She was desperate to get to Drew, who was beaming from ear to ear.’
Out now: The full interview is available in the latest issue of Hello! Magazine
Hermione agreed it had been a special moment and said she nearly cried when her father removed her cape and kissed her on the cheek because there was ‘so much love’.
Lawrence said the relief the wedding had finally gone ahead was palpable at the ceremony.
‘I’ve never been to a wedding where the entire congregation was so close to clapping at every stage. It was a sense of, “Oh my God, we’ve got there – they’ve said, I will.”
‘There was a massive crowd when we came out of the church to walk down the lovely cobbled streets to Cirencester Park and everybody was clapping. It was such a powerful moment.’
Read the full interview in Hello! magazine, out now.
Impressive: Hermione, 23, married her fiancé, 24, at the 12th century Church Of St John The Baptist in Cirencester, having changed their original plans due to coronavirus restrictions
