Big Fat Gypsy Weddings

Following on from our recent 'only in Britain'  theme of last week, it would be remiss of me not to draw your attention to the Channel 4 documentary series Big Fat Gypsy Weddings. Billed as a fly on the wall series detailing the secretive world of gypsies and travellers in Britain, it is an absolutely compelling look at the extravagant lengths gypsies go to to celebrate the first holy communions and weddings of the young girls in the community. The dresses are extraordinary, most weighing the same as the bride, and designed to show off as much gigantic bosomage as possible. Imagine a dress a child would draw of a fairy princess wedding and then multiply it by a 1,000, then add sequins and lots of pink tulle and then double it, then add small top hats and 300 metres of veil, then multiply it by 50 and your halfway there. Last night we watched a young couple tie the knot with the bride wearing a gown she half dragged and half kicked down the aisle, made of voluminous layers of pink and lit - yes that's right, lit - from within by fairy lights and fibre optics. Girls as young as six have spray tans, wear full make up and dress in miniature versions of very grown up clothes. Much is made of the strong culture of the gypsies which they seek to protect with such events, even though they seem to bear a strange resemblance to the hip hop culture of east LA. We are only into week 2 and not much has been mentioned of how these extravagances are funded. Cannot wait for next week.