TLC
The ‘My Big Fat American Gypsy Wedding’ Dresses Were Ugly AF, and We Love Them
The saying goes that every little girl dreams about what her wedding dress will look like, but the dresses from My Big Fat American Gypsy Wedding were so crazy, it's hard to imagine any human person could come up with them. And yet, they did, with the girls walking down the aisle in gowns that are wildly blinged out, enormous, and colorful. Though most American brides tend to wear white — or maybe the occasional cream or blush if they're feeling rebellious — American Gypsy girls aren't your typical brides. And yet, despite the garish garments that are honestly hard to look directly at, we're kind of obsessed with the TLC show's wedding dresses. Watch the video above to see some of the craziest gowns from the show.
In case you didn't know, most of those unique dresses come from one designer: Sondra Celli. "This is the best place in America to get a dress," one mother of the bride explains in the show. "You need to wear something beautiful, you need to wear something embellished, you need to wear something with Swarovski crystals. You need to have bling, you need to have poof, you need to have something beautiful that you feel great in and you look good in." And Sondra agrees. "That's what I do best, is bling everything," she says. And some of those outfits are definitely bright enough to blind if they catch the light just right, especially when they're absolutely dripping in crystals, rhinestones and, gems.
Though different subcultures — like Irish traveller or Romani — have different types of traditional gowns, the show explains why they're almost all so elaborate. "Now that gypsies are free and have survived their oppressors, dressing extravagantly is a sign of cultural pride and a victory over their persecutors," the narrator says. But that's not the only reason. There's also another that dates back to medieval times. "A display of wealth was a sign of a family's standing in society. The more bling and the bigger the dress, the more importance the family was deemed to have within the community, something which stands to this day."
Guess that explains how you end up with a bride who needs her own 18-wheeler truck to carry her train.
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