Gwynnie’s me, me, me wedding!
Chris Martin made her marry in secret. No wonder second time round it’s . . .
First time around, Gwyneth Paltrow secretly married on a ranch in the resort of santa Barbara, with no friends or family present.
to fulfil the conditions set by her publicity- shy rock star groom, Chris Martin, there was no party, no speeches, no pictures and no flowers for the bride, who was four months pregnant with their daughter, Apple.
then, after ten years of marriage, the actress and Coldplay frontman famously ‘consciously uncoupled’ in 2014.
Now Gwyneth is about to marry again. this time, she is determined to get the full white wedding of her dreams, and — judging by the self-publicising ostentatiousness of her preparations — she wants the world to know about it.
Over the weekend she returned from her super-luxe hen party in Mexico (where she drank cocktails on the beach with fashion designer stella McCartney) and posted pictures on instagram for her four million fans to follow.
On saturday night she threw what was probably the flashiest engagement party in showbiz — even by Hollywood standards — at a venue lit up with ‘GP loves BF’ written in giant letters and attended by a who’s who of Hollywood royalty. it cost an estimated £150,000 and will have served as a convincing warm-up to the main event, which apparently is planned for next month in the Hamptons.
Certainly Gwynnie, 45, is a fabulously excited bride-to-be, and is milking her every moment in the bridal spotlight. ANNOUNCING her engagement in the magazine associated with Goop, her lifestyle website, she gushed: ‘i’m excited about everything!’ and then pointedly added: ‘i’ve never had a wedding before. Even though i’m 45, i sort of feel like a 21-year-old.
‘it’s kind of fun to talk about with my girlfriends. they send me pictures of dresses — they’re as excited as i am.’
Her groom, Tv executive Brad Falchuk, says she is ‘the most beautiful woman of all time’.
she calls him her ‘hot nerd’ and says she has never been happier. Ex-husband Chris Martin, who famously gets along with her new man (they’ve all been on holiday together), is very much on the guest list for her big day, along with his new love, Dakota Johnson. Although her people deny jaw-dropping reports that he is to give her away.
Naturally, it all comes with a healthy dose of Paltrow pottiness. One loopy touch was the ‘Goddess Circle’ held on the beach in Mexico during her hen party. the circles are women’s groups where the participants sit together and celebrate ‘divine feminine power’.
in Gwyneth’s circle were photographer Hilary Weekes, actress Mary Wigmore, who was in the movies shallow Hal and the royal tenenbaums with Gwyneth, and publicist Julia Cuddihy.
Also at the hen party were New York it-girl Lauren santo Domingo, food blogger Virginie Degryse and Daun Dees, a mother of five who is Gwynnie’s oldest friend. Natasha Croxall, a Miss World USA, who met Paltrow on the LA charity circuit, were among the dozen, along with stella McCartney.
the group flew by private jet from LA to Cabo, Mexico, arriving on Wednesday evening last week.
they stayed at exclusive, £7,000-a-night Costa Palmas, a Four seasons village which features two miles of white sand beach and luxury minimalist design.
Her ladies were treated to monogrammed white kaftans, a personalised beach bag and roger Vivier sandals.
the day after returning came her engagement celebration, or wedding rehearsal party, at the Los Angeles theatre with that declaration of love on the hoarding — just in case friends hadn’t got the message that Gwynnie and her man are deeply in love.
inside, 400 celebrities mingled under the spectacular chandeliers of the ballroom, where there was a DJ and cocktails until the early hours.
Guests included actresses Kate Hudson, Liv tyler, reese Witherspoon and Demi Moore.
Jennifer Aniston was there, too — the pair have much in common, not least the fact they have both had relationships with Brad Pitt. Jennifer was married to him for five years, while Gwyneth and Brad were engaged in 1995. Her godfather steven spielberg was also present.
Although some speculated that this was Gwyneth’s secret wedding — due to the lavish spending and the A-list guest list — sources indicate the bride would
not consider getting married without including her two children Apple, 13, and Moses, 12, and Falchuk’s two children, Isabella and Brody.
It took a lot to tempt Gwyneth into marriage again — she rather famously spent years in therapy trying to save her rocky marriage to Chris Martin.
She and Brad, 47, were introduced on the set of hit TV series Glee — which he devised — back in 2013 when they were both married to other people.
His wife, Suzanne, filed for a divorce in March 2013, while the Paltrow-Martins announced their split in March 2014.
Since starting to date Gwyneth, Brad has overhauled his hair, wardrobe and physique, with workouts with her fitness guru Tracy Anderson.
He comes from a liberal, moneyed background just like Gwyneth. He is the son of an eminent medical professor, who is worth £135 million, his mother is a noted charitable fundraiser, and his brother, Evan, stood for the governorship of Massachusetts in 2014.
The first picture of Brad and Gwyneth together was posted on Instagram by Falchuk in September 2015. He captioned it: ‘My date and I.’
Unlike Chris Martin, who never mentioned Gwyneth in interviews, much of Brad’s social media feed is devoted to her. Sharing a candid picture of her in September last year, he wrote: ‘This is the most beautiful woman of all time and today is her birthday. We are all so lucky that she came into the world (but no one is luckier than me).’
Gwyneth is similarly gushing on the subject of her man. On his birthday last month she said on Instagram: ‘You are the grounding force, the epitome of love and kindness. Thank you for being my beacon.’ Their engagement was announced in January this year with a statement which ran: ‘We feel incredibly lucky to have come together at this junction in our lives when our collective successes and failures can serve as building blocks for a healthy and happy relationship.’
So what will the wedding be like? Well, Beyonce, a close friend of the bride’s, will be there (this weekend she was headlining the music festival Coachella).
The dress will probably be by Giambattista Valli, whose spring collection was lauded by Vogue as harmonious, sensual and ‘effortless-looking’.
As for the venue — bets are on Quelle Farm in East Hampton, a spectacular sixacre spread owned by Steven Spielberg. One thing’s for sure, Gwyneth will finally be getting the no-expense-spared wedding she missed out on first time around.