Here comes theBrideshead (...ina VW camper van!)
Pop star Ellie Goulding marries into high society at York Minster – then toasts her wedding at stately home where the Evelyn Waugh classic was filmed
ELLIE GOULDING married into the Establishment yesterday – but couldn’t resist adding some very quirky touches to her traditional ceremony.
The pop star wed Old Etonian Caspar Jopling, a Sotheby’s art dealer, at York Minster in front of family and a host of celebrity guests, which included Royalty and Hollywood A-listers.
The 32-year-old shunned a traditional RollsRoyce and instead chose to arrive in an electricblue Volkswagen camper van.
The congregation were also treated to an eccentric sermon by John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York, which finished with him uncorking a bottle of prosecco as a symbol of the newlyweds’ ‘exhilarating love’. Dr Sentamu then handed them gifts, including a Ugandan wicker basket filled with treats and a bonsai tree to symbolise that marriages can last for years.
Ellie, who wore a bespoke Chloé wedding dress designed by Natacha Ramsay-Levi, had invited her favourite composer, Norwegian Ola Gjeilo, to perform at the service, alongside the choir of London’s Royal Holloway University.
The Duchess of York, who was at the wedding with daughters Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie – who is rumoured to have introduced Mr Jopling, 27, to Ellie – revealed the hymn Jerusalem had been played. A second, How Great Thou Art was also sung. Asked about the ceremony, she said: ‘It was a lovely service, fantastic, and great music.’
Guests also included Sienna Miller, the comedian Jimmy Carr, James Blunt and his wife Sofia Wellesley and artist Tracey Emin. Actor Orlando Bloom and singer Katy Perry arrived hand-in-hand, with Prince Harry’s ex-girlfriend Cressida Bonas also in the congregation.
A photograph was released of the newlyweds’ first kiss taken in the Minster’s Quire, which was decorated with beech and oak branches. The couple reportedly spent £20,000 on flowers alone.
The bride’s silk double crêpe gown, hand-embroidered with white roses of York and studded with white glass beads, took more than 640 hours to make. She had seven bridesmaids, including Cassandra Gracey, president of Sony Music, and stylist Zoe Jervoise Graham, although she was outdone by her husband who had 17 ushers.
Last night the couple and their guests were celebrating at Castle Howard, the 18th Century stately home which featured in the 1981 television adaptation of Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited.
A huge glass conservatory-style structure had been built on the lawn in front of the Grade I listed manor, with a small village of yurts by the walled rose garden for revellers in need of sleep. The menu reportedly featured ‘designer vegan’ food and Bollinger champagne, with the couple, who have been together for two years, hosting a lunch at the venue today.
The groom, whose father, The Hon Nicholas Jopling, owns large areas of land in the Yorkshire Dales, proposed while the couple were doing a jigsaw puzzle at their New York home.
Ms Goulding, a long-standing friend of the Royal Family, grew up in a council house in Lyonshall, Herefordshire, before becoming a global music star.