OMG! Words fail me!

Astonishing, isn't it?

There is (or was) a TV show called My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding that featured the weddings of people called Irish Travellers. It featured over the top weddings that are part of their lifestyle. The outfits on the young girls are not to be believed. Not only are they outrageously fancy, they are also extremely revealing. The show was like watching a train wreck, but an interesting look at an odd culture.

Looks like the bride in the link got a pair of new boobs for the wedding, too.

Here is a link that might be useful: big fat gypsy weddings

Oh horrors!! Words fail me too! Having been to a wedding in the UK, I can assure you, this is not normal.

Dedtired, I caught a couple of those gypsy weddings. Train wreck would be a good description.

Ever since the movie "Snatch" I've been fascinated with Irish Travellers (Gypsies). I'm sure daddy didn't pay for the wedding by surfacing driveways, since they are known to be on the wrong side of the law (mostly fraud).

There was a documentary about Irish Travellers in American but I'm having a hard time finding it right now.

The word gypsy is acctually often blurred. It is actually not Irish but historically more likely Indian or Roma, Egyptian, culturally. The term gypsy in the uk can be very derogatory and the show is along the lines of Dance Moms or Honey Booboo.

Here is a link that might be useful: the origin of gypsies in Uk

Like mother, like daughter...

That mom is wearing a bra as a top. How's that for the MOB?

And so is the bride and several of the little girl guests (who look like they've been sold as sex slaves). It's almost too much to comprehend.

Wow. Just... ...

I found myself shocked, mad, and sad all at once while reading and seeing. To each his own I suppose.

I can't believe a Catholic priest agreed to marry them!

Good grief. Is it possible that they honestly think that they look good? The whole wedding was entirely inappropriate. The bride actually looks older than the MOB.

Yikes. I saw a few bits of the gypsy wedding TV show, and it was mind boggling. The age of the girls, the expense of the Vegas showgirl-like dresses, and the entire cultural mindset was just so bizarre!

Hilarious!
Some people's taste is all in their mouths

Well, you warned me, but I do wish I could un-see that :-/

This post was edited by dlm2000 on Sun, Jan 18, 15 at 15:14

The show is still on and I have see parts of many of them. INSANE mores. All this money on dresses--First Communion is similar but they live in tiny trailers that the women spend 24/7 cleaning. The part that is most difficult for me to believe is they are very strict in their rules on sex, per-marital and extra marital--at least for the females. They are allowed to flaunt it, tempt everyone--but in the end no touchy touchy. Do we believe this?

We have a local community of Irish Travelers. They marry their daughters off at 14. Yes, 14. There's a local Catholic priest who is instrumental in navigating the red tape that allows that to happen. Yes, the law in TN actually allows that to happen.

Here is a link that might be useful: Trailer Park Tour

Ahh, reminds me of my own wedding... Thanks for spurring some fond memories, Kswl.

Live Wire Oak, that trailer park is as neat as a pin and all the homes look quite tidy. I wonder if we are supposed to wonder how they can afford it? IDK.

Maybe mtnrdredux should have a wedding like these at her house. That would give the neighbors something to talk about.

All I can think of is that kswl and mtn will have a tough act to follow this year.

Javachick - I was thinking exactly the same thing - perhaps a call-out to them with this attached is in order?

I wish I could unsee the MOB dress (or lack thereof)

Yes that MOB dress is something we can't un- see.

SueB20.....So, there is a.....showier..... side to the New England mom, lol????

I was also very impressed with that mobile home park, dedtured. Suffice to say, they do not look like that in my neck of the woods.

Clearly it is time to watch My Big Fat Greek Wedding again. Maybe I'll get some tips âºï¸Â

Oh Dear God....

Looks like an "ornate" strippers wedding??

Lotsa "Boobage" for a wedding too. Can they dance in those dresses...lol! I like the Female form as much as the next guy, but....does their makeup weigh a couple pounds as well?!

Faron

Lol, Faron! Always good to hear from the guy's perspective!

I think I will start my own SOGgy (stepmom of the groom) Pinterest page, and this can be my first Pin!

The park in livewire's link was amazingly neat and clean, but so incongruous to have "mobile" homes anchored with elaborate brick structures.
The wedding? O*M*G!

That is by far the most bizarre wedding I have ever heard of or seen photos of! Their entire lifestyle seems grotesquely skewed, from their acceptance of minimal education, to their rather lewd clothing choices . . . Not to mention the obscene amount of money spent on a wedding. I, too, am shocked that any Catholic priest would agree to marry someone as young as sixteen. Then again, if his assigned parish includes a large number of gypsies and this is their long-accepted way of life, I imagine he's forced to accept it. But, as the mom of an almost-21 y/o daughter, it makes me shudder to think about it! The even sadder thing to me, though, is reading this 16 y/o bride's thoughts on what she plans to do with the rest of her life. Very sad, actually.

Thanks for sharing that article, Kswl, I had no idea people lived like that!
Lynn

Unbelievable and so sad to me.

Are you kidding? I don't find it shocking, but after living 25+ years in So Ca, it's the 'every day' clothing at the local mall and there is no girl who is too young! Let's face it, 'showing what ya got' is the norm, as seen on TV and internet, and 'occasion' doesn't matter~a wedding could be an excuse for being even more racey. The mindset seems to be, 'i'm hot', where being totally out of shape is acceptable, no matter how over the top (haha)the muffin top, or ill-fitting bra. I'm all for self confidence, but it seems these days it's gone way too far. But hey, at 72, what do I know?

In my college years (80's), and occasionally after that, I subscribed to Playboy.

These "Women" belong NOWHERE NEAR that magazine...;-)
EW!

Faron

I uderstand it seems harmless to poke fun at cultures that seem so vulgar compared to ours but in Europe and specifically, the UK, 1/3 of the population is openly bigoted against both gypsies and Irish Travelers, and they are not the same but rather totally different ethnic groups.

Both groups have far lower life expectancy rates and higher infant mortality, poverty and drop out rates than any other ethnic groups in England and all attemps to remedy these statistics are hampered by these acceptable prejudices.

Do I like the style, no. Do I like the age of the bride, no. Do I want these young children to continue to live in a world where judgement hinders not only their possibilities but also their survival? No. Let's not play into the prejudice. Let us help improve their chances to live in a world of love, hope and chances.

Here is a link that might be useful: A real problem of prejudice in the uk

This post was edited by roarah on Fri, Jan 23, 15 at 10:55

I for one wasn't trying to be prejudiced.

The issue, I feel here, was the overt/expressed sexuality that seems way over-the-top here!! The M-O-B with barely-contained basketballs on her chest?!??!? The Bride wearing a miniskirt...wth?!??!

I don't care WHAT Ethnicity/Color you are...
The Women mentioned there don't seem to have much respect for themselves?!

Things I DID like were the locales, the Rolls-Royce...WOW!, & the Men's suits. Wonder if they were Ralph-Lauren?

Faron

I agree, it is the overt sexuality and the sexualization of children that I find offensive. And I said the very same thing when DD's friend from college was married in a skin tight mermaid bridal gown, so low cut she was practically carrying her bosom on top of her bouquet, laced up the back like an undergarment from the 19th century.

And while I do not believe in, nor would I engage in or support any acts of prejudice against people who dress and act as the wedding party in the photos, I am entitled to dislike their style of dress and their practice of marrying off young teenage girls and to say so.

The UN and The European Court of Human Rights equates the racism that Gypsies and travelers face in the Uk today to that of what black Americans endured in the 50s. The "article" posted by kswl is in a mean rag blog it is a derogatory slur using one family's choices to demean an entire race of people that are already acceptably bullied by more than a third of its nation, somewhat legally too. It was wrong to continue to spread the hate is all I am saying. I do not think you meant to do it maliciously. Most Americans do not even know this is an issue, but it is a cause I have been involved in for many years and have seen so little progress because so many do not accecpt that it is even racism they think it is a matter of taste but it is much more. Please read the article I linked and do some further research it is a great saddness in the world.

This post was edited by roarah on Fri, Jan 23, 15 at 10:58

First, I would like to point out that Gypsies or Travelers are not a "race." They are Homo sapiens, just like the rest of us. If you think of them as a separate race, then you are the one who considers them different from the rest of humankind, not me.

Further, I am not demeaning an entire culture based on one family's choice of wedding attire, and I have no idea where you got that idea. I am criticizing, if you will, ONE family's wedding attire choices without respect to their ethnic background. It is this particular family whose choices I demean. As far as I know they are not representative of anything save their own horrifically poor taste.

But if it is true, as you state above, that the family's ethnic group has "far lower life expetancy rates and higher infant mortality, poverty and drop out rates than any other ethnic groups in England," I would suggest that dressing their little girls like prostitutes might have something to do with that----as a cause, not an effect.

As an aside, the family sold those photos to the Daily Mail, which is where they were first published, and then picked up by hundreds of papers and blogs that survive to this day. All the photos were not still on the Mail site, which is why I linked to the first blog that popped up displaying all the pictures. I did not link knowingly to a "hate site" and in fact the blog posting was almost a word for word reprint of the Mail article. Some of the comments are obnoxious, but I read nine of them without reading anything condemning anyone or group other than the family pictured.

Roarah, I haven't read all of the comments that show distaste for the wedding, but yours caught my eye. I have been fascinated by the Travellers and Roma cultures and want to have a better understanding of their lives vs. what is presented on TV. I have had this book on my shelf for a long time and have only read some of it:
{{gwi:2134095}}

I need to finish it.

When I've watched the TLC shows, I try to see (even though we all know that reality TV is pure fantasy) what they like about their culture through their eyes. In other words, what works? Why do they have certain traditions? When I first saw the enormous dresses and such, they floored me-- but I figured that everyone has different opinions of beauty. I am certain they would find my wedding dress with nary a sequin to be dull and uninspired.

As for the girls who are married at the age of 14-- it is hard to think about that, for sure. I think it is wrong and hope there are activists who are helping them see this and end it. I wonder if it is a case of a culture that has remained very isolated and therefore a throwback to a time where people just didn't live as long . . .so things like marriage and family were done at a much younger age. We see rape and they see tradition.

I think it is hard, in general, too, when we are introduced to only certain aspects of a culture or religion that greatly conflict with our own values and traditions. It is difficult to find a balance of respecting others while finding some of what they do to be immoral. What I do is to remind myself of how much I don't know . . .to understand that I am only seeing one tiny piece (and it's from an ethnocentric perspective anyway). But it can still be a challenge!

One reason I believe the marriages are happening at such young ages was that in the Uk, if you were not going to go on to A levels you could finish school around or even before 15. As many of these Roma children are bullied, 9 out of 10 children have faced prejudice in the Uk, they do not even finish their o levels and drop out before 16. Marriage, sadly, represents opportunity for the future to these families. This explains both the inappropriate dress and age unfortunately. The UK now mandates that all children stay in school till 18. But many gypsies are unaccounted for and forgotton.

Kswl, I would suggest that if someone wants to prove they really are not prejudice they shoud never try to do so by blaming the victims.

Roarah, that makes sense and I think is true for some groups in the US. While they (some minority groups here) may not be bullied for their culture and color at school, it's only because they attend schools and live in areas that are highly segregated. For example, in Chicago where I grew up, it's touted as the City of Neighborhoods. And, while it's true that people may choose to settle in areas where other share their language/culture, it is also true that they have not usually had a choice in the matter. In those neighborhoods, people have much lower chances for quality education. Schools are much worse, plus it's hard to do your work when you are worried about getting shot on your way to school and haven't eaten breakfast.

I read a quote recently from a teacher who tells her students that every time a student drops out, a jail cell is built.

I'm sorry Rorah that you really do not seem to understand that this is not some kind of wholesale condemnation of an entire group of people. You seem like a compassionate person, but really, this thread was just about wedding attire, inappropriateness of. Your zeal to wipe out prejudice in the United kingdom against these people is admirable, but your sentiments are misplaced here.

It is true that prejudice exists. It is also true that any society develops norms of behavior over time---some we call laws, others we call "standards," mores, or even the ill-defined "good taste" that is endlessly debated here ð When people sell their extreme wedding photos for public consumption it should not come as a shock when others look at them and comment on the styles and the ages of those wearing them.

I think anyone who spends $150k on their 16 year old's wedding then sells the pics & details of said wedding to a tabloid is not a victim.

This has more to do with cultural dissonance than racism.