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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Amy Denman

Danielle Armstrong's 'fairytale' wedding with two stunning gowns and special surprises

Danielle Armstrong and Tom Edney tied the knot in a stunning wedding ceremony on Saturday August 27.

Former The Only Way Is Essex star Danielle, 34, and her childhood friend Tom have been planning the nuptials since Tom popped the question to Danielle in March 2020.

The couple, who share daughter Orla together, certainly didn't cut any corners on their special day, which took place at country estate Ashridge House in Hertfordshire.

Ashridge House, which was the former royal residence of Henry VIII and Princess Elizabeth I, is set in 190 acres of stunning gardens with Grade I listed buildings.

Speaking of her choice in venue, Danielle told OK!: "When we first viewed it, I cried. I just knew it was The One. It was perfect."

Danielle Armstrong and Tom Edney tied the knot in a stunning stately home ceremony (Instagram)
Former TOWIE star Danielle admitted she cried when she first saw the venue (Instagram)

Danielle and her bridesmaids stayed at a spa 20 minutes away from the wedding venue and were treated to massages and a meal the night before.

The morning of the big day, bride Danielle was driven to stunning country estate along with her six bridesmaids Ferne McCann, Terri Smith, Sophie Langton, Gemma Edwards, Kayleigh Hagger and her maid of honour, sister Lannen Ovenden.

Meanwhile, Tom had four ushers and a best man.

The couple's daughter Orla, two, also acted as a flower girl on their special day.

Danielle are Tom's two-year-old daughter Orla was a flower girl on their special day (Instagram)

Danielle revealed the morning of was very smooth – but her bridesmaids had spotted Tom "nervously pacing up and down" at in the lead-up to the big day and Danielle couldn't resist having a look at her husband-to-be.

"He looked so cute. The girls were like, ‘No! You can’t see him! It’s bad luck to see him!’ But I don’t believe in all of that," she said.

As the groups got ready the couple surprised one another with lavish gifts as Danielle received personalised Louis Vuitton luggage and earrings while Tom also received luggage from the same designer and a pair of cufflinks.

The ceremony began at 1.30pm and Danielle had chosen to walk down the grand staircase of the manor house instead of down the aisle as she wanted to do "something a bit different".

James Argent and Jess Wright were amongst guests at the big day (@real_arg)
Ferne McCann and the bridesmaids wore stunning blush pink gowns (Instagram/real_arg)

As Danielle made her way down the stairs a live band played a version of I’m Kissing You by Des’ree.

She looked stunning in a laced Berta design gown from The Wedding Club in Knightsbridge, which the former TOWIE star said was the second dress she tried on and found before sending out invites to the big day.

Danielle said the dress tied in with her historic venue which "had a very Italian feel". And Tom said the reality star looked "absolutely stunning".

Danielle's bridesmaids wore blush pink dresses, which was the colour scheme of the day.

Georgia Kousoulou was amongst the 100 guests (@georgiakousoulou)
(Instagram)

Danielle's TOWIE pals Ferne and her fiancé Lorri Haines, Georgia Kousoulou and Tommy Mallet, James Argent, and Jess Wright and her husband William Lee-Kemp were amongst the 100 guests invited to celebrate the pair.

On her way to the alter she suffered one small mishap.

She explained: "We had lots of LED candles in glasses, which were all placed along the stairs and they looked beautiful.

"My veil was so heavy and I could feel it was pulling. As I turned to face Tom, the veil got caught on the step and knocked over the candles. There was just a shatter of glass. Apparently smashing glasses is meant to be good luck, so at least there’s that!"

The couple didn't have a religious ceremony and worked with the registrar to make the ceremony personal to their love.

Danielle revealed the veil was 'heavy' (Instagram)

And, after they said "I do" they walked back down the aisle as the band played a rendition of This Will Be (An Everlasting Love) by Natalie Cole in a Love Actually-inspired moment as Danielle said they "popped out from under the stairs and started playing".

Guests were then ushered to a drinks reception with champagne, canapes and personalised cocktails named after the bride and groom.

After a three course meal was the speeches, and Danielle cried at Tom's opening line. However, the end of the speech saw the room erupt into laughter as he revealed he had stayed at Danielle's parents house as a teen when the bride threw a house party.

Tom made a touching speech to his new bride (Instagram)

Meanwhile the father of the bride, who has been married to Danielle's mum for over 35 years, shared some words advice for a long a happy marriage: "To always respect each other, always make an effort and always make each other laugh."

As the evening guests arrived, the couple went to cut the huge nine tier cake made by Hall of Cakes – which had chocolate, lemon, café latte and fruit cake in.

Guests were then invited to hit the dance floor in another room as a production company, a DJ and a band put on the entertainment for the evening.

Danielle said: "It was like a nightclub in there!"

The couple shared their first dance and to a version of So Amazing by Luther Vandross, sang live by artist Luke Burr and Leanne – who was a member of the band.

Danielle cried while Tom also held their daughter Orla and the family of three danced along to the song. "It was very emotional," the bride said.

She added: "That was the moment for me when I felt like I’d finally got my fairytale."

The bride then changed into a second dress, which was another Berta number, covered in sequins and had sequin hot pants underneath the skirt.

The table decorations were pink and white (Instagram)

Then, Danielle surprised her husband and the guests after their plans for a big firework display were cancelled due to the heat.

She took to the dance floor and spontaneously performed a "full on Beyonce performance" – with the help of some tequila shots beforehand.

However, the venue also had a surprise in store for the couple as they arranged for the band to play Is This Love by Bob Marley on a piano surrounded by sparklers, which Tom said will "stay with me forever".

The pair celebrated with their guests until the early hours of the morning, with Jess Wright even getting up to sing.

The emotional day ended with the family falling asleep together (Instagram)

The big day ended in Tom carrying both Orla and his new wife to bed as Danielle joked: "Everyone was asking, ‘Are you going to have your first night together as a married couple?’ But poor Tom had me at one side and Orla at the other! I think I woke up dribbling on his chest. A lovely set-up for his first morning as a married man!"

The couple have since jetted off on their Maldives honeymoon with their daughter Orla in tow.

As she filmed the family inside a glam departure lounge in a video shared to her Instagram story, Danielle revealed: "We are about to go on our two week blissful honeymoon and we have a toddler, it's kind of cramping our style but we wouldn't have it any other way."

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