Charli XCX tied the knot with The 1975 drummer George Daniel in the most unbearably chic wedding on Saturday with just their close friends and family at Hackney’s Town Hall.
It had everything - the Vivienne Westwood mini-dress, Charli puffing on sneaky cigarette in her full bridal outfit next to some Lime bikes before they danced until 4am at an understated wine bar in Kingsland Road. Well, I say everything - fans noticed one glaring omission: George’s bandmate, The 1975 frontman, Matt Healy.
One fan clearly deeply concerned by Matt’s absence wrote on X: “Imagine being there for all the beginnings, all the music, all the years… and then missing the most important day of your friend’s life. That actually hurts.”
The truth is, Matty was across the pond supporting his fiancée, Gabbriette Bechtel, at the LA screening of her new movie, the critically panned (undeservedly), I Know What You Did Last Summer reboot.
He’d reportedly attended George’s stag do just days before. And Hackney and Los Angeles are a little more than a hop, skip, and a jump away.
But even if he did miss the wedding on purpose, so what? I found Matty missing his best friend’s wedding very normal. I anticipate several close friends missing my first wedding too and that’s if they’re even invited.
For my first big day it will likely be a very close circle of friends and family and despite having annual panics around no one turning up for my birthday, I will be uncharacteristically cool about it if they don’t make wedding number one.
And yes, that’s because, like Charli, I won’t be having one wedding. I’ll be having two.
Almost all the weddings I’ve attended in the past decade have technically been the “second” wedding - the first being a low-key registry office event with family and the wedding party, followed by a dinner and maybe a few drinks.
Having two weddings is fast becoming the new norm: the first is the intimate family celebration. The second is the blowout with friends.
Like Charli, I won’t be having one wedding. I’ll be having two.
I’d say most of my friend’s weddings have followed this trend and I can tell they’ve been much calmer and happier on the day for it.
Equally, this new format isn’t always smooth sailing. I’ve seen it create serious tension - families left out of the fun, or treated like the “warm-up act” for the real party weeks later. One bride I know openly referred to the family ceremony as the “s**t wedding,” barely hiding her excitement for the “real one” with her mates in the south of France.
Recently, my boyfriend and I have started talking more seriously about marriage, especially after attending a dream wedding in Barcelona - four days of sun, over 100 friends, endless paella and enough wine to fill a supermarket. It was perfect. I left knowing that’s exactly how I want my wedding to be.
But here’s the dilemma: my family are my greatest loves. So why do I feel like I’d need two weddings? Well, because we have so many friends - who we often live with for so many years of our lives - that keeping friends and family separate is often for the best. In fact, people are often keeping friends separate more generally - but that’s a whole different story.
I’ve been to so many weddings where the couple were overwhelmed by the sheer number of guests, the forced merging of family and friends making it hard to connect with anyone properly. I’ve seen brides break down under the pressure - one even dragged me into her suite mid-panic attack because she was being constantly grabbed and moved from one person to another.
I believe it’s entirely possible to have a meaningful family ceremony - something they've dreamed of seeing their whole lives - and still throw a joyful, indulgent celebration with friends. But both events should be treated with the same care and respect. Neither should be dismissed as the “s**t wedding.”
As much as I wish I was at Hackney’s wedding of the decade, sadly I wasn’t invited. But from the photos alone - likely to be plastered on Love of Huns for years to come - Charli and George seem to have nailed it.
Their Hackney ceremony looked intimate, stylish, and genuinely fun. They danced until 4am, chain-smoked and knocked back the shots. Now they’re planning wedding number two in Sicily - likely with Matt Healy in attendance, and God knows how many A-listers, making Jeff Bezos’ bizarre foam wedding look like a sad kid’s birthday party.
Of course, two weddings is a little indulgent. Right now, I can barely even imagine affording one. But that won’t stop me trying.
Adam Miller is a culture writer
