Forget the flowers or the tablescape. When we attend a wedding, there’s one thing we all want to see: the wedding dress. So, it’s no surprise that Mel B is calling in the big guns for her big day in the form of former bandmate Victoria Beckham. And, with Mel and her fiancé, Rory McPhee, plotting a grand affair at London’s St Paul’s Cathedral, it’s up to VB to deliver a gown befitting the occasion. We’re thinking reams of taffeta, lace and leopard print (Mel’s pattern of choice) – plus a 25ft-long train to rival the greatest royal wedding of them all.
“Because I have an MBE, I can get married at the same place Princess Diana married Charles,” an excited Mel revealed last week. “We have put all our forms in and we are just waiting on them to give us the day. Once I get the date, I will go wedding dress shopping. But I already know Victoria wants to make me a dress.”
It’s safe to say Mel’s gone from Scary to Smitten Spice ever since Rory, 35, got down on one knee last October, popping the question with a £100k diamond ring. The couple started dating in 2018, and mum-of-three Mel has since credited the hairstylist with helping her regain self-worth following her “abusive” ten-year marriage to film producer Stephen Belafonte, which ended in 2017. Posting on Instagram in August, the singer, 48 – who was also previously married from 1998 to 2000 to dancer Jimmy Gulzar – told fans that Rory “makes me shine bright like a diamond”.
It's no surprise, then, that a shinier and more confident than ever Mel is counting on her former bandmate Vic to create a megawatt dress to match. The pair have infamously had their ups and downs over the years – most recently earlier this year, when Mel claimed that Victoria, 49, wanted to reunite with the Spice Girls, despite insiders claiming Vic had no intention of doing so and “felt like her name was being used as leverage” to clinch big concert deals. It was then reported in July that Vic’s refusal to take part had supposedly put the kibosh on their hopes to perform at Glastonbury.
Still, all five Spice Girls have always insisted that – off-stage – they’re still as close as they were 30 years ago, with Mel famously saying, “We fight, we argue, we make up. It’s always been like that... we’re like sisters.”
Last year, Mel wore a custom Victoria Beckham dress – as did her mum, Andrea – to Buckingham Palace to collect her MBE for services to charitable causes and vulnerable women, with Posh later saying it was an “honour” to dress them both.
Now, as the world waits to see what she’ll deliver for Mel’s wedding, let’s hope – for her sake – it’s something Scary wants, what she really, really wants...
