Stacey Solomon’s wedding dress nightmare

She’s getting married in three months’ time but unlike many excitable brides-to-be, Stacey Solomon had been putting off shopping for her wedding dress, revealing she felt self-conscious about being an older bride with six children.

The 32-year-old presenter is setto wed fiancé Joe Swash – father of her two youngest children Rex, two, and six-month-old Rose – this July in the grounds of their Essex mansion, dubbed Pickle Cottage.

Thankfully, she put aside her fears and last week flew over the owners of a bridal shop in Northern Ireland so she could try on gowns in the comfort of Pickle Cottage – inviting her Insta followers on her journey to find The One. And yes, there were tears...

Posting a picture of herself beaming in one of the dresses, Stacey wrote, “I’ve been putting it off I think because the more I got excited about it, the more silly I felt for some reason… I started feeling really conscious about not being, well I don’t know.

“I wouldn’t have done life any other way EVER. I’m so grateful for how it turned out and I genuinely believe everything happens for a reason.

“But I suppose sometimes those old fashioned narratives make you feel that way don’t they? I decided to try my dresses on, at home with just me not making a 'thing' of it.

“But it turns out it felt like the hugest 'thing' ever. My sister dropped the kids back from school and popped up and we both ended up emotional messes.

“I loved every single second of today, trying them on, imagining seeing Joe for the first time, feeling the veil on my shoulders & seeing the glitter sparkle as I moved around. none of these are THE dress but I took this picture to remember how excited I felt today.”

It was an emotional week for Stacey – who is also mum to Zach, 14, and nine-year-old Leighton, from previous relationships – as Joe was away for work and she was missing him.

Stacey kept her fans updated on her Instagram about how much she was struggling without him and how hard it was to get anything done as she was looking after the four kids by herself. And our source says, she’s become more reliant on the 40-year-old actor over recent months as she juggles her career, their young family and the endless renovations at Pickle Cottage, including their dream swimming pool.

“Stacey has said she’s her own worst enemy when she is left to her own devices and hates feeling alone by herself with the kids,” we’re told. “She used to really like alone time but now she’s begging Joe to stay by her side as they get through this testing time for them with their wedding coming up and the ongoing work at home – Stacey needs Joe around to calm her down, otherwise it makes her anxiety levels go through the roof. He hates to see her in this state, but he can’t dictate where he works right now and has to go where the job is.”

CHECK OUT: Stacey Solomon's cutest mummy moments

But there was confusion among her fans when a picture emerged of Joe at home the day before Stacey said he was returning. The bridal store which brought over the dresses to Pickle Cottage posted photos from the day – with Joe was posing in one of them, despite Stacey saying he was still away. The picture was later mysteriously deleted from the post.

And if you think that sounds strange, wait till you hear the reason why. The quirky couple later explained that Joe had snuck back home to drop off his washing and didn’t want to disturb Stacey upstairs, as she was trying on dresses, so he quickly left again to get back to work without her knowing. She reasssured fans "he saw nothing". Phew!