Jaime Winstone’s Wedding in Sicily Featured 19 Bridesmaids and an Elvis Solo From the Father of the Bride
“Vivienne Westwood changed my life forever,” says Jaime Winstone, who walked the trailblazing designer’s runway as a teenager. “I’d been obsessed with her since I was a child… her hair, her looks, her punk roots. I was about 19 when she asked me to walk in her show. I never felt very fashion forward, but I always felt very confident in my own style and Vivienne really applauded that.” It’s why years later, when her partner James Suckling proposed in a tipi filled with flowers during the summer solstice at Glastonbury, Jaime knew instantly that she would wear Westwood on their wedding day.
“It was always going to be Vivienne,” says the actor, who is getting ready for her prom-themed hen party at Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club when we speak over the phone ahead of her big day (“My mum’s just here raiding my wardrobe for vintage Pam Hogg to wear!”). Her chosen Westwood wedding gown, with its signature corset bodice and tiered tulle skirt, is “just the most beautiful thing I’ve ever put on”, Jaime says. “Vivienne and I spoke about [my wedding] and she suggested the Princess design. When she then sadly passed away, I thought, there’s no way I’m not going to wear the Princess dress. I can be quite indecisive—I’ll take like seven headpieces to an event and then end up wearing a tracksuit—but I felt really connected to this dress. It has an olive leaf design which I feel reflects me and my family and our home in Sicily that we’ve been coming to for 15 years now. It really does make me feel like a magical punk princess—I actually well up when I talk about it.”
The bride, who is the daughter of Hollywood’s favorite hard man Ray Winstone and an actor in her own right (“I was doing a play in the West End when we first started planning which was a healthy distraction, but now I’m knee deep in lace!”) has been a fixture on London’s party scene for years, and her wide circle of friends encompasses some of the city’s brightest creative talents—a fact reflected in both Jaime’s decadent Sicilian celebrations and her wedding wardrobe. For one thing, Kim Jones, creative director of both Fendi and Dior Men’s, stepped in to finish Jaime’s bridal look following Westwood’s death at the end of last year. “I’ve been friends with Kim since he was doing Umbro, I think he’s a complete genius,” she explains. “When Vivienne sadly passed he offered, beautifully, to pick up the baton. He has been my rock.”
Another close friend of the bride, jewelry designer Hannah Warner, was behind her “mesmerizing” diamond ring, while the model (and granddaughter of Vivienne Westwood) Cora Corré gifted her a pearl garter to wear under her gown. As well as taking care of Jaime’s party dress, Annie Doble, the founder of Kate Moss’s favourite vintage store Annie’s Ibiza, also dressed her “powerhouse” crew of 19 bridesmaids (including one Cara Delevingne). The artist Tim Rockins, meanwhile, sketched an emblem that combines the bride and groom’s initials for their wedding invitations. The couple loved the results so much that they passed it to Kim Jones, who incorporated the intertwined Js as beadwork on Jaime’s veil and gloves. “The heart and creativity poured into these custom pieces will stay with me forever,” Jaime says.
Jones also presented her with a pair of diamanté Fendi shoes—“the most beautiful things I’ve ever put on my feet”—with Jaime confessing that footwear is one area where her characteristic indecisiveness did kick in. “[Thinking about] shoes has been a nightmare!” she cries, pointing out the rocky terrain at Tonnara di Scopello, the pretty Sicilian fishing village Jaime and James chose as the backdrop for their “shamanic” ceremony. The bride sensibly chose to give herself options, packing towering Terry de Havilland platforms, Marc Jacobs Kiki boots, and a pair of Vivienne Westwood jelly shoes in addition to her Fendi bridal heels before boarding her flight to Sicily, where the extended Winstone family congregates every summer at their home in Agrigento. “I’m going to do a few practice walks! And I’ll have my dad’s sturdy stance to lean on as we make our way down the aisle.”
As for the groom’s look: “James is head to toe in Dior. Me and James not so secretly see ourselves as the Jay-Z and Beyoncé of east London,” Jaime continues, laughing, “So we referenced the amazing Dior suit by Kim that Jay-Z wore, a classic tux but with a sash detail as a twist. It just felt really masculine and chic.” (The bride, a self-confessed “AP girl,” incorporated her own Beyoncé reference via her Agent Provocateur wedding lingerie, which included the sparkling solar corset the artist wore on her Club Renaissance tour.) “I love that my Vivienne dress reflects the punk roots of me and my family, then we’ve got classic London represented by Kim, plus Fendi bringing that Italian spirit.”
Beyond the fashion, the bride and groom’s family and industry friends offered their services on the entertainment front, too. The couple’s son, Raymond, was “contemplating a bubble gun”, while a rendition of “Love Me Tender” by the father of the bride, who wore a purple Gresham Blake suit to walk his daughter down the aisle, was included on the order of service. “Elvis Presley was my first love,” Jaime explains. “My beautiful sisters have written poems to read, and we’ve also got an amazing traditional Sicilian band that has played at every ceremony we’ve had here, including our son’s christening. And hopefully, Bobby Gillespie will get his tambourine out…”
The many DJs in the congregation—including Princess Julia, Chloé Caillet, Itchy Rich, Blunt Shank, and Damian Lazarus—were tasked with keeping the celebrations going into the night at the post-ceremony “cave rave,” with Jaime changing into her Annie Doble party dress and a Mia Farrow-inspired headdress, sourced by hairstylist Eamonn Hughes and designed by Ashish. “I love a headpiece! And my party dress is stunning, so fun to dance in—with wings so that I can float around as a new goddess wifey.” The couple’s friend, designer Martine Rose, provided the groom’s party look, and sneaker maker Benji Blunt and Adidas consultant Gary Aspden collaborated on one final pair of shoes for Jaime: bespoke bridal Sambas, “for when things get really serious on the dancefloor.”
“I’ve had to pinch myself many, many times,” Jaime says of watching her vision for her wedding come to life, and in such a special place. “There’s something about Sicily, the volcanic land, the energy… it’s basically a giant crystal,” she adds, explaining why she and James chose to make the beauty of the island and the elements central to their celebrations. “Tonnara di Scopello is so rustic and real, it doesn’t need any additional decoration. It’s about love at the end of the day.”
Luke Rennard1/61Jaime Winstone and James Suckling exchanged vows in picturesque Tonnara di Scopello, in Sicily.
Luke Rennard2/61The couple’s wedding planner, Pearl van den Ende of Rock and Raven, “let us run wild with ideas, and then basically made it all happen,” says the bride.
