To think that the brides dresses and bridesmaids dresses in My Big fat Gypsie wedding are really tacky

[pigletmania]

Well they are! Nothing against the travelling community, they have good morals and attitdes, but imo the dresses were hideious! That poor baby in what can be described as a toilet roll holder thing . Luminous green bridesmaid dresses that look like Las Vegas showgirls, and brides dresses weighing 27 stone .

Poor health mainly due I would think to poor living conditions, poor sanitation, dislike in participation of outsiders systems, so major reluctance to attend health care settings/hospitals etc. Poor diet and normalised heavy drinking don't help either.

I can't imagine a traveller ever voluntarily attending a mental health professional of any kind, to be honest

I think that the Boden brigade is boring and dull rather like a uniform gosh i am being so racist!

Even one of the traveller ladies (sammy jo I think) said that some of the wedding dresses were a bit tacky and she wanted something different, I did like her brides and bridesmaids dresses actually! Its a matter of taste. Jordans dress was the same and I did not like that, so am i being racist against Jordan . This is not meant to be a political thread just one about dress styles so what get over yourslves some of you like Lucyellensmum. Stop putting a political slant on things when there is none. Yes i am responsible for my OP but not the views on people on here btw so stop attacking me for views that are not mine

Most wedding dresses are tacky, tbh. But not as tacky as the people running and commenting on that Tacky Weddings site.

Fio in my area you are asked if yourself and DH are related on the initial form for the midwife booking in appointment as a matter of course.

I don't remember it being a standard question when DD was born but it was three years ago when I was having DS.

When DD was diagnosed it was asked, yes. The hospital is in East London so a fair percent of patients do have consanguinity.

Those statistics are harsh. 10% before two and 50% before 39?

piglet,I am married to a Romany gypsy and I have ssen nothing offensive in your comments.
I have no knowledge of the Irish travelling community ,only Romany gypsies but what I think has happened over the years that some have been accepted and have integrated into mainstream life,others have encountered racialist behaviour and have decided that the modern 21st century life is not for them,therefore keeping in their own communities,creating a them and us attitude.

Thanks bubbles, I am from an Armenian family and do have views on their dress sense at functions like weddings and funerals. My great auntie wore a big feather like contraption for a funeral it was . Btw my dress sense is not that good at all . As for birth defects, if you marry within family especially the closer you are they do happen its a fact, whether its a travelling family or any other family. I know an Italian family and they have married counsins but had to be tested before to make sure that any childen they had would not carry birth defects.

piglet I though the larger lady was pregnant.

I watched this with a mixture of sadness and admiration.

The girls really do dress like sluts when they are going after the boys but apparently they don't advocate sex before marriage OR divorce.

The girl at the end looked like a frightened rabbit and was obviously dreading leaving her lovely parents.

The dresses reminded me of those things with the doll inside that you put over a loo roll though.

Very interesting posts, runnybottom.

I too found it interesting that they dress very provocatively at "do's"- the horse fair episode for example- but I suppose the girls are being paraded in front of their potential husbands. No worse than you'd see in the town centre on a Saturday night- and they aren't allowed to drink.
I thought the dresses were ghastly- but then meringue dresses are a no-no for me anyway. Agree with Piglet- most of the women looked very Katie Price-esque- dyed black hair and orange skin ,.The very little children in bonnets and full crinolines looked like Elizabethan children.
Sad that the girls do not get an education.

Off topic again but LEM the term "birth defect" is unpleasant. I stand by the rest of my post but I don't think I'll be using that phrase again.

I thought the programme was fascinating! I also would like to see a whole series of 'fly on the wall' programes about the gypsy/traveller communities. Maybe there would be a lot less prejudice if we had a greater understanding of their culture.

Some traveller children attend our local schools and they all marry young and just don't divorce.

I did notice that the behaviour at one wedding was not very decorous (is that the right word?) which could be rather intimidating if you're not used to it. In that respect I could see why some venues are not too keen to hold gypsy weddings.

pigletmania my dad is a jobbing musician who has played at a few Armenian weddings in the past...he tells me they're quite a spectacle! He always had a great time though (and came away with a lot of tips).

He he he yes they are indeed Cyteen they are something, that is why I did not want one for myself.. Oh sockers was she oh no,i did not realise, not something i would like if i was pg.

but they are a good laugh with plenty of food and shouting and talking very loudly very unEnglish

Haven't seen this but would like to - what channel was it on?

I read an article recently about how the Romany language is basically almost extinct, which seemed really sad to me. They quoted some of it and it sounds as if it might be related to Russian, does anyone know?

As far as weddings go, there was a little girl who came to my primary school while her family stopped over near us - I remember being so fascinated by the thick, ornate gold earrings she had (aged about 6), and how not one, but three of her big sisters were getting married soon! Wish I'd been old enough to ask more about it all.

I kind of got the impression that because they and the boys knew that sex was off the cards, they felt at ease to dress however they wanted? Do you see what I mean?

I found it interesting, but I know a few traveller families (both Romany and Irish descent) and have seen very little sign of the activities that people normally throw at them as groups.

lucyellen i think you're being slightly precious tbh...AND if you want to look at this from the other side,when asked if they would ever marry "country" folk which is what they call non travellers,they all laughed and said "naaaahhh,we wouldn't have that!" or some such line.one could veiw THAT as racist/prjudiced/judgemental!no?

imagine your horror if you were watching a documentary where someone was asked if they'd ever marry a traveller and they gave the same response...would that still leave "a bad taste in your mouth?"

feel free to trot along on your high horse

I think that it was on c4 cutting edge documentary

I did find the programme so fascinating and it did dispel some of the stereotypes tbh. They do have such a close community network and there is no lonliness or feelings of being alone kind of thing. sorry i am writing in a rush as dd is wrecking havoc

I can vouch for the venue-trashing issue - my Mum used to run a Community Association hall and we had a large traveller community in the local area. Some of them were Members of the Community Association Social Club but, after a couple of wakes and one wedding, Mum had to ban any traveller events at the venue because the damage and repair costs were too high (they were a charity). Then one slipped in under the radar - when the busloads of guests started to arrive, Mum realised what had happened and kept a close eye on events. Sadly, one drunken thug guest from a different area took exception to Mum refusing to serve him any more drink and bashed her head off the brick pillar next to the bar. We had to take her to hospital for treatment for concussion, while the travellers whisked the offender away and out of the area asap, before the police arrived. Despite them being very sorry that Mum had got hurt, they closed ranks and refused to name the offender, even though they knew who he was.

The local travellers were very apologetic, they had a good level of respect for Mum, but as far as she was concerned that was it - no more traveller events at all - and if she had discovered late in the day that a booked event was a traveller event, she would have cancelled it. It was even on the booking form.

it was fascinating.
Hubby has just told some of the guys that did security at celeb weddings madonnas etc often do security at traveller weddings and wakes as it is the only way a venue can be booked if secueity is present.

saying that there are brawls at many of my family events and on the face of it we are very middle class.

i loved the dresses. felt really sorry for joan she did look terrified. abig reality check for her me thinks.

I know what you're saying there pigletmania and I agree that large, close-knit families/communities can offer a lot to their members, but I also think there's a special type of loneliness that comes with having no personal freedom. The last girl in the programme, Joan, looked positively terrified at the thought of leaving all she knew behind. I can't help thinking she might be very lonely as she tries to establish her new life.