Us Weekly USA × September 30, 2002
Gwen & Gavin’s Beautiful Day
It was a nice day for a pink wedding when rock royals Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale made it official in a regal, romantic London affair. Here, every perfect detail.
Her hair has been almost every color imaginable: pink, blue, even black streaked platinum. She’s worn bindis, multicolored braces and the occasional bra over her shirt. So it came as no shock when No Doubt singer Gwen Stefani, at her September 14 wedding to longtime love Gavin Rossdale of the band Bush, entered London’s St. Paul’s church in a white-and-pink silk faille gown designed by friend John Galliano for Christian Dior. “She looked very beautiful,” Galliano told Us. But for the self-described “girly-girl,” that tweak on tradition was the event’s one and only (aside from Rossdale’s beloved puli dog, Winston, sitting by his master during the ceremony; “Winston enjoyed himself,” Rossdale told Us). From the over-sized pink roses to the hour long ceremony, everything about the affair was a full-blown, full-on fairytale. “She cried, he cried and so did the dog,” says Galliano. In fact, at one point during the vows, Stefani, 32, was fighting back so many tears that one of the officiants - a Church of England vicar who was the 34-year-old Rossdale’s religious-studies teacher as a child - gently urged, “Come on, you’ve got to say it.”
The tears were surely those of joy - and perhaps relief, considering how long the road to matrimony had been for these two rock royals. With six years of on-again, off-again dating, a nine-month engagement and countless transatlantic flights behind them (she lives in LA; he in London), the couple at long last decided on Rossdale’s hometown for their 130-guest affair. The eclectic attendees included families (she has three siblings; he has one), bandmates, actor Jonny Lee Miller (Angelina Jolie’s first husband) and - what else? - a transvestite named Marilyn.
The Big Day
The festivities kicked off on Thursday, three days before the actual “I do’s,” when the couple invited guests for drinks at Rossdale’s $2.3 million five-story Primrose Hill house. Afterward, the party moved to the Feng Sheng Princess, a swank Chinese restaurant that has long been a favorite of Stefani’s and Rossdale’s (they reserved the space just two weeks earlier). Between bites of sea bass (Rossdale fed his bride-to-be with chopsticks), guests gave speeches as Stefani bounced a niece on her knee. “Thank you all so much for coming to my wedding,” Stefani told guests. “I feel so emotional!” One guest recalls a toast made by a No Doubt member: “When we first discovered Gwen was going out with a British rocker, we were really disappointed and thought he’d be a real poser,” said the bandmate. “It turned out they were perfect for each other. Gavin is the cat’s cream.” At night’s end, Stefani announced, “It’s my orders that all teenagers go dancing after this!” Around 12:30 a.m., the lovebirds were spotted outside Kabaret, a local hotspot.
At 11 a.m. the next day, the couple hit St. Paul’s for a rehearsal. Meanwhile, at Home House, a private club nestled in a town house, the staff geared up for the wedding reception. A $23,000 blue-and-cream tent had already been filled with more than a dozen illuminated ficus trees and hundreds of white candles. Waiters were scheduled in 12-hour shifts so guest could party from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. “It’s going to be a great occasion,” Douglas Rossdale, Gavin’s dad and a retired doctor, told Us before hand. “I don’t have a role in the wedding. I’m just going to enjoy it.”
On Saturday morning, Rossdale and friends stepped into the Queens, one of the groom’s favorite pubs; Stefani’s longtime hairstylist Danilo and Galliano reported for duty at Home House, where Stefani had slept the previous night (keeping the British custom, the couple didn’t see each other the night before). At the church, two bouncers ensured guests had the black-and-silver invitation. The courtyard, transformed by Sophie Muller, the director of seven No Doubt videos, had trees adorned with roses, hydrangeas and silver stars. Pink roses rimmed the doorway, which was topped with two silver Gs for their names.
Then shortly after 3 p.m., Rossdale, his dog, Winston, and his six groomsmen - three of whom shared the best-man title - emerged from a silver Mercedes van in dark suits and sunglasses. Even Winston was dolled up. “He had his hair done and had a lei of flowers,” Bone, Rossdale’s bodyguard, told Us. But when church bells rang at 5 p.m. - the official start time - the bride was nowhere in sight. “[Rossdale] wasn’t nervous,” a groomsman told Us. “He knew she had a big dress.” Bagpipers passed time as everyone waited… and waited. When designer Galliano finally strolled in 45 minutes later, it was a sign the bride was on her way.
At long last, a 1970 black-and-cobalt-blue Rolls-Royce drove up. Breathtaking in her one-shoulder gown, the bottom blossoming from white into camellia pink, “Gwen was a stunning bride,” Danilo later told Us. “She looked fabulous.”
The bride and her father, part-time folk musician Dennis Stefani, walked down the aisle to “Here Comes the Bride.” Three clergy members presided, including a Catholic priest to represent the bride’s faith. “It was beautiful,” one gushed to Us. “They had traditional vows, [but] there was no ‘obey,’ just ‘to protect.’ ” At the reception, guests dined under the tent on risotto with saffron and bone marrow, spaghetti with octopus and venison. Later, four DJs spun 1970s and ’80s funk and dance music, including “Best of My Love.” In what one witness called “a very LA move,” arrivals checked in with a bouncer armed with a list. (That list included no-show Macy Gray, who had been expected to bring up to 10 people.)
The Courtship
The path to the altar wasn’t always scattered with rose petals. In fact, anyone who’s ever listened to No Doubt knows Stefani’s sometimes tortured love history, from her seven-year relationship with bandmate Tony Kanal to her Rossdale roller coaster. The five-foot-six Stefani met the six-foot-one Rossdale in 1995 when her band opened for his. In many ways, they were opposites. Stefani was raised in a conservative home in Orange County, California, where she was a piccolo-playing, churchgoing teen. Rossdale, raised in London by his aunt after his parents divorced when he was 11, was a Sid Vicious fan who was nearly expelled from boarding school; by 17 he was running with a wild, cross-dressing crowd.
But Gwen and Gavin had chemistry - if not geography - on their side. From the start, theirs was a daunting transatlantic romance. “The only reason we’ve been successful is we’ve been able to afford it, first of all,” Stefani has said of their plane trips. Rossdale’s reputation as a chick magnet didn’t help. “I know who those girls are and know exactly what goes on backstage,” Stefani once said. “I wish I had a little leash to walk Gavin around.”
Since their relationship began, Rossdale has been linked to All Saints’ Nicole Appleton (now engaged to Oasis’ Liam Gallagher) and the Corrs’ Andrea Corr. “I caught you/ Your hands are red/ Now I’m your broken detective,” Stefani sang in “Detective,” on last year’s Rock Steady, which some suspected referred to Rossdale’s Corr tryst.
On New Year’s Day 2002, Rossdale finally popped the question. “I definitely wanted to do it the right way, so I took my time,” he told Us. He purchased the diamond ring in Amsterdam; Stefani later had Beverly Hills jeweler Neil Lane make it smaller. “She didn’t like the idea that the ring would have to be cut,” Lane tells Us. “So I designed a tighter-fitting eternity band to hold [it].” Rossdale to Us in April, “I based my life on not being traditional. I guess [getting married] is my most traditional move yet! But that’s cool. I haven’t looked back.”
What now?
With no announced plans for a honeymoon, Stefani and Rossdale will re-rejoice on September 28 in LA at a larger reception (sources say it will be at the home of Interscope president Jimmy Iovine). Expected guests include Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston (whose wedding Stefani and Rossdale attended) and Carson Daly. “We didn’t want to impose on anyone… so we decided to do it in both places,” Rossdale has said. But it looks like there’s no end to the bi-continental commute. On October 9, No Doubt starts a two-month U.S. tour. Of course, Stefani may have plans for an even bigger project. “I’m 32 and I think about babies a lot,” she has said. “I’ll make one more album and then get pregnant.” Even if that doesn’t happen right away, friends are psyched about the collaboration, in whatever form. “If Gavin and Gwen don’t make beautiful music together,” one guest toasted, “I don’t know what I’ll do.”
Gwen’s Big Day Details
The Veil - A long, hand-embroidered silk tulle veil with antique lace, designed by Galliano. Like the gown, the lower part of the veil was rose pink on the bottom.
The Hair - Stylist Danilo tells Us that Stefani’s do, a variation of a braided chignon, was designed to be “fantastically bridal.” He used about eight jeweled pins, some of which he designed with Dior. “I got really busy with the diamonds,” Danilo says. “I love to put millions of dollars in women’s hair.”
The Shoes - Galliano designed special pink platforms for Stefani.
The Bridesmaids’ Dresses - The off-the-shoulder frocks designed by Galliano, were cut on the bias in pink chiffon.
The Flowers - Pink roses (both silk and real) on the church gates, hydrangeas in the church courtyard, red-rose center-peices on the tables.
The Wheels - Rossdale arrived in a silver Mercedes van. Stefani showed up in a black-and-cobalt-blue 1970 Rolls-Royce. Guests were transported in classic red British double-decker buses.
The Cake - Galliano described the four-tiered, three-foot-high cake trimmed with roses as “pink and Gwen.”
The Logo - Stefani and Rossdale created a custom logo of two Gs for the menu and invitations.
The Music - Bagpipes galore and DJs spinning ’70s and ’80s dance tunes.
Gwen’s Other Love: John Galliano!
When Gwen Stefani and John Galliano first met at the 1997 VH1/Vogue Fashion Awards, the trend-setting singer was a nominee for the Most Fashionable Artist award and the rebel designer had recently taken over at Christian Dior. She lost the award to Fiona Apple but won a fan in the Brit. Stefani was soon spotted front row at his Paris shows and in his wild designs at the Grammy Awards. Her hand-painted silk tulle wedding gown was, of course, their ultimate collaboration. “[It] matched her personality,” Galliano tells Us. “Gwen has an incredible sense of style. She is a real contemporary icon.”
Libra & Scorpio
“Gwen is a Libra. She’s all about the balance and scales, and I’m usually bouncing around and on fire. But she carries a special fire extinguisher to keep me down.” - Rossdale on Stefani
Us astrologer Cheryl Lee Terry says,
“This marriage has legs. For Gavin [born October 30, 1967] she is stability. For Gwen [born October 3, 1969], he provides emotional security.” Terry predicts that their first year of marriage will be “their most difficult year” but that “They’re going to have children within two years.”
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