As a priest Gemma is usually the one conducting other people’s weddings, but now it’s her turn to become the bride – and she’s looking for the perfect dress.
In an episode of Say Yes To The Dress: Lancashire – which you can stream free on 9Now – Gemma told bridal designer Gok Wan exactly the kind of dress she was looking for.
“I want smooth, I don’t want hoops or like loads of faff, and number one, I want pockets,” Gemma said. “And I want to be able to jump in the pool in it at the end of the day!”
“I’m really used to being dressed neck-to-toe in black, I want to reconnect with the girl beneath the collar,” she added.
With tattoos, piercings and a quirky sense of humour and style, Gok noted that “there’s nothing traditional about Gemma”. Meet Gemma in the video below.
Gok quickly whisked Gemma into the changing room and had her try on a 1930s inspired drop-jersey dress.
Gemma was instantly in love with the dress saying, “I feel like an A-list celebrity on the red carpet at the Oscars.”
But she was concerned about winning over her opinionated mother Sue who she described as a “tough customer”.
Gemma showed off the slinky wedding dress to her entourage and was instantly met with smiles and squeals.
Her sister Claire gushed: “I love it, I love the back on it and the shape, and it looks stunning on you.”
But just as Gemma predicted, her mother Sue was her harshest critic.
Gemma’s mum doesn’t hold back when she sees her daughter in a wedding dress on Say Yes To The Dress: Lancashire on 9Now.
“It’s so clingy that you really need to make sure you go to the…” Sue said before bursting out into laughter.
“You can’t afford to put any weight on with that dress.”
The rest of the entourage awkwardly laughed branding Sue’s comments as “harsh”.
Gemma reminded her mum that she still hadn’t reached her weight loss goal but wasn’t far off.
“She [Sue] is abiding by the over 70 rule in that when you get to 70 you can say what you want!” Gemma’s friend Jessica said.
Gemma took her mum’s feedback with a grain of salt but told cameras: “My mum is brutal. She was properly horrible about it!”
Gok swooped in to do damage control and made light of Sue’s comments.
“You look beautiful, and if you want to go and eat a couple of takeaways then I won’t tell mum,” he joked.
As Gemma made her way back to the changing room to try on a “more bridal” gown, Sue still wasn’t finished voicing her opinion telling the entourage:
“You can see her pubic bone! It wasn’t her stomach that was the issue!”.
To see which dress priest Gemma ended up saying ‘yes’ to, watch ‘Ep 15 Hot Under the Collar’ of Say Yes To The Dress: Lancashire Season 2.
Can’t get enough? We’ve got even more clips of past brides below.
Chelsie was ‘heartbroken’ over her family’s harsh reaction to her wedding dress on Say Yes To The Dress: Lancashire on 9now.As Mel searches for her dream wedding dress, maid of honour Sara speaks her mind and leaves bridal stylist Gok speechless on Say Yes To The Dress: Lancashire on 9Now.