Gemma Collins has pinned her hopes on a cold winter wedding when she ties the knot with fiancé Rami Hawash in a bid to eliminate possible perspiration on her big day.
The former TOWIE star told The Mirror that she was “not prepared” to sweat in her dress and make-up during a sizzling summer ceremony.
Speaking from the couple’s home in Essex, Gemma confirmed her dream of getting married at a five-star lavish hotel in posh West London and even suggested a ceremony more ‘open-plan’.
“I already know where I want the wedding, it’s going to be at The Claridge's and it’s going to be a winter wedding because I’m not prepared to sweat.
“I’m sorry, I’m not sweating in that dress and make-up.”
The 41-year-old's dream venue, located in Mayfair, has long-standing connections with royalty that have led to it sometimes being referred to as an 'annexe to Buckingham Palace'.
It is also no stranger to A-list celebrity guests and Hollywood actors, including Tom Cruise who dined there earlier this month.
Gemma, who got engaged to Rami, 48, last Christmas, longs for an intimate wedding with close family and a lively afterparty.
She added: “We will have a really lovely, earthy and beautiful party. But it will be somewhere like a woodland setting.”
Gemma has even toyed with the idea of changing up her five-star capital city hotel plans, holding the entire ceremony out in the sticks.
“The wedding is either going to be at The Claridge's or it’s going to be in the woods.
“I don’t mean like standing by a tree, it will be all fairy-lit and magical and, you know, earthy.
“I just get so much more now from nature.
“Before, my family would worry if I was in Knightsbridge too long because I get something called ‘Knightsbridge Fever’ and it just takes over me.
“I’m like ‘I’m gonna move up here, I’m selling the house in the country, I’m gonna live in London’, and I just don’t get that anymore.
“It’s nice to dip into it, but people need to connect with their real souls and at the end of the day my soul is with mother nature.
“You’ve just got to ask, in life, material possessions and material things, what do they actually mean? Nothing, you know.”
Gemma says in recent years her soul “has really grown” and she is now more of a spiritual person and a “heightened individual”.
“There’s more to life than a fancy watch,” she added.
She told The Mirror how “everything is wonderful” in her life right now and that “there is not one area in life that I am not happy in”.
“I’m the queen of my castle, I’ve got my own land, I’ve got my own home, I’ve got a pussycat, I’ve got a wonderful partner, I’ve got a beautiful stepson.
“I’ll be honest with you, I am a proper family girl, my mum has been at mine for three days and we’ve been talking plants and drinking tea, I’m very happy.
“I feel very content, I feel very secure, I feel very whole. I’ve got a wonderful partner who works exceptionally hard and he’s got his own business.
“Some days I ask Rami ‘can you give up your business?’ so we can go around the world and enjoy ourselves and he’s like ‘no’.
“I’m really lucky I’ve got someone with a strong work ethic that is doing really well for themselves as well as looking after me.
Speaking of finding quality time to spend with each other, as well as balancing everyday life, Gemma said: “Every weekend we’re together and obviously we live together.
“I think we’re in such a healthy relationship where we both support each other.
“Rami knows me as Gemma Collins, not The GC, so he knows it’s my work and he’s very encouraging so if I have to be away filming he supports that.
“He gets it, he allows me the space to breathe and do what I’ve got to do.
“He works 7 till 7 with his business, sometimes longer, and we’re just in a relationship where we both can breathe and be ourselves.
“The dynamic is really good and in a relationship, I think you’ve got to have respect and we both have a lot of that for each other and it allows us to get on and develop as our own individuals as well.”
