Non gypsy Sam

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Puts her sister into a mini wedding dress in true gypsy tradition

Kate Middleton and Prince William eat your wedding hearts out, because the real weddings to watch are those on My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding.

The series, which has earned Channel 4 some of the highest ratings this year, comes as a result of a one off Cutting Edge film in 2010, which revealed the extravagant nuptials between young traveller couples.

However as fun as it may be there’s also a certain amount of seriousness, with gypsy rights being portrayed as poor. This was shown last night as the gypsy community were evicted from their plot of land (which they had bought) because they had illegally built on it. The reason? Very small travelling communities can actually get planning permission from the council due to those in surrounding areas protesting against this.

The seriousness was of course in between the fun parts, which last night saw 17 year old Sam donning a huge pink butterfly dress complete with lights, to marry her traveller boyfriend Pete. However, the difference to this wedding was that Sam wasn’t born a gypsy – which in the community is rare – meaning she had to be accepted.

Then came the little gypsy girls’ first communions, which saw them preening and pouting for the special day. Spray tan made an appearance, as did mini style wedding dresses, and of course lots of bling.

They later changed into skimpy outfits for the party, which has ruffled many a critics feathers. They claim that the provocative dancing coupled with the outfits are not right for children so young, but as the community points out, these girls are not allowed out and marry for life. Their attire is also confined to the community.

Some agree, some don’t but I suppose that’s the whole point of this series. Yes it’s fun, but it does lead to some serious debate too.

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