INVITES YOU TO THE WEDDING OF THE YEAR
7 June 2024
It was the society wedding of the year, with a handsome groom who is worth billions and our future King playing a key role as usher.
So when the Duke of Westminster, who shares a close connection to the royal family, married his beautiful bride Olivia Henson in the splendour of Chester Cathedral, throngs of well-wishers gathered in the streets to witness the spectacle.
“It was an overwhelmingly happy day for them,” a friend of Hugh and his new wife tells HELLO!. “They were beaming from ear to ear all day and so happy and relaxed. They were over the moon with how everything looked. Hugh and Olivia are very much in love, and looking forward to a lifetime of happiness together.”
Stepping out of a vintage 1930 Bentley with her father Rupert, Olivia, 31, made her grand arrival at the cathedral moments before the midday ceremony, breathtaking in a bespoke Emma Victoria Payne bridal gown.
FAMILY TRADITIONS
Adding a personal touch, the showstopping ivory silk dress featured bespoke floral embroidery with edgings from her great-great-grandmother’s wedding veil from around 1880.
The bride’s waterfall veil bore the couple’s initials and wedding date and tumbled over another family symbol: the Fabergé Myrtle Leaf Tiara, which has been used in Grosvenor weddings since 1906. For her “something blue”, Olivia chose a pair of silk velvet-bow heels by Silvia Lago.
Carrying a colourful country garden bouquet containing sweet peas, ox-eye daisies, irises, roses and clematis picked from the grounds of the Grosvenor family seat, Eaton Hall, the bride, who was accompanied by the Duke’s three young nieces as her bridesmaids, laughed and smiled while waving to the cheering onlookers.
As she entered the cathedral, her 6.5ft silk crepe satin train and delicate veil billowed majestically behind her in the breeze, evoking “oohs” and “aahs” from onlookers.
Hugh, 33, was dapper in a morning suit and mauve tie, arriving before his bride in a green Land Rover alongside his three best men, who are all close friends.
Excitement had been building ever since the Prince of Wales arrived at the cathedral shortly after 10.30am to carry out his duties as usher.
“The atmosphere was fantastic throughout the day,” says hello! reporter Is
