weddingindex.org Miniblog

Bride Marries in Dressing Gown to Give Husband a Head Start

Sometimes the truest wedding outfit is not satin and lace but the thing you wear while looking for the TV remote.

At Llanerch Vineyard in Hensol, Vale of Glamorgan, Ashleigh Stanley, 29, married her childhood sweetheart Jake Stanley, also 29, in a white dressing gown, slippers and hair rollers, with no make-up at all. Jake turned up in a black Under Armour top, shorts and white trainers. The pair, together for 13 years, treated the legal ceremony as a deliberately low-fuss prelude to a larger celebration.

The original plan had been a 150-guest ceremony with Ashleigh walking in to Calon Lân, a hymn loved by her gran. Because it could not be used in a civil service, the couple split the day in two: an intimate legal wedding first, then a celebrant ceremony later where the song could be included.

Ashleigh, from Merthyr Tydfil, decided the first ceremony should show Jake exactly what married life would look like, since pyjamas were how he usually saw her anyway. Her mother, Jake’s mother and Ashleigh’s daughter wore pink bridal pyjamas; their fathers and brothers also went casual. Venue staff said it was their first dressing gown wedding.

The legal ceremony took place on what would have been her gran’s 100th birthday. Later, Ashleigh changed into an off-the-shoulder white gown, with curled hair and full make-up. Guests, she said, loved the brisk 10-minute service because it left more time for the party.

Posted on 22 May 2026