‘HOLLYOAKS’ STAR
GEMMA
MERNA
WEDS HER SOULMATE
WITH HER CO-STARS
AS BRIDESMAIDS
‘The fairytale
happened’
Hollyoaks actress Gemma Merna looks the model bride on her big day (above). For her marriage to businessman Ian Minton (far right), Gemma chose
four soap chums to be her bridesmaids: Nicole Barber-Lane, Jennifer Metcalfe, Leah Hackett and Jorgie Porter (together, above right). Though Ian and
Gemma moved in together just a fortnight after meeting, they waited four years to tie the knot. “We put ourselves to the test,” says Gemma
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emma Merna cried copious tears before
G
walking down the aisle last month to marry
her love of four years, Ian Minton.
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“What’s all this about?” thought the Hollyoaks
actress, who plays ditzy Carmel Valentine in the
Channel 4 soap. “I’m happy. I thought we might
giggle through our vows. I didn’t expect tears.”
“When I saw Gemma well up walking up the
aisle, I could barely hold myself together,” says
Ian. “Then I noticed that all the bridesmaids
and every guest in the first five rows were
blubbing, too.”
But the tears were ones of joy. Gemma’s
wedding day couldn’t have been more different
from that of her on-screen character Carmel’s,
whose new husband Calvin, played by Ricky
Whittle, was shot dead at their reception.
Thankfully, no major drama befell Gemma
and Ian’s wedding, which took place at West
Tower in the village of Aughton in Lancashire.
There were two endearing mishaps, however,
with the couple fluffing their vows. Ian missed
an “l”, so took his “awful wedded wife”; Gemma,
meanwhile, was gazing so intently into Ian’s
eyes that she almost forgot his name.
But the pink champagne sparkled, the
pick’n’mix candy cart was seldom free of
queues and a vintage New York taxi fitted with a
photo booth gave the couple’s friends a chance
to fill a souvenir album.
The setting for the ceremony was beautiful
– a white room filled with beribboned chairs
and an abundance of white roses. The evening
party rocked, with live singing performances
and a raunchy dance act. There was a lavish
barbecue and a five-tiered cake that was part
fruit cake, part chocolate cake, part carrot cake
and part vanilla sponge.
“We wanted everyone to have as great a time
as we knew we would,” Gemma tells hello!
after the wedding. “As a couple, we’re
traditional with a modern twist. That’s how we
planned the day.”
This perhaps explains why their big day got
off to a such unconventional start. Gemma, her
four bridesmaids and her mother Brenda were
sleeping soundly at the country home Gemma
shares with Ian when, at 1.30am, they were
woken by someone knocking at the front door.
There stood Gemma’s dishevelled fiancé,
demanding a kiss before spending his last
night as a bachelor at his parents’ house.
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‘When I saw Gemma
well up, I could
barely hold
myself together’
After a nerve-wracking wait, Ian is overjoyed when Gemma finally makes it up the aisle (above). Having been overcome with emotion, Gemma
regains her composure (below right). Mother of the bride Brenda (below left, with Gemma) found it emotional watching her “baby” get married
The bridesmaids tried shooing him
away. “But if I want to see her, I can,
can’t I?” Ian implored. Gemma
melted and an embrace followed.
“Can you believe it?” laughed
Brenda the next day. “He worships
her, doesn’t he?”
THE BEST OF FRIENDS
Recalling the early days in their
relationship Gemma, 28, and Ian,
30, tell how they moved in together
only a fortnight after meeting in a
Liverpool bar. On that first occasion,
they just exchanged glances, but
both returned the following week in
the hope of seeing each other again.
“I thought Gemma was gorgeous
and I found her very natural and
humble,” says Ian.
“We had a few dates and, instead
of short skirts and heels, I wore a
tracksuit and no make-up every
time,” adds Gemma.
“Ian was the first potential
boyfriend I’d allowed myself to be so
natural with. I just thought, ‘This is
me, so accept me for me.’
“It kind of worked. I just found
him really nice – so much so that,
initially, I thought he might be too
nice. We loved each other’s company
and found it easy to be together.
Looking back, I can see that
everything was quick. But when
something is right, you just know.
We were best friends and a great
team from the start.
“And I think we’ve put ourselves
to the test by waiting four years to
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Ian and Gemma walk down the
aisle as man and wife. On being
asked what she first liked about
Ian, Gemma giggles: “I’d just
moved into my first flat and Ian
is quite handy with plumbing in
washing machines and putting
up mirrors…” Ian’s DIY skills
certainly came in handy when
Gemma lost her engagement
ring (right) and he needed to
prise up decking to retrieve it
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pair went for a celebratory drink at
their favourite beach bar. As she
chatted excitedly, Gemma gestured
expansively and the brilliant-cut
diamond engagement ring, which
did not quite fit, flew off and
disappeared beneath the decking.
“It was pitch black,” says Ian. “You
couldn’t see a thing.”
Bar staff advised deferring a
search until morning, but Ian would
have none of it. “How could we have
slept a wink?”
He borrowed a crowbar from
the hotel and, by the light of a
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get married, by designing and
building our own house from
scratch, then adding three dogs to
the mix.”
Ian proposed a year after they
met, while on holiday in the
Maldives. He’d organised dinner on
the beach and went down on one
knee. “So the fairytale happened,”
he recalls, “and I sat down again,
thinking, ‘Thank goodness.’
“Then Gemma said, ‘Oh no
– I didn’t get to savour the moment
enough. Do it again.’”
After a repeat performance the
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‘As soon as I tried
the dress on, I didn’t
want to take it off.
It has great style’
pink rubber keyring torch, set about prising up
the boards. Two hours later the ring was found.
“I’m very spoilt,” admits Gemma, smiling as Ian
recounts the story. “Ian continues to surprise me.
The weekend of my hen party I came back from a
day’s archery and shooting with my bridesmaids
to prepare for the evening. There was a box on
my bed with a note saying, ‘All my love, Ian.’
Inside was a pair of Christian Louboutin shoes for
my night out. I’m a lucky girl.”
Mindful of her good fortune, Gemma never
once morphed into a bridezilla. “I wasn’t one of
those little girls who dreams of a big wedding and
a fancy dress,” she says. “But I did have a stressy
moment seven weeks ago, when I was let down
over the dress and suddenly had nothing to wear.
Luckily, my wedding stylist, Martine Alexander,
and make-up artist, Zoey Clarkson, were with me
when I got the call.”
“Everything happens for a reason,” Zoey
reassured Gemma. And so it proved. Gemma
found a photo in a magazine of her perfect gown.
Martine made a couple of calls and the very dress
by San Patrick was soon sourced from The
Wedding Shop in Alderley Edge.
“As soon as I tried the dress on, I didn’t want to
take it off,” says Gemma. “It had great style, but it
didn’t turn me into some bridal stranger. I felt
like me, but the best possible me.”
The 230 guests included The Only Way is Essex couple Sam Faiers and Joey Essex (above and
above right). Many of the Hollyoaks cast – past and present – also attended, including (below,
from left) Kent Riley, Sarah Jayne Dunn, Melissa Walton, Steph Waring, Helen Pearson, Hollie
Jay-Bowes, James Atherton, Stephanie Davis, Kieron Richardson, Sheree Murphy (also right,
with Gemma), Alex Fletcher, Glen Wallace and Ricky Whittle
PRINCESS BRIDE
Characteristically down to earth, an hour before
the civil ceremony was due to start Gemma was
still in a tracksuit and wellies, feeding her dogs
– two St Bernards and a West Highland terrier.
“If I’m late and the registrar goes, we’ll just
have to have a party,” she joked at the time.
The transformation was swift and extreme as
Gemma, who had shed half a stone before the
wedding, was buttoned into the palest ivory silk
dress, appliquéd with lace and adorned with tiny
jewels. It was set off by a long train and veil, with a
sequined headpiece.
Her “something old” was a pair of pearly Yves
Saint Laurent shoes that Ian had given her. Her
“something borrowed” was the headpiece, which
had been lent to her by Martine, and her
“something blue” was a garter that she forgot to
put on until she was fully dressed.
Gemma would have been only slightly and
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fashionably late had it not been for the wave of
emotion that left her unable even to step out
of her white wedding limo. The bridesmaids – all
members of Gemma’s Hollyoaks family – rallied
around and make-up brushes restored her glow.
But then Gemma wept again as she walked up
the aisle on the arm of her father, Dennis.
“When I walked in, took my first couple of
steps, heard the music and saw Ian standing
there, I was just overcome,” says Jemma.
The groom also admits to feeling nervous
while waiting for Gemma to arrive, particularly
when a woman with a serious expression
approached him. Happily, she only wanted
to know whether he’d like a little cosmetic
touch-up.
Composure returned as the registrar outlined
the meaning of marriage: “That you may always
love, care and support each other…” Laughter
rippled around the room when Ian’s “lawful”
became “awful” and the registrar asked Gemma:
“Shall I make him say it again?”
The service ended with the couple sharing a
lingering kiss to warm applause. There was
a further flurry of tissues when the gospel choir
sang Adele’s Make You Feel My Love.
Out on the lawns during the reception, the
newlyweds mingled with family and friends.
Great friend Ricky Whittle had flown in especially
from Los Angeles, where he now lives and works.
“I married Gemma twice on Hollyoaks, so
I thought I’d better be there for her when she
married for real,” he told hello!. “I really teared
up seeing her in her dress.”
“I love weddings,” said actress Sheree Murphy,
who now lives in Australia with her footballer
husband Harry Kewell. The pair had their fourth
child, Dolly, four months ago but Sheree, who
shared a dressing room with Gemma during her
spell on Hollyoaks, looked svelte in a fuchsia dress
from Céline. “Just to see Gemma and Ian finally
get here and married is a thrill,” she added.
“Gemma and Ian make the per fect
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‘We wanted everyone to
have as great a time as
we knew we would’
Keeping to their theme of traditional with
a modern twist, Gemma and Ian’s cake
catered for all tastes, being made of layers
of chocolate, fruit, carrot and vanilla
sponge (above). The couple take to the
dancefloor (left) before Gemma throws her
white rose bouquet (below), which was
caught by Hollyoaks’s Stephanie Davis,
who plays Sinead O’Connor. “I’ve been
single too long,” she announced
NEW BEGINNINGS
As evening fell, the 230 guests went wild for drag
act The Globe Girls, who drew Gemma and her
mum into their bump-and-grind version of All
That Jazz. Singer Nikki Belle got the whole room
rocking before a set from 2 Shoes, the 2011
X Factor duo.
Ian and Gemma’s first dance was to Lonestar’s
Amazed, with its chorus: “I’m so in love with you…
It just keeps getting better.”
“That song will always be special to us now,” say
the couple, who left for their Las Vegas
honeymoon soon after the wedding.
But the highlight of their day was Gemma’s
entrance and the moment she and Ian locked
eyes. “She looked stunning… beautiful. I was
over the moon,” he says.
The new Mr and Mrs Minton have much to
look forward to. Gemma has an exciting Hollyoaks
storyline coming up and businessman Ian is
about to launch a flavoured water. Will marriage
alter their relationship?
“It won’t change it, but it will complete us,”
they both agree.
And what of starting a family?
“We believe that first you marry and then you
have kids,” says Ian.
Gemma would like to have four children. Ian,
concerned that a quartet could limit his choice of
car, thinks two would be fine.
“Let’s start with one,” smiles Gemma,
H
“and see how it goes.”
INTERVIEW: MADELEINE KINGSLEY
PHOTOS: KIP CARROLL ASSISTED BY TREVOR D’ARCY
STYLING: MARTINE ALEXANDER
GEMMA’S HAIR: VINCENT ALLENBY AND BEN BRADLEY
FROM TREVOR SORBIE MANCHESTER
IAN’S HAIR: CATHERINE WILLIAMS FROM
STUART JAMES, ORMSKIRK
MAKE-UP: ZOEY CLARKSON, USING MAC AND ILLAMASQUA,
ASSISTED BY COLLETTE THORPE AND NATHALIE BLAKEY
WEDDING VENUE: WEST TOWER, LANCS. VISIT: WESTTOWER.COM. WEDDING CO-ORDINATION: MARQUESA DE VARELA INTL LTD
couple,” said bridesmaid Jennifer Metcalfe, who
plays Gemma’s on-screen sister Mercedes.
“They are each other’s world,” added Nicole
Barber-Lane, who plays Myra, mother of
Mercedes and Carmel.
In his speech after the wedding breakfast,
Gemma’s father said he was delighted to be
proved wrong in his belief that no one was good
enough for his daughter.
The groom’s dad and best man, Steve, added
that he firmly believed there would be no
drought in the region now, thanks to all the tears
he’d seen flowing earlier.
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