The Beckhams' Evolution

They’ve come a long way since they tied the knot in 1999 – as a family and on their style journey.

- Lara Atson

IT WASN’T exactly subtle. Matching thrones for the bride and groom and a nude sculpture of them atop their three-tier wedding cake. The 230 guests watched a single dove being released as they said their vows in the opulent Irish castle where they wed. 

She was – by 1999’s standards – a vision in a Vera Wang gown with a 6 m train, an 18-carat gold and diamond tiara designed by one of Princess Diana’s jewellers nestled atop her spiky black hair.

Fast forward 18 years and it’s a rather different situation from the $800 000 (R4,9 million at the time) affair. Only six guests in attendance at their home and no word on who wore what.

Unlike their widely publicised first wedding, David and Victoria Beckham’s ceremony to renew their vows came to light only when Becks recently spoke about it.

Their first wedding was over the top, the father of four admits. “We did throw a lot at it, because it was the thing to do around that time,” he told British radio programme Desert Island Discs on BBC Radio 4.

And the 41-year-old couldn’t resist taking a dig at himself and his wife for the matching purple outfits by British designer Antonio Berardi they wore.

“That was pretty bold. Victoria’s was pretty nice. Mine, I’m like what was I thinking? I look like the guys out of Dumb And Dumber when they went to that party and wore those ridiculous outfits. I even had a top hat in purple. Unbelievable.”