Inside Edward Enninful and Alec Maxwell’s £600,000 wedding!

Edward Enninful is fashion royalty so it is only natural his wedding was fit for a king, and the Daily Mail has all the details!

The British Vogue editor-in-chief tied the knot with long-term partner Alec Maxwell on his 50th birthday yesterday in a lavish ceremony estimated to have cost at least £600,000 – and that’s not including the exclusive money-can’t-buy venue provided by his blue-blooded BFF.

Edward and Alec exchanged vows in the picturesque Orangery in the grounds of Longleat House, in Wiltshire, the 16th-century home of Emma Thynn, Marchioness of Bath, and her husband, the 8th Marquess. One expert estimated the flowers alone for this portion of the day could have cost in the region of £250,000.

It is thought D&G model Emma, 35, gave close friends Enninful and Maxwell use of the historic stately home as a wedding present. But ordinary couples must pay a minimum of £13,800 for venue hire of the Orangery for their ceremony and a marquee for the reception.

In yet another show of Enninful’s VIP status, it is thought he was allowed to host the evening bash for some 300 guests in the house itself, while mere mortals marrying at Longleat can only hold events in the gardens and grounds.

A-listers including Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell and Victoria Beckham partied the night away, swigging bottles of Champagne and dining on food by high-end London caterers Cellar Society, whose clients typically have a budget in the region of £20,000 to £100,000. Flowers were provided by sought-after royal florist Simon Lycett.

The celebrations continued on Wednesday with a ‘morning after lunch’ at The Bath Arms, a 17-bedroom pub on the Longleat estate, which was entirely booked out to allow some 80 guests met for lunch.

‘I would say a wedding like this would certainly cost around £600,000, if not more,’ Chris Ayre, managing director at AYRE Events told FEMAIL.

Holly Moore, CEO & founder of Make Events, thought it could be double the amount: ‘I would estimate this would be in the region of £1million to 1.5million, because when it comes to dream weddings, they also have the dream price tag.’

Guests were ferried in a fleet of black BMWs to the 9,000-acre Longleat Estate, famous for its lions and safari park. Some on the invite list were flown in by helicopter, including Victoria Beckham.

It was a short trip for friends like Poppy Delevingne, Marc Jacobs and Italian model Bianca Brandolini, who checked into nearby Babington House, part of the Soho House group, ahead of the event.

Rooms at Babington House cost upwards of £400-a-night, with the most expensive accommodation, The Cabin, setting you back £1,180, although it is only open to members.

Fortunately there was no shortage of Soho House card holders at the wedding, with Diane von Furstenberg and influencer Derek Blasberg also bagging rooms.

One local taxi-driver said: ‘It was a hell of a bash apparently, I think they got through rather a lot of champagne. It’s unusual for it to be this busy in February – the place has been full of black BMWs and Mercedes people carriers ferrying guests around.’

As well as champagne, guests were treated to Clase Azul tequila on each table, a source told FEMAIL.

Enninful is said to be a huge tequila fan and wanted a bottle on each table. Each Clase Azul ceramic decanter is hand painted in Mexico by a team of artisans and was set to look visually stunning among the festivities.

It is understood that the service took place once the Longleat Safari Park had closed at 5pm.

The Orangery, which was built by Jeffry Wyatville for the 2nd Marquess of Bath in the early 1800s, was decorated in a simple and elegant fashion. But such pared back luxury doesn’t come cheap, warned Jess Martin, party decorating expert at Ginger Ray.

‘The venue was adorned with beautiful creamy blooms and an abundance of dark green foliage from none other than Simon Lycett, the high profile florist for the likes of Buckingham Palace and Mary Berry,’ she said.

‘The rest of the venue consisted of clean lines and white decorations, achieving a summery “LA” look right in the middle of Bath’s stately home. You can just imagine fashionable gowns and tuxedos standing out against the all-white backdrop making it the perfect place for a Vogue wedding to unfold.

‘All in all, the simple but showstopping display alone could have cost anything over £250,000 as it certainly didn’t compromise in style and quality.’

olly agreed that there will have been no expense spared when it came to planning the big day, saying: ‘When it comes to a wedding, especially a high profile celebrity wedding you’re guaranteed to go over budget.

‘All the little details add up, from wanting a specific product that needs to be imported (incurring additional shipping charges due to Brexit) staffing costs, venue costs (although this may have been gifted in Edward Enninful’s case) catering costs, it all adds up.

‘This particular wedding sounds beautiful and looks like it has been planned to perfection, including all the magic touches you would expect from a celebrity wedding. They would have also had a wedding planner which I imagine would have taken 15-20 per cent of the budget.’

Sarah Balfour, director of luxury London-based wedding planners Orchid Events, added: ‘This is a knockout wedding I have no doubt every supplier pulled out all of the bells and whistles.’

Guests have shared small details of the day on Instagram, like the personalised menu printed with a cartoon of Edward and Alec’s bulldog, Ru. They were also given miniature bottles of Champagne to enjoy this morning, before 80 guests made their way to the local pub.

Locals in the village of Horningsham turned up for lunch to be told the Bath Arms was closed until 4pm for a private party.

One guest said: We’ve taken every table, there’s 80 of us left over from the wedding. It’s a lovely pub, I hope the locals don’t mind too much. We’ll soon be gone.’

The guests were being chauffeur driven home to London, and some who had flown in for the wedding were being taken to Heathrow after their lazy lunch in the country pub.

Edward, who is European editorial director of Vogue, revealed in 2019 that he had proposed to Alec, a director/editor who works under the name Kloss Films, after 15 years together.

He said they were ‘not in a rush’ to get married so it is not known whether the pandemic waylaid their wedding plans.

As well as getting help with the venue from Emma Thynn, Edward would have had his entire phone book of well-connected friends at his disposal. It is no doubt both grooms were dressed in exquisite designer creations for their big day.

‘This is going to be the wedding of the year – there will be no expense spared and no detail ignored,’ a source previously told the Mail on Sunday.

‘Edward is one of the best-connected people in Britain, and across America too, so expect super-famous guests. People are already saying you won’t see so many A-listers in one room ever again.

‘Edward appears to have saved some money on the venue as he is thought to have been given it by Emma Weymouth as a wedding present.

‘Edward and Alec have been wanting to marry for some time and Edward’s 50th birthday seemed such a special day to do it.’

Initially there was some speculation as to whether the big bash at Longleat was simply a birthday celebration for Edward – or if it was a way to keep the details of their nuptials under wraps.

But a handful of guests hinted at the true occasion, with Diane von Furstenberg writing: ‘Getting ready to go and celebrate @edward_enninful and @kloss_films.’

Edward himself wrote: ’50th birthday on 22.2.22. Let’s go.’

Guests including model Adut Akech shared photos as they had their hair and makeup done ahead of the event.

Others snapped photographs en route, like Maya Jama, who looked radiant in a black strapless gown. It was a night of big name designers, with ensembles by Dior, Chanel and Victoria Beckham all on show.

Some guests, including socialite Richie Akiva – who is known as ‘the king of New York nightlife’, were given a tour of the historic stately home on their arrival.

Evening guests were treated to the spectacular site of Longleat lit up against the night sky. Vogue Australia editor Christine Centenera shared a photograph of the stunning view.