Shortly after I saw the headline about Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton’s engagement, I emailed with Lainey and admitted that, for at least the last year, I thought they were engaged. There’s so much wedding talk around them, but it’s like we skipped the engagement.
But here it is now. There’s no close-up of the ring yet but (from zooming in) it looks huge. It looks like they are in some kind of church or chapel. And of course they are happy. Like Lainey, I am a believer in these two. Even if it started as a cutesy work rebound/f-ck you to their exes, it’s obvious how much time they spend together and how much Blake is integrated into her children’s lives. They aren’t faking their family.
Also, after years of being a pop star, Gwen has embraced country (music) and judging on a singing show, both with him. Always the OC girl, she now spends her time on a ranch in Oklahoma. It’s been a huge change, but you know what hasn’t changed? Her look. She’s still wearing red lipstick and has platinum hair and outfits that are highly styled and individualistic. She’s gone country in some ways but hasn’t, aesthetically at least, given up Gwen. And Blake has maintained his alliance to bootcut jeans, flannels, and trucker hats. He’s not wearing Chrome Hearts and Saint Laurent to appear next to Gwen – can you imagine? The fact that they’ve merged public lives but no one persona has taken over the other is part of their charm.
Now onto the wedding, which will presumably happen when people can gather safely in large numbers again. This is Gwen’s second marriage and Blake’s third, so not sure on the party size (budget is, obviously, not an issue) but her kids will feature prominently, for sure. My first thought was it would be on their ranch, but her first wedding was in London (Gavin Rossdale’s hometown), so maybe she wants to be home in California this time. I also think it will be more celeb-heavy than their previous weddings because of all of their friends from The Voice. What I care about the most is her dress. Gwen’s pink Galliano dress is one for the books. It is truly iconic, it is a dress that defines any fashion era but it was also so personal to her style. Every pink or ombre wedding dress that came after owes it to that dress but let’s be real: no one has done it as good as her.
Her style is so unique that predicting what the dress will look like is impossible (will she wear cowboy boots and start a whole new trend?) and we will most certainly be fighting about it. But we do know that, from the beginning, Gwen and Blake have been happy to share. The wedding photos will be in PEOPLE and on social media, in detail. Will Blake go with dark wash or formal black for his denim? So many decisions.
