Congratulations are in order for Mel B and Rory McPhee! They got married on Saturday after a three-year engagement. The coolest part of this story, however, is that they got married at St. Paul’s Cathedral. The ceremony took place in The Crypt, which you can learn more about here. Rory, 37, and Mel, 50, were friends before they started dating in 2019. According to Mel, they got together while he was helping her treat her hair after she cut it off and dyed it blonde post-divorce. Well, look at them now, getting married in the same historic church as Princess Diana and King Charles II. The bride wore a custom Josephine Scott mermaid-style dress while the groom wore a kilt.
Melanie “Mel B” Brown is married! The Spice Girls star, 50, tied the knot with hairstylist Rory McPhee in a romantic ceremony in The Crypt of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, England, on Saturday, July 5.
Mel B wore an ivory custom gown from Josephine Scott for her nuptials, and later changed into a dress from designer Justin Alexander. “Mel was a dream to work with, bringing her own sense of style to the occasion,” Caroline Black, the owner of Evelie Bridal Boutiques in London, who helped the musician pick out her wedding attire, tells PEOPLE.
Following the ceremony was a star-studded reception at the Shangri-La Hotel inside The Shard, the United Kingdom’s tallest building. Among the celebrity guests in attendance were “Baby Spice” Emma Bunton, plus Cara Delevingne, Katherine Ryan and Daisy Lowe.
Mel B’s three daughters were her bridesmaids. Scary Spice shares her eldest daughter, Phoenix, 26, with her first ex-husband, Jimmy Gulzar. The former couple were married from 1998 to 2000. Mel B’s second daughter, Angel Iris, 18, is from her previous relationship with ex-boyfriend Eddie Murphy. The bride’s youngest daughter, Madison, 13, is shared with her second ex-husband Stephen Belafonte, whom she was married to from 2007 to 2017.
The America’s Got Talent: Fantasy League judge was permitted to marry McPhee, 37, at St. Paul’s Cathedral — the same church where Princess Diana and then-Prince Charles married in July 1981 — because she received the distinction of becoming a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) from Prince William in 2022 for her work bringing awareness to domestic violence issues.
“It’s a big deal because when you get married there — not many people are allowed to get married there. You have to be kind of special,” Mel B shared of the iconic church on the May 14 episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
I’m very sorry to inform you all that I am not the Menswear Guy. I have no idea if Rory’s kilt is the proper fit or whatever, but my untrained opinion thinks it looks nice and proper. I dig it. I am a huge fan of both bold and bright colors, so I would have liked Mel’s bouquet of white roses in a shade of red that matched Rory’s kilt. As for Mel’s dress I absolutely love how the beading cascades down around her arms. I don’t even really mind the buttons going down the back. It’s tasteful however it looks like a turtle neck and we are in the middle of July. She was probably trying to be respectful of the venue, though, and I appreciate that she made the effort.
I’m not shocked that she didn’t wear a Victoria Beckham design. Victoria’s dresses have a certain aesthetic and I don’t think Mel shares it. It was nice to learn that Mel’s eldest daughter, Phoenix, wore a VB design, though. Hopefully that will prevent us from getting three-plus years of tabloid stories about two Spice Girls feuding because of bad blood over a wedding dress. Plus Victoria commented congratulations on Mel’s Instagram post from the wedding and shared it on her Instagram story. Emma Bunton showing up was nice, though. She looked so pretty! The Elder Millennial in me always gets excited whenever I see evidence that the Spice Girls are still friends.
Photos credit: Aaron Parfitt/Backgrid, Cover Images, Chris_James/Avalon