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London's Selfridges Store to Host Weddings

A woman wearing a protective mask walks past a Selfridges store at Oxford Street, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in London, Britain, on July 28, 2020. (Hannah McKay/Reuters)
A woman wearing a protective mask walks past a Selfridges store at Oxford Street, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in London, Britain, on July 28, 2020. (Hannah McKay/Reuters)
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London's Selfridges Store to Host Weddings

A woman wearing a protective mask walks past a Selfridges store at Oxford Street, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in London, Britain, on July 28, 2020. (Hannah McKay/Reuters)
A woman wearing a protective mask walks past a Selfridges store at Oxford Street, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in London, Britain, on July 28, 2020. (Hannah McKay/Reuters)

A department store's involvement in a marriage usually goes no further than the wedding list. But now Selfridges is putting a whole new meaning into "walking down the aisle" after being granted a wedding license, The Standard newspaper reported.

The multi-story Selfridges has taken advantage of its license to provide affordable, creative offers for those who have planned a post-lockdown marriage.

From Tuesday, the Oxford Street store is offering three packages starting from £6,500 for couples who have put their plans on hold during the pandemic.

The most understated is the "Just-the-Two-Of-Us," which begins with beauty appointments and ends with a film screening in the store's cinema. The Earth Lovers package allows for up to 20 conservations minded guests and ending with a "locally sourced" wedding dinner.

The most lavish, the All-Out Extraordinary, has a ceremony officiated by drag icon Jonny Woo and ends with a meal in the private dining room at the Brasserie of Light. The ceremonies will take place in a new wedding suite on the fourth floor of the store. Selfridges' event boss Rebecca Warburton said the service would be for "those looking for a truly unique way to get married this summer."

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‘Secrets of the Penguins’ to Be Premiered on Eve of Earth Day

A group of adult Emperor penguins travel along the sea ice on their bellies after exiting the water against, as the ice shelf is seen in the distance, on the Ekström Ice Shelf, Antarctica, in this undated handout image obtained by Reuters on April 17, 2025. (National Geographic/Bertie Gregory/Handout via Reuters)
A group of adult Emperor penguins travel along the sea ice on their bellies after exiting the water against, as the ice shelf is seen in the distance, on the Ekström Ice Shelf, Antarctica, in this undated handout image obtained by Reuters on April 17, 2025. (National Geographic/Bertie Gregory/Handout via Reuters)
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‘Secrets of the Penguins’ to Be Premiered on Eve of Earth Day

A group of adult Emperor penguins travel along the sea ice on their bellies after exiting the water against, as the ice shelf is seen in the distance, on the Ekström Ice Shelf, Antarctica, in this undated handout image obtained by Reuters on April 17, 2025. (National Geographic/Bertie Gregory/Handout via Reuters)
A group of adult Emperor penguins travel along the sea ice on their bellies after exiting the water against, as the ice shelf is seen in the distance, on the Ekström Ice Shelf, Antarctica, in this undated handout image obtained by Reuters on April 17, 2025. (National Geographic/Bertie Gregory/Handout via Reuters)

Years of filming, often in extreme conditions, has provided new insights into the extraordinary challenges endured by penguins for a documentary series to be premiered on Monday, the eve of Earth Day.

"Secrets of the Penguins" is voiced by US actor Blake Lively and hosted by National Geographic explorer Bertie Gregory, who hopes to engage the widest possible audience with the natural world.

He says filming that included 274 days on the Ekström Ice Shelf in Antarctica, home to around 20,000 emperor penguins, as well as in locations from Cape Town in South Africa to the Galapagos Islands, led to discovering "new penguin secrets".

"I have filmed penguins a lot before," he said. "I thought I knew penguins. I was so wrong."

The three-part series, to be screened on Disney+ on Monday, and on Nat Geo Wild from Tuesday, in all took more than two years to film.

The highlights include penguin chicks jumping off a 50-foot (15 m) ice cliff in order to dive into the sea for the first time in their young lives.

"As soon as the first one went ... they all started to jump. It was an amazing moment to witness," Gregory said, adding the exploit has never been broadcast before.

"They're the only animal in the world to raise their young during the Antarctic winter. It is the coldest, darkest, windiest place on Earth," he said further.

Gregory says the significance goes beyond any one species.

"We should want to look after penguins, not just because it makes us feel warm and fuzzy inside, but because we need healthy, wild places for so many things," he said.

The 31-year-old explorer has two Daytime Emmy Awards for the series "Animals Up Close with Bertie Gregory" and a BAFTA Television Craft Award for shooting British naturalist David Attenborough's "Seven Worlds, One Planet".

He does not see himself taking on the mantle of the 98-year-old Attenborough, who is still at work.

"He's one of a kind," Gregory said. "There is no replacement."