Ed Sheeran was recently forced to shoot down speculation that he’d already secretly wed his 25-year-old fiancée Cherry Seaborn, after he was spotted wearing a silver ring on his left finger last week.
And now the venue where the singer, 27, and his longtime love will tie the knot may have just been revealed, thanks to the unveiling of a set of plans he’s submitted to build a chapel on the grounds of his Suffolk property.
The Castle On The Hill singer, whose wife-to-be was proudly by his side as he scooped four trophies at last week’s BRIT Awards, is awaiting planning permission to construct the venue, which will sit just yards from his mansion.
Going to the chapel? Speculation has been sparked that Ed Sheeran plans to wed his fiancée Cherry Seaborn on the grounds of his East Suffolk property, after he submitted plans to construct a private chapel just yards from his mansion
Once constructed, the building – set to be built by architects who have worked on Windsor Castle and Somerset House – will stand at an imposing 32ft tall and will be able to hold an intimate congregation of up to 24 people.
The venue, designed in the form of a small early Suffolk Round Tower Church, would prove particularly perfect for the couple to exchange vows away from prying eyes, as they have been known to fiercely guard their privacy.
A source told The Sun: ‘Even though Ed is one of the world’s biggest stars he does like to do things privately, like his engagement. Having his wedding on his own land would mean they could celebrate their big day with just their nearest and dearest and then head back to the main house of a big party after.’
In his planning application, lodged in the name of Cherry’s architect dad Matthew Seaborn, the Shape Of You singer said he wants to build the flint chapel as a place to ‘retreat for contemplation and prayer’.
A place of worship: Ariel views of Ed’s lavish home show where he plans to build the Anglo Saxon style chapel on his estate
Hatching plans: Once constructed, the building – set to be built by architects who have worked on Windsor Castle and Somerset House – will stand at an imposing 32ft tall and will be able to hold an intimate congregation of up to 24 people
The next few weeks will be something of a waiting game for Cherry and Ed, as the local council won’t be expected to announce their decision on the application until April.
Last month, it was revealed Ed has been using his £40million fortune to build his own property empire by snapping up houses in the Suffolk village where he lives.
He has bought four homes next door to each other to create his own country estate. MailOnline revealed exclusively yesterday how Ed is building an underground ‘man cave’ featuring a music room and cinema beneath the grounds of his main farmhouse.
Utmost privacy: The venue, designed in the form of a small early Suffolk Round Tower Church, would prove particularly perfect for the couple to exchange vows away from prying eyes, as they have been known to fiercely guard their privacy
While Ed has spoken very little of his religious views, his 2017 hit Galway Girl is based on his Wexford-based grandparents’ marriage, which they fought for despite their Catholic-Protestant divide.
Of his family’s religion, Ed said in 2013: ‘My dad comes from a very large Irish Catholic family, so he has a very close knit family. He always taught me that family is the most important thing in life, and he told me to choose one thing to work hard at, and make sure you work hard at it. That is why he never pressured me too much in school. I was never a very academic person, but I always showed that I wanted to play music.’
Ed recently shot down speculation that he’d already secretly tied the knot with Cherry, after he was spotted performing at a big sporting a silver band on his ring finger, and wore it again at the BRIT Awards.
Waiting for the decision: The next few weeks will be something of a waiting game for Cherry and Ed, as East Suffolk Council won’t be expected to announce their decision on the application until April
Ed’s taking over: Pictured: (1) Ed’s £895,000 country mansion which he bought in June 2012, (2) His grade II listed farmhouse which he bought for £450,000 (out of sight behind the treehouse and (3) (4) two further properties that Ed has recently acquired
Speaking to Sky News, the chart-topping musician explained that he liked the idea of both of them having a ring to mark their engagement.
The star – who is thought to be worth a whopping £40million, thanks to his plethora of hits – clarified: ‘It’s an engagement ring, ’cause I feel like — I dunno. I feel like it’s good to both do things.’
Ed and Cherry are notoriously private about their relationship, but they did reveal they got engaged at the end of last year, sharing the news on Instagram in January.
His good friend Ellen DeGeneres displayed her signature comedic style, when she tweeted on February 17: ‘Happy birthday @EdSheeran! I’m so excited for your wedding. No need to ask… yes! I’ll sing.
Ed recently spoke about his relationship with consultant Cherry to pal Taylor Swift in a behind-the-scenes video of the making of their song, End Game. And in particular, the inspiration behind his rap verse in the smash hit.
The Grammy winner revealed in the short video how Taylor, 28, had a helping hand in kick starting his relationship with Cherry.
An aerial view of Ed’s four properties nicknamed ‘Sheeran-ville’ by locals living in his Suffolk village
Pictured from above: It comes as no surprise then that locals have dubbed Ed’s collection of properties ‘Sheeran-ville’ as he appears to be buying up the whole road
Talking about their collaborative track, Taylor asked Ed about the thought process behind his lyrics for End Game, beginning: ‘I wanna talk about the Fourth of July line because that makes me really happy.’
Responding, he said: ‘Well, you see, it’s kind of a play on words — well, not really a play on words. There’s a film with Tom Cruise called Born on the Fourth of July. My relationship started on the Fourth of July.’
Taylor playfully teased: ‘At whose house?’
He replied: ‘At Taylor’s house. So the story was, I was at Taylor’s party, and then a girl I went to school with who’s pretty cool ended up being in Rhode Island… I was like, “Taylor, can she turn up?” And here we are.’
Taylor then gushed over Cherry, saying: ‘Ugh, she is the coolest.’
A year following Taylor’s annual Fourth of July bash, she helped commemorate the pair’s anniversary with a rib-tickling pun-filled sign.
Taylor asked: ‘Remember the sign that I made for your first anniversary?’, which Ed quipped: ‘Happy Anniversa-Cherry?’ She corrected her pal: ‘Happy Ed-iver-Cherry! I’m still excited about it. It took me so long to think of both of your names…’.
In January, Ed announced he got down on bended knee to girlfriend Cherry on social media with a sweet Instagram post of the pair kissing, as he revealed that he proposed last year but chose to keep the news private until recently.
Proud of her man: Brunette beauty Cherry, 25, was by her beau’s side as he picked up four trophies at last week’s BRIT Awards
By his side: Cherry was pictured at Ed’s table, despite not walking the red carpet with him earlier that night at London’s O2
PDA: While the lovebirds have put on the occasional public display of affection, they largely keep their romance under wraps
Ed informed his millions of followers at the time: ‘Got myself a fiancée just before new year. We are very happy and in love, and our cats are chuffed as well xx’.
The singer met Cherry when they were both students at Thomas Mills High School in Framlingham, Suffolk, when Ed had a crush on the pretty brunette.
But the pair were separated when Cherry left high school to attend Duke University in Durham, North Carolina.
Ed did not begin dating the consultant – a keen hockey player who competed in British University Championships – until 2015, when she was working on Wall Street, the financial district of New York.
Ring: He sparked speculation he has secretly married Cherry after he was pictured wearing a ring at a London gig last week
To combat the long-distance, the pair spent most of 2016 travelling the world together as Ed took a year off from the music business.
In December that year, Cherry transferred to the London office so that she could move in with Ed and the pair have been blissfully happy since.
Speaking last year, the Perfect hitmaker revealed there was potential for their relationship to become a ‘marriage thing’, as he reasoned: ‘I’m pretty… yeah I feel pretty good about it.’
Ed went on to confess he’d ‘love’ to start a family with his old school pal. He said on Australian radio show The Kyle and Jackie O Show, Ed said: ‘Yeah, potentially. I would like some kids.’
Sweethearts: The singer met Cherry when they were both students at Thomas Mills High School in Framlingham, Suffolk
Of their sweet yet simple life together, he told Clash magazine: ‘I always thought to have a really good career, you always had to be incredibly unhappy, and I always thought to be really happy, you had to have a bad career, because I didn’t see the balance of the two.
‘And I’ve realised that that’s obviously bulls**t, and just what you tell yourself to justify it. I live with Cherry now. We’ve got cats, we have takeaways and watch movies, we have people round for dinner. I’ve never had that.’
The Grammy winning-artist revealed last year that he’d finally had the chance to fall in love after taking a break from music.
‘This has been the first time I’ve ever actually had the time to fall in love properly,’ he told Zane Lowe on Beats 1. ‘I’ve always got into relationships very passionately – I’m a redhead and also Irish.’
Hitting all the right notes: US TV star Ellen DeGeneres recently tweeted Ed, jokingly offering to sing at his upcoming wedding