In July, Emily Atack shared the exciting news of her engagement to Alistair Garner.

Now, just four months later, Emily has embarked on the journey to plan her wedding, starting with the all-important search for the perfect dress this past Saturday.

The 35-year-old actress took to Instagram Stories to share moments from her bridal shopping adventure. Accompanied by her friends and sister, Martha Atack, she visited the bridal boutique, Evelie, to explore her options.

Voicing their excitement that the preparations had begun, they shared snaps of the beaming bride-to-be with the captions: ‘weeeeeeeee <3’ and ‘it’s happppenningggggah’.

Emily exuded elegance in a chic black shirt paired with matching trousers, accentuated by a gold spiral pendant. She celebrated the occasion with her friends, enjoying glasses of champagne.

During her visit, the star of “The Rivals” eagerly browsed through the collection of white gowns, with a particular long tulle dress capturing her attention.

Emily Atack has officially kicked off her wedding preparations, as she began the hunt for the perfect dress on Saturday, four months after getting engaged to fiancé Alistair Garner

The Rivals star, 35, was joined at at bridal shop Evelie by her pals and sister and didn’t waste any time in looking through the rails of white gowns, a long tulle number catching her eye

She revealed her engagement news in the summer on Instagram, with a loved-up snap with her shirtless fiancé Alistair, 39, showing off her dazzling diamond ring (seen)

She revealed her engagement news in the summer on Instagram, with a loved-up snap with her shirtless fiancé Alistair, 39, showing off her dazzling diamond ring, with the caption: ‘It’s Friday, I’m in love’.

Emily and Alistair’s connection runs deep, as they have known each other for nearly 30 years. This long-standing relationship stems from the fact that Emily’s mother is the sister of Alistair’s stepmother, Jane Garner.

They were introduced after Emily’s aunt started dating Alistair’s father Stephen Garner in the early nighties eventually getting married in 1994, before Stephen tragically passed away in 2023, leaving Emily devastated.

Writing in her 2019 autobiography Are We There Yet?, Emily gave clues as to why she’s ended up in a relationship with Alistair, because her cousins ‘understand each other on a deep level.’

She says: ‘Cousins are the best invention since the Game Boy. They are basically 50 per cent sibling, 50 per cent mate. You look the same but different…

‘You understand each other on a deep, deep, level and you have a smidgen more social etiquette towards them than your brother or sister…

‘It makes me sad for my friends who don’t have that relationship with their cousins, because mine were the best friends I ever had. They are still my best friends to this day.’

She has a large number of cousins courtesy of the sprawling families of both her parents, actress Kate and singer father Keith Atack, who split in 2007. 

Emily and Alistair became parents in June last year, with the birth of their son Barney James Garner , with Emily gushing at the time that ‘all my dreams have come true’

While she rarely comments on her private life, Emily gushed last year that Alistair was her ‘literal rock’, admitting that she couldn’t have gone through Barney’s ‘difficult birth’ with anyone but him by her side

Emily and Alistair became parents in June last year, with the birth of their son Barney James Garner, with Emily gushing at the time that ‘all my dreams have come true.’

She explained that the couple had hoped to have a family of their own after a year of dating and discovered her pregnancy in November 2023 when she realised she had missed her period.

She told The Times: ‘[Alistair] joked, “Let’s buy a pregnancy test then”. We did and I was pregnant.

‘It was the happiest, most perfect day of my life. Not long afterwards, he packed all his stuff in a van in Manchester where he lived and arrived at my house.’

While she rarely comments on her private life, Emily gushed last year that Alistair was her ‘literal rock’, admitting that she couldn’t have gone through Barney’s ‘difficult birth’ with anyone but him by her side.

The Inbetweeners star told HELLO!: ‘I couldn’t ask for a better partner and Al is the only person on this earth that I could have done this with.

‘It was a very difficult birth and after 12 hours of labour I ended up having an emergency caesarean, but he was so calm.’

She added: ‘All the cliches of life become true when you fall in love and have a baby. He’s my rock, but he really, literally, is my rock; I couldn’t do life with anyone else but him.’