Although for me the most anticipated wedding of this year would, ofcourse be mine, for the rest of the world it would be Prince William and Kate Middleton's. Was browsing through the net during lunch and saw this picture of them and suddenly I got so excited about their wedding.
Prince William proposed to her in Kenya somehwre in October 2010 with Princess D's diamond and sapphire engagement ring. ahhh B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L.
The wedding will take place on the 29th of April 2011 at Westminster Abbey, the church where Princess Diana's funeral was held. And it has been announced that their marriage will be marked with an official public holiday across the UK. Wahhhhh....the whole country celebrates their marriage...bestnyaaaaaaaaa..commonwealth countries tak cuti jugak ke?
What I am especially MOST excited to see is the Bride's dress. There appears to be so many speculations on who landed the royal duty, but I guess the palace is still being tight lipped about it. From what I read, *in search of finding information on her dress - very stalk-ish of me*, is that the wedding dress is now a work in progress, and is being created inside Buckingham Palace. Oh well...can't wait to see it!
I did some research on the transformation of royal wedding gowns -
Lets start from the very beginning - the lady who introduced white as the bridal color; Queen Victoria when she married her cousin Albert of Saxe-Coburg in London, 1840. She wore a white silk dress with Honiton lace. This is what I learned - She revolutionised bridal gowns by going against the tradition at that time when she opted for a white dress instead of a colored dress. During her days, the concept of a bridal gown is not a symbolic-one time wear-dress, instead the dress chosen was to be the bestest dress that the lady would own, whatever color that might be. Queen Victoria was also the first royal bride to have bridesmaids carry her train, which also became a wedding trend which lasts until today.
Queen Elizabeth I a.k.a The Queen Mother married in 1923;
Then we have the Queen herself; Queen Elizabeth II when she married Prince Philip in 1947;
The beautiful Grace Kelly becoming Princess of Monaco in 1956;
Princess Margaret, the Queen's sister married in 1960;
Queen Margrethe II of Denmark in 1967;
Then in 1981, the world watched as Diana became a princess when she married Prince Charles;
Followed by the marriage of Prince Charles's brother Prince Andrew to Sarah Ferguson aka Fergie in 1986;
The demure Queen Rania in 1993;
The Queen's youngest son, Prince Andrew's marriage to Sophie Rhys - now Countess of Wessex in 1999;
Then we have the millenium royal brides -
Princess Mette Marrit of Norway in 2001;
Princess Letizia of Spain in 2003;
Mary Donaldson now Crown Princess of Denmark in 2004;
who can forget Camilla Parker Bowles now Duchess of Cornwall in 2005;
Swedish Crown Princess Victoria in 2010;
You can see there is a shift from big puffy gowns to a more sheath silhouette. The patterns became more simpler but the long train remains to be the signature of royal brides. Laced veils are also an important component of a royal wedding ensemble. You always read of 200 maids hand sewing the lace veils of princesses for weeks. Royal wedding gowns are usually made exclusively for the brides to the extent that the pattern of Queen Victoria's 1840 dress was later destroyed so that it wouldn't be used again.
Of all the dresses, I absolutely love Queen Margharete II of Denmark's dress - its just timeless. Didn't actually knew of her, so the first time I saw the picture I thought it was fairly recent. Wouldn't have guessed it to be over 40 years ago. And ofcourse Princess Grace Kelly's, she's just a goddess in her own right - anything she wears would look absolutely stunning. I also like the Queen Mother's veil which is definitely the style in the 1920's and the grecian-like tiara that she wore.
I hope Kate won't feel pressured to live up to Princess Diana's big dress and the reaalllyyyyyy long train. Don't get me wrong, Princess D's dress remains an icon, much because it was hers - it wouldn't be what it is if it was worn by anyone else, I would think - case in point; Mariah Carey's wedding to Tommy Mottola in 1993 where Mariah tried to channel the princess in her;
Princess D's dress is too dated (anyone in the world, even if they didn't know about the wedding would know that the year is somewhere in the 80's) and I would hope that Kate's dress will, while retaining the classic look, have a modern twist which encompasses the regality befitting of a modern day princess.
Being Prince William's girlfriend has made her a paparazzi target, and over the years you can see that this girl has simple, sleek and elegant style. She's also very modern and quite sexy...so I have high hopes that her dress would be a stunner!
I found an article wrote by the designer of Princess D's wedding dress; Elizabeth Emanuel. This is how she envisioned Kate's dress and I absolutely concur! Breathtakingly BEAUTIFUL. I am not sure tho whether she will be allowed to look as sexy as the royal brides tend to be quite modest and conservative.
A more conservative modern look, while retaining the princess-like structure, that would look beautiful on her would be something like these;
Monique Lhuillier
Oscar De La Renta
Elie Saab
Rosa Clara
Anyway, Prince William is reported to be wearing military uniform. One sentence is enough. Boring. Ahaha.
Details of the wedding that I managed to get;
(all these are reported in the internet so accuracy is not confirmed)
- Miss Middleton will travel to Westminster Abbey by car via The Mall, Horse Guards Parade, Whitehall and Parliament Square (the decision to travel to the ceremony by car rather than glass carriage is a break with tradition. This was the bride-to-be's idea, as she wanted to arrive at Westminster Abbey in a more low-key way)
- The ceremony will begin at 1100 BST
- The Dean of Westminster will conduct the service, the Archbishop of Canterbury will marry William and Kate and the Bishop of London will give the address
- After the service, the couple will travel in a carriage procession to Buckingham Palace along the same route taken earlier
- There will then be a reception, hosted by the Queen, for guests from the congregation, "representing the couple's official and private lives"
- In the evening, the Prince of Wales will host a private dinner at Buckingham Palace, followed by dancing, for the couple plus close friends and family.
The Invitation
Cards have been issued and about 1900 people is expected to attend. The royal invitation comes in a pale brown envelope with a white card gilded with gold.The Queen's initials are die-stamped in gold on the card below a crown. The card reads:
"The Lord Chamberlain is commanded by the Queen to invite [name] to the marriage of his Royal Highness Prince William of Wales KG with Miss Catherine Middleton at Westminster Abbey on Friday 29 April 2011 at 11.00am."
I found a picture of the invitation;
Been checking my mails everyday, I guess my invitation got lost. You dont get to marry the second-in-line to the throne, but getting to witness it wouldn't be so bad...a girl can dream.
Anyway, I'm sure it will be televised. Can't wait for what is dubbed as the Wedding of the Century!
Yours truly,
Wedding Fan.
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