The Story of the Royal Wedding

Such a beautiful picture kan? This post comes a little bit too late and I know the Royal Wedding dah basi, but I still want to write about it, as a personal keepsake for me. I've actually started writing about this the day after the wedding, but had not gotten the chance to finish it.

So, here it is. 

It was 1.30pm on Friday, the 29th of April 2011. I was finishing the last contract I had scheduled to issue out that day. Packed up my things, and left the office. Rushed to SJMC to see the newborn. Then rushed home just in time to see the prelude to the fairytale that was about to take place.The countdown began. Many were speculating on the designer of the dress. It was 99% confirmed to be British designer, Sarah Burton due to the pictures that were taken of a woman resembling the designer covered in a big hooded jacket entering the hotel where the bride-to-be was getting prepared. They called her bigfoot because the jacket was huge and it had a fur hood.

  



Then they started showing the arrival of guests. You see famous faces now and then, I absolutely LOVED seeing the fashion and styles worn that day, so simple yet very elegant, well maybe minus the Royal Cousins who wore some odd looking...fascinators, they call them. And then bammm, the camera focused on David Beckham! Ya Allah handsomenya! I didn't even notice Victoria. Oooops.

Then, the camera showed the Groom and his bestman leaving Clarence House. I was screaming (in my head) entah kenapa, because they looked so cute kot, and ofcourse I think it was also due to the excitement that the wedding is about to start!

So, what I really want to talk about is....THE BRIDE and THE DRESS.

Sarah Burton's last touch-ups to make the dress camera-perfect

How beautiful did she looked? Her laced and satin ivory gown was just breathtaking. And just as she stepped out of the car, it was confirmed that the speculation of Sarah Burton as the designer was on the dot. The dress was perfection with lace detailings on top and at the trims of the dress. It was reminiscent of Princess Grace Kelly's wedding dress more than 50 years ago. Although, I was actually expecting to be wow-ed by a more modern-sleek design, nonetheless, Kate was a vision of a princess floating all the way to the altar. The dress was classic and timeless, just as Grace Kelly's dress and would live in eternity as one of the most celebrated dresses of all times. Loved her small bouquet of flowers. Understated, but yet elegant. Also loved the Maid of Honor's dress. It looked so soft and creamy.

The wedding procession was quite lenghty though, with prayers and the hymns...but I didn't move an inch from the TV...ahahaha. That was how dedicated I was, takut terlepas any special moments. Hahaha. So, after the ceremony, we saw William and his new princess left on the same royal carriage that transported Charles and Diana 30 years ago to Buckingham Palace after becoming man and wife.
The crowd waited outside the palace for the Newly-Weds appearance at the balcony. The joyous occassion was sealed with 2 kisses from the Bride and Groom. They then drove off to Clarence House in the royal aston martin-wedding car.


What the TV did not show was THIS BEAUTIFUL DRESS that the new princess wore at the wedding dinner hosted by the Father-in-Law. BEAUTIFUL! Kate looked yet again deliciously perfect in her second Sarah Burton white gown. Loved the be-jewelled cinched waist and the fur-like-shrug. This gown is more of a  modern take compared to the wedding gown. But, I guess the two dresses suited the respective occasions they were worn. And more importantly the Bride looked ever so gorgeous in both.

........ And they lived happily ever after.

Hahaha...watching the wedding and looking back at the photos, makes you think about Diana's wedding don't you? If she is still alive, she'll be 50 this year... Lets make some comparison, just for the fun of it:

The Engagement Announcement



The Post-Engagement Photo

Future princesses on the way to their respective churches. Diana was transported via a carriage, while Kate chose to arrive in car - the reason I heard was because she wanted to arrive low key, as a commoner that she was

Moments before they entered the church

The Bridesmaids

Stealing glances and short conversations at the altar



Leaving the church as man and wife. Kate opted for a more shorter train, convenient for the bridesmaid. Diana's bridesmaid was said to have had a "nigthmare" handling her loooong train.

On the way  to Buckingham Palace

Beautiful Brides

Arrival at Buckigham Palace

The Official Wedding Picture - both looked like Ken and Barbie, tho, William looked like a handsomer Ken.

First Appearance of the Newly-Weds at the Balcony

The First Kiss

Kate and William drove off in this Aston Martin after their balcony appearance - which Charles and Diana didn't, but this car was actually Charles' car, which was a birthday present from the Queen. Picture on the right is a picture of Charles and Diana in the same car. It was William's idea to drive his new bride as a married couple to his family home.

The Morning After. The Ladies in their Going-Away Dresses.

The Wedding Cake. Left is Diana's and Charles'. Right is William's and Kate's.

Quite a few similarities eh?

But, hopefully, history would not repeat itself. It was so tragic and sad for how his parents story turned out.

Some big shoes that Kate will need to fill...Diana was a people's princess. But it would be cruel to expect Kate to be exactly like Diana. Am sure she will handle being the future Queen gracefully. Let us all hope for the best.

And let us also pray that I would look as pretty and graceful as both brides on my day...so many things have happened, which I will write about later, that is making me freak out! The nerves are definitely settling in now.

3 more weeks baby!

Toodles.

a wonderful day

Yesterday I was experimenting with decorating the hantaran.

So, decided to go to Evergreen (a shop nearby my house which sells sewing stuff and the likes) to get some round polystrene and whatever else I can use. When I reached there, got frustrated because it was closed...it's public holiday kan yesterday.

There was a florist shop nearby, so I decided to just get some flowers, just for the fun of it. My room could use some flowers. I bought a dozen of white crysanthemums.

The reason why I am writing about this is because I absolutely loved what the florist told me.

This was our short conversation:

Me: Can I have a dozen of the white crysanthemums please.

Florist: (while arranging the flowers in a bouquet) Oh so beautiful, they look like snow.

Me: *smiles*

Florist: Put them in water once you get home. It's a hot day.

Me: Sure. (smiles and pays her)

Florist: (while handing the bouquet to me) They smell so good.

You're going to have such a wonderful day with them.

isn't that the sweetest!

I think it's the best thing that anyone could say.

Went home feeling all wonderful. Put the flowers in a bucket of water and started arranging them in the vases.

Anyways,

LAST WEEK'S ROUND UP:

28.4.2011 (Thursday) : BABY NEWS

I got myself a brand new nephew!!! Will update on that!

29.4.2011 (Friday) : ROYAL WEDDING 

 BEAUTIFUL WEDDING! Kate was soooooo beautiful and regal. She will make a lovely princess.

Will review on that soon.

1.5.2011 (Sunday) : HUDRA's BRIDAL SHOWER

Beautiful Tea Party, hosted by her bestie and her twin. Will write on her wedding, which is just 2 weeks away!

WEDDING PROGRESS:

There are still so much to do and finalise. Will update on that later.

The 2nd Most Anticipated Wedding of The Year

It's TODAY!

Its the 2nd most anticipated wedding of the year, for me atleast, because MY wedding would be my MOST anticipated wedding of the year lah kan...

The countdown starts at 1pm for some channels...what I know is  NTV 7 and TLC will start at 3pm. The live wedding coverage will start at 5pm.

official royal wedding program photo

Can't wait to see a "Wonderful For You" moment.

Wonderful For You

As I have wrote here, I am super-excited for the Royal Wedding of William and Kate this Friday. Frustratingly, Friday is not a pulic holiday in Malaysia...The live footage starts at 1pm I think, but I am sure there will be repeats...thinking of sneaking home early on Friday to catch the 5pm repeat of the wedding on TLC (channel 707 on Astro).

To feed the wedding frenzy especially for people like me, most tv channels have arranged programs on the lives of the royal family, particularly of Diana and William all week long.

I was soooo happy that last Monday, TLC aired the

Wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana.

It was so beautiful. Such a fairytale.

I even held my breath to see her step out of the carriage to show her dress to the world for the first time (eventhough everyone of us at present know how it looked like - I just got caught in the moment hahaha)

One part of the wedding that really touched me was when Diana stood next to Charles,

Charles looked at her and whispered;

"You look wonderful"

Diana replied:

"Wonderful for you"

Ohhhhh...so touching!

30 years ago, no one would have guessed the marriage would culminate to a bitter divorce and the oh-so-innocent doll faced Lady Diana's life would end so tragically.

Such a sad story.

Lets pray that William and Kate will have their happily ever after ending.

I'm already holding my breath to see Kate in her wedding dress!

Yours truly,

Wedding Fan.

The Luckiest Girl In The World

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.

source

A more conservative modern look, while retaining the princess-like structure, that would look beautiful on her would be something like these;

Pronovias

 

Monique Lhuillier 

 Oscar De La Renta

Elie Saab

Rosa Clara

I've not seen a royal bridal gown without sleeves yet, the closest would be Princess Victoria's off-shoulder sleeve. Anyway, she'll be wearing a tiara rightfully as a real princess...unlike us commoners who wears tiara as "Raja Sehari" ... let me emphasize the word "Sehari"... We only get to wear a tiara for one day, but she'll be a princess forever. Every girl's dream, came true for her...

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.