It's a Right Royal Wedding

I am an Anglophile.  It is probably a combination of reading too much Jane Austen and having half the blood in my veins be English.   Living in England for almost four years cemented it.

So I've been really looking forward to the Royal Wedding.

I am not such a die hard that I stayed up last night and saw the live footage, however.  I was planning on it earlier this week, but my husband was travelling all week and that means I am on deck, all the time, for my six kids.  And that furthermore means...


I am tired.  With coverage starting at 1 a.m. my time, I figured that watching it live wasn't a good idea.

But still.  I was excited for this.  Almost as excited as these people:

from BBC.com

But, the next best thing was to brew some of my favorite Twinnings (which has the Queen's seal) Herbal Infusion (Black currant, Ginsing and Vanilla--yummmmm),

make myself some toast with lemon curd 

and watch the highlights of the wedding courtesy of the BBC with Sawyer and Lucy.  I watched one clip via ABC, but quickly realized that I didn't want to hear Barbara Walter's commentary.  Sorry Wahwah... :)

First, I watched all the guests arriving, including David and Victoria/Posh Spice Beckham.
I love all the hats.  I wish we wore hats in the US.  Somehow you have to either be a parking patrol person or a very theatrical  kind of person (like Miss Darbiss from HS Musical) to be able to get away with a hat here.  It's such a shame!

from High School Musical by Disney

Anyway, then I watched Prince William and Harry arrive, and all the bridesmaids.

Then, of course, I watched Kate arrive/ I saw THE DRESS.

It was designed by Sarah Burton from Alexander McQueen.  Guess which two classic film wedding dresses it reminds me of?

 The lacework at the top reminds me of the 1991 version of Father of the Bride.

The neckline, sleeves and cut of the bodice and skirt remind me of Julie Andrew's dress in Sound of Music.

Anyways, I though the dress was lovely.  I really liked how fluid her veil was, and how beautiful it looked with her tiara.  Although, really--how bad could any veil be with a tiara like that :) ?  Overall, I thought that her dress, veil and accessories hit just the right note for such a formal and public ceremony, without being overdone or underdone.  That is not easy to do, is it?  I feel like in everything from fashion, to decorating to cooking that I'm always trying to figure out how to keep myself from extremes.  Maybe I need fabulous wealth and an army of advisers in order to get it "just right."  Lucky Kate! :)

After mulling over the dress, I then proceeded to watch Kate walk up the aisle.

What a long walk!  I think I would have been in tears by the end of it, but she managed really well.

I loved seeing Kate and William whisper to each other when they were near the altar.  I could have sworn I could lip-read him saying "You look beautiful."  Awwww :).

Then of course, I had to watch them exchange vows.  They were both nervous but excited (don't you remember feeling this way on your wedding day?).

Then they left Westminster Abbey and headed to Buckingham Palace, where they came out on the balcony and shared not one, but two kisses.  I'm sure after all the failed marriages that have hounded the royal family over the last few decades that lots of analysts will be analyzing those kisses.  Do they display enough passion, etc.?  All I can say is that kissing in front of people in a way that conveys your passion without being in poor taste is hard to do.  I can imagine that it's even more difficult if your personal life is reported in papers all over the world.  It would definitely make me very reserved with any display of emotion in public.  I thought they were sweet.

I really wish them all the best, although in real life, even princes and princesses don't get a happily ever after in marriage without being willing to work at it.  It is oh-so-worth it, though.  Their adventure, complete with joys, as well as struggles and sorrows, is just beginning.

Did any of you watch the Royal Wedding?  What did you think?


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