Friday, April 29, 2011

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?


I'm linking up to one of my favorite linky parties:

Weekend Bloggy Reading

9 comments:

  1. What a great recap, Erin! And wasn't it all so much fun? I loved Kate's dress too--she is just too gorgeous!

    You lived in England for four years?? I am so jealous. And also, I love your pretty little plates. Fun!

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  2. I'm here via Amanda's party. I loved the wedding! i had to be up at 4a.m. but overslept and dashed down the hall at 4:47 a.m. and was glued watching. Loved the kiss encore, the amazing hats, the grandeur, and the love. So beautiful.

    P.S. I wish I had thought of an English Breakfast-I sure was wishing I was in Britain today! I love lemon curd on toast as well! Hope you have a great weekend!

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  3. Oh, Miss Erin. What a lovely post. I, too, watched the wedding. It started here in Ohio at 4:00 AM. Good grief that's early. But, I was determined. The whole thing was perfect, wasn't it? I do agree with you regarding hats. It amazes me that Brits can wear hats, AND look normal doing so! If I attempted to put a hat on top of my head, I'm quite sure people here in the States would assume I was either crazy, or eccentric. Hmmm...come to think of it, I can live with that.
    xoDeirdre

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  4. Wasn't it loverly? Ahhhh. I loved it. And I have to say ,l think they have a better chance than most for making it succeed. They have common interests, common friends, and have certainly known each other a long time!

    I loved Kate's dress and hope it brings sleeves back in style. I'm tired of seeing the same strapless dress on EVERYONE in bridal magazines. Let's have a little diversity!

    The only thing that could've made the wedding better would be for William to have the hair he had 10 years ago. Darn that Windsor hair gene.

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  5. I too was very excited for the wedding, though more excited to sleep than get up in the middle of the night to watch it...I was very content to watch the recap which is STILL all over the TV. This was a great recap. I loved watching these two and I wish them all the best. Though it is fun that they are a prince and princess, I think I am most excited about them genuinely seemingly like they are in love, they are elated to be with one another and they are truly starting a life together, not just a role.

    Now if only our country's joy over the royal wedding could be translated into a desire to wear hats to weddings here. Loved that, so fun!

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  6. I was very excited for the Royal Wedding. They are such an adorable couple and I with them both all the best!
    Visiting from Amanda's party.
    Have a great rest of the weekend!

    Veronica

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  7. Oh, Erin, wasn't it brilliant? I wish you could have been here in England to feel the buzz on the air. It was such a fantastic day. I found it so moving too, which I wasn't expecting.

    I'm just the same about trying to avoid extremes. One of the things that I've liked about choosing my blog name is that it keeps me fairly fixed in what I know I love, without being too swayed by the latest trends, do you know what I mean?

    Sarahxxx

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  8. Brynn, I L-ed OL ;) at your hair comment. Seriously--won't the hair club for men let him in? They must keep out the riffraff :). Somehow it makes me feel better knowing that at least my man has a full head of hair. And it should make all the women with balding but great husbands feel great, too (ie even Prince William is balding, so it's okay...). Ah yes, a good day for all. Miss you!

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  9. My Beautiful LifeMay 2, 2011 at 10:01 AM

    Erin regarding the question you left on my Time Management post-The lemon curd was not something that I would have ever known about if it had not been for my husband grocery shopping. He loves trying out new jams/jellies/spreads. It was a big hit in the household, and even our 3 year old was requesting it. ;)

    I can understand that some interruptions are beyond our control-that just happens when you have kids. Thanks so much for the visit!

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Please feel free to comment. I love to read what other people think!