The Wedding of Kate Middleton and Prince William: The Guest Edition

We've looked at that dress, now let's look at some of those fashionably royal guests at the wedding.  With 1,900 guests, though, we can't look at them all.  We'll limit ourselves to a selection of royal guests--we'll get to the wedding party in a later post.

Date:  29 April 2011
Place:  Westminster Abbey, London
Event:  The Wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge

Married to a cousin of Prince William, here we have Sophie Winkleman, Lady Frederick Windsor.

Lady Sophie easily wins the style stakes in my opinion in this beautifully tailored, sleek navy blue Armani Privé dress and coat.  (I have a soft-spot for the actress as she is in one of my favorite television shows.)

She topped off her outfit with a relatively restrained Philip Treacy creation.  (See below!)

Here she is at the final fitting with Philip Treacy (on the right).

The night before the wedding, she set the tone for her navy suit with another navy Armani Privé design.  She wore this gown to a reception hosted by the Queen in anticipation of the big day.  (Here she is trying it on, as well.)

Next up, Autumn Phillips (wife of Peter Phillips) and Zara Phillips--Peter and Zara being Princess Anne's children.  Autumn had her first child a few months ago and doesn't seem to have regained her confidence just yet.  She wore a coat dress that swallowed here.  Her shoes are adorable, by Emmy.  Zara dressed as her usual, sleek self in a custom grey coat dress by Paul Costelloe and black Jimmy Choo stiletto Mary Janes.  She has her own upcoming nuptials in July.  Rest assured we'll bring you the fashion scoop!

Then, we have Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden in a lovely peach dress by Elie Saab--have not yet confirmed the designer of the hat, but it really suits her.

She looked especially lovely the night before at the Queen's party in a red gown by Escada.  Same hair-do!

The Countess of Wessex, Sophie Rhys-Jones, looked well-put together in a pale suit by Bruce Oldfield and head-wear by Jane Taylor.  It is believed that Sophie suffered a broken rib a week before the wedding after falling off a horse--she doesn't show any sign of it!

Finally, I simply cannot omit the most talked about guests at the wedding:  Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice.  Eugenie wore a blue Vivienne Westwood concoction that not only didn't fit her proper, it didn't suit her at all.  The matching fascinator (topped with, among other things, a dragonfly) was made by Philip Treacy.  Beatrice wore a very flattering dress and coat by Valentino couture.  However, it was quite difficult to notice the Valentino for the Philip Treacy thing stuck on her head.  Some have criticized the color of the outfit for "clashing" with her hair, but we here at Fashionably Royal think the color was fine--the hat totally negated everything else, though.  She's certainly worn interesting headgear before, so I'm sure we'll continue to see her take risks.  Maybe the next one will pay off.

Make of the royal wedding fashions what you will, but they certainly are interesting!  Stay tuned for more from Fashionably Royal.

Queen Victoria's Wedding Day

Today, on the last day of being single for Kate Middleton and Prince William, we examine the grandmother of weddings--that of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.

Date:  10 February 1840
Place:  Chapel Royal, St. James Palace, London
Event:  Wedding of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert

Victoria became queen less than a month after turning 18 years old in 1837.  As long as she remained unmarried, she was obliged to live with her mother with whom she had a strained relationship.  So, it was two and a half years after her ascension that she married her German first cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Duke of Saxony.

Queen Victoria's wedding is most notable for setting a trend in wedding dresses; specifically, she chose to wear white and it sparked a craze that remains today. Before, most wedding dresses were expected to be practical and worn again, thus white was an unlikely choice because it was difficult to keep clean. You can bet your boots that Kate Middleton will be wearing white on Friday, and she can thank Victoria for that.

Victoria's dress was made of yards of satin and complemented by a veil made of ornate Honiton lace.  Honiton lace was also used to trim her neckline and sleeves.  The English town of Honiton had been known as a center of lace-making since the middle ages.  Additionally, she wore a massive diamond necklace and earrings.  Nestled at the center of her bosom was a sapphire brooch gifted to her by Prince Albert.

It is not known exactly who created her dress, but her shoes were created by Gundry and Sons, a London-based cobbler.

Around her head, Victoria wore a crown of orange blossoms as dramatized here in the film The Young Victoria (2009; quite a visually and dramatically worthy film if you are interested in this time period). It is said that Albert also chose the orange blossoms for his bride.

Stay tuned to Fashionably Royal for more wedding fashions in celebration of the big wedding tomorrow!