We love the fact that Meghan chose Givenchy\u2019s first ever female director to design her dress. It was a taste of things to come, as the whole wedding day showed us, the newest Duchess was very much involved and keen to convey her own thoughts and personality, just as we hoped she would.<\/p>\nWith her stylish, relaxed up-do a fusion of sophistication and romance, Queen Mary\u2019s diamond bandeau tiara was the perfect accessory, matching the diamond bracelet Meghan wore. She kept her make up neutral and natural, with perfectly manicured nude nails for the all-important wedding ring close-ups!<\/p>\nHidden underneath Meghan’s dress was her ‘something blue’ – a pair of blue-soled\u00a0Aquazzura shoes – such a fun and secret way of keeping tradition!<\/p>\n
The ceremony<\/h3>\n From the moment Meghan started to glide up the aisle to the nightingale strains of Eternal Source of Light Divine by Welsh soprano Elin Manahan-Thomas, we got all the wedding tingles! One of my favourite moments was even before this when one of Meghan’s pageboys, little John Mulroney couldn\u2019t contain his excitement as the fanfare started and his mouth dropped open. The excitement in his eyes as he looked at his twin brother said it all \u2013 this was a very special moment, and he was sharing it!<\/p>\nThe ceremony was minimal and traditional, with intimate vows and a passionate address on power and love from American Bishop Michael Curry, who smoothly and eloquently preached that, \u201cLove is the only way,\u201d quoting the Bible as well as Martin Luther King, and referencing slavery, political and social occasions when love can win. It sent a message of hope to the world that there can be a day where nations lay down their \u201cswords and their shields,\u201d and \u201cstudy war no more.\u201d It was the first of many little indications of Meghan\u2019s input; making evident her desire to bring her history, her culture and her personality to this marriage, and let the world know a bit more about the new Duchess.<\/p>\nAnd what about Harry? Well, with his brother and best man blinking back the tears as Meghan and the Prince of Wales reached the end of the aisle, Harry\u2019s, \u201cThank you, Pa\u201d, got us all a little teary, and then he couldn\u2019t help but tell her, \u201cYou look amazing,\u201d before the couple proceeded to share whispered thoughts throughout the ceremony in a relaxed, natural and happy way. It was clear that this pair, whilst keen to adhere to protocol, were just as determined to have their day the way they wanted and be themselves. There was no mistaking the happiness that radiated from them as they enjoyed the ceremony that they had so carefully planned together.<\/p>\nOne element that was so clearly \u2018them\u2019 was the amazing gospel choir. Singing \u2018Stand by Me\u2019, the choir had taken direction from the couple as to the specific arrangement they wanted of this song adapted from a Psalm. The sun-dappled performance was beautiful, heartwarming and another happy acknowledgement of Meghan\u2019s celebration of her African American roots, affirmed even more by the choir bursting into song as they left the church, offering a rendition of the gospel classic, Amen\/This Little Light of Mine.<\/p>\nThe fusion of traditional royal wedding with black culture was, quite simply, a beautiful metaphor for what we\u2019ll see in the lives of the new Duke and Duchess and how they choose to represent themselves. From the black female pastor who led the prayers to the young cellist, Sheku Kanneh-Mason, whom Meghan personally called to ask if he\u2019d be part of their day, it was clear that Meghan and Harry wanted to celebrate and include black culture; but it didn\u2019t feel forced, it felt natural, celebratory and like a new dawn for the somewhat traditional royal family.<\/p>\nThe guests<\/h3>\n This was one royal wedding where British royalty was somewhat overshadowed by red carpet royalty.Outfits ranged from Amal Clooney\u2019s stunning mustard Stella McCartney ensemble to Serena William\u2019s gorgeous Versace number, and green seemed a common shade. Meghan\u2019s mother, Doria Ragland wore Oscar de la Renta in a beautiful shade of pale green, whilst Pippa Matthews chose a similar colour and the Queen herself went all out with a vivid hue. Duchess of Cambridge, Kate, went for a pale yellow coat dress that she\u2019s worn twice before by favourite designer Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen, surely with the intent of not upstaging the bride even a tiny bit!<\/p>\nNow there was one special guest we fell in love with, who, in a quiet and considered manner, enjoyed the wedding of her daughter with beautiful tears of joy and pride. Doria Ragland may have been the only member of Meghan\u2019s family to attend the wedding, but she carried herself with grace, poise and elegance, taking Prince Charles\u2019 hand at the signing of the register to join the Royals as an equal parent. We can only imagine how surreal the day must have felt for her when it finally arrived. Seeing your daughter become a member of the royal family is not an everyday occurrence, so how must have Doria been feeling throughout the day?! We loved watching her enjoy the ceremony; from the procession to the preacher, to the vows \u2013 she was a joyful part of the beautiful ceremony.<\/p>\nThe flowers<\/h3>\n We already knew expert florist Philippa Craddock was taking on the challenge of providing floral displays for the wedding, and, wow, did she deliver?! Stunning lush greenery, fresh floral crowns for the flower girls and the small, neat and pretty bridal bouquet \u2013 the florals were absolutely gorgeous.<\/p>\nMeghan\u2019s bouquet was full of symbolism. It contained forget me not, Princess Diana\u2019s favourite flower, along with lily of the valley and the traditional myrtle, carried in every royal bride\u2019s bouquet from a plant grown from the myrtle used in the Queen\u2019s wedding bouquet in 1947. Harry handpicked some of the flowers that Meghan carried, choosing sweet peas, astilbe, jasmine and astrantia from their private garden at Kensington Palace. All the flowers were in season, a lovely touch, which meant we didn\u2019t see the more traditional wedding flowers.<\/p>\nIn a sweet twist, some of the wedding flowers were delivered to St Joseph\u2019s Hospice Hackney, the day after the wedding, for the residents to enjoy. Among them was Pauline Clayton, who, at the age of 19, helped to embroider the Queen\u2019s wedding dress, back in 1947.<\/p>\n
The cake<\/h3>\n Taking six bakers five days to make, the lemon and elderflower creation definitely lived up to the hype. Speaking of her cake as more of an \u2018installation\u2019 than a typical wedding cake, Claire Ptak’s finished display was nothing like any royal cake we\u2019ve seen before. Perched in golden urns and on golden trays, the cake creation was joyfully modern, surrounded by roses and Meghan\u2019s favourite blooms, peonies.<\/p>\nClaire Ptak, of Violet Cakes, spent time with the royal couple deciding on the perfect flavours. The final cakes were a light sponge, filled with lemon curd made with 200 Amalfi lemons and elderflower buttercream, flavoured with elderflower syrup from the Sandringham estate. With a light Swiss meringue buttercream coating, the cakes boasted 150 fresh flowers.<\/p>\nThe celebrations<\/h3>\n And what of the rest of the day\u2026? Away from the cameras and reporters, the formal dinner served up Scottish langoustines, Windsor lamb and English asparagus in a stand-up reception of bowl-food where Prince William acted as compere, Prince Charles gave a speech and Elton John gave a mini concert. The less formal celebration took place at a private reception for 200 of the couple\u2019s close friends and family, who, after a quick costume change, enjoyed fireworks, posh burgers, candy floss, cocktails (including one called ‘When Harry met Meghan!), music and even a speech from the Duchess herself.<\/p>\nAs a wedding gift, Harry gave Meghan<\/a> an aquamarine cocktail ring that had belonged to his mother – her ‘something blue’ to celebrate their day.<\/p>\nThere was evidently so much care, passion and attention to detail that the couple had personally poured into their day, keeping the whims and fanfare of royal protocol to a minimum, and keeping their ideas, loves and character right at the heart of it.<\/p>\n
I adored the day \u2013 everything about it was happy \u2013 I just couldn\u2019t stop smiling, and may even have shed a couple of tears! It was simply such a beautiful day. So many congratulations to Harry and Meghan<\/a> here\u2019s hoping your marriage is as fiercely individual and as stunningly joyful as your wedding day.<\/p>\nBy now you\u2019ve probably seen and heard it all, but just in case you haven\u2019t, or want to re-live the day with us, we thought we\u2019d gather all the details you need to know about the royal wedding in one handy space!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":181032,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55,48,76],"tags":[26833],"class_list":["post-181031","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-celebrities","category-celebrity-weddings","category-the-royal-wedding","tag-harry-and-meghan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/5starweddingdirectory.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181031","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/5starweddingdirectory.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/5starweddingdirectory.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/5starweddingdirectory.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/5starweddingdirectory.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=181031"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/5starweddingdirectory.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181031\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/5starweddingdirectory.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/181032"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/5starweddingdirectory.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=181031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/5starweddingdirectory.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=181031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/5starweddingdirectory.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=181031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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