Coming up later, we’ll have a review of fashion from the guests, so hang on for that! But first, we've got a long look at the main players in today’s fantastic wedding…
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| Owen Cooban/MOD Crown copyright 2018 |
As we chatted about our predictions for Meghan Markle’s wedding look, many were torn between her personal style – fairly modern so far, lots of clean lines – and the traditional type of gown one expects at a royal wedding. In the end, I think the brand-new Duchess of Sussex managed to combine both styles in spectacular fashion with a crisp and clean wedding gown and a lengthy, showstopper veil with some very significant embroidery. Plus, a tiara surprise!
Let’s break it down, piece by piece:
I jokingly asked which designer’s name hadn’t been thrown into the mix a couple days ago, and lo and behold, it turned out to be a designer whose name really wasn’t thrown around until the morning of the wedding! Well done on the secret keeping, guys.
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| Royal Family Channel screencap |
Meghan selected British designer Clare Waight Keller, who last year became the first female Artistic Director at famed French design house Givenchy. According to the royal press release, designer and bride met in early 2018 and worked together to create a “timeless and elegant aesthetic” with “impeccable tailoring, and relaxed demeanor”.
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The wedding gown is made of an exclusive double bonded silk cady fabric developed for this dress, in a design with an open bateau neckline, three-quarter sleeves, and a slim, modern shape created with six seams.
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| Clare Waight Keller for Givenchy |
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| Clare Waight Keller for Givenchy |
A train extends to the back with an underskirt in triple silk organza. Her wedding shoes are silk duchess satin, by Givenchy.
At the bride’s request, all 53 countries of the Commonwealth are represented in the veil, with distinctive flora from each Commonwealth country all combined in one design. (You can read the complete list of the selected blooms
here, in the palace press release.)
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| Owen Cooban/MOD Crown copyright 2018 |
Meghan also selected two additional flowers to add into the design, Wintersweet from the grounds of Kensington Palace in front of Nottingham Cottage, and the California Poppy to represent her place of birth. The front of the veil includes crops of wheat blending into the flora, symbolizing love and charity.
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The five-meter-long veil is made from silk tulle and is trimmed in hand-embroidered flowers in silk threads and organza. Hundreds of hours were spent working each flower in three dimensions to create the design, the workers washing their hands every 30 minutes to keep things pristine.
The Tiara, Earrings, and Bracelet |
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Funnily enough, the one tiara that was enough of a question mark I didn’t bother covering it beforehand or
including it in our poll turned out to be the tiara of the day. Good thing we love surprises, right?! (We'll have to give this the full Tiara Thursday treatment later, but for now...)
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Queen Mary’s Diamond Bandeau Tiara, as the palace refers to it, was loaned to the new Duchess of Sussex by the Queen. It is a diamond bandeau of English manufacture and was made in 1932.
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| Royal Collection Trust |
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| Royal Collection Trust |
The bandeau is a flexible piece with eleven different sections in a design of interlaced ovals, pavé-set with large and small brilliant diamonds in platinum. The bandeau was designed to accommodate the brooch at its center, which was a present to Queen Mary on her wedding in 1893 from the County of Lincoln. The bandeau was bequeathed to the Queen when Queen Mary died in 1953.
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On Queen Mary, with what looks to be a different centerpiece (it would be very Queen Mary thing to wear this with different centers, she loved her jewel flexibility)
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This wasn’t an entirely unknown (to the public) tiara; Queen Mary wore it in her later years. It has not been seen since Queen Mary wore it, however, so its status was unknown – until now. You’ll find it referred to as the “filigree tiara” in the past, a name floated around online in lieu of any official information. (Clearing up some confusion, because Queen Mary had a lot of diamond bandeau tiaras: this is
not Marie Feodorovna’s Sapphire Bandeau, nor is it
Queen Mary’s Lozenge Bandeau. It is a different piece.)
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| Cartier |
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| Cartier |
Meghan also wore earrings and a bracelet by Cartier. The earrings are Galanterie de Cartier Earrings in white gold and diamonds and she has worn them in the past. The bracelet matches the earrings she wore for the evening reception.
The Bride’s Bouquet |
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The bouquet was designed by florist Philippa Craddock and features some flowers handpicked yesterday by Prince Harry from the couple’s private garden at Kensington Palace. It includes Forget-Me-Not flowers as a tribute to the late Diana, Princess of Wales, because they were her favorite flower. Other spring blooms in the bouquet include scented sweet peas, lily of the valley, astilbe, jasmine and astrantia, and sprigs of myrtle. Carrying myrtle is a royal family wedding tradition, and the sprigs come from stems planted at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight, by Queen Victoria in 1845, and from a plant grown from the myrtle used in The Queen’s wedding bouquet of 1947.
The Groom and Best Man
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Both the new Duke of Sussex and the Duke of Cambridge wore the frockcoat uniform of the Blues and Royals, the regiment in which they both served. (The Queen had to give Harry permission to get married in his uniform, according to the palace information.) Prince Harry wore the star of the Royal Victorian Order; Prince William wore the star of the Order of the Garter. The gold braids on William’s shoulder indicate that he is an Aide-de-Camp to the Queen. Both uniforms were tailored at Dege & Skinner on Savile Row.
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Prince William once remarked that he wanted to wear a frockcoat for his own wedding and was vetoed by the Queen (she, quite rightly I think, favored the distinctive red coat), so I love that he finally got to wear one to a wedding!
The Bridal Party |
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Clare Waight Keller also designed dresses for the six bridesmaids at the Givenchy Haute Couture Atelier. They’re about as classic as a dress for a young bridesmaid can be, made from ivory silk Radzimir with high waists, short puff sleeves, pleated skirts, pockets, and a double silk ribbon detail tied in a bow at the back. Their shoes are keepsake gifts from Meghan, created by Aquazurra in white leather, each monogrammed with the girls’ initials and the wedding date. The bridesmaids wore flower crowns from Philippa Craddock.
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The four page boys wore miniature versions of the Blues and Royals frockcoat worn by Prince Harry and Prince William, made by Savile Row tailors Dege & Skinner. The coats are made from blue doeskin with a stand-up collar and a scaled down version of the figured braiding of Regimental pattern that features on these uniforms. Each page boy’s initials are embroidered in gold on their shoulder straps. Their leg garments are made from blue/black wool barathea with three-quarter scarlet stripes fastened with a leather strap.
The Mother of the Bride
Ms. Doria Ragland was supremely elegant for her daughter’s wedding day, wearing a bespoke dress and day coat by Fernando Garcia and Laura Kim, creative directors at Oscar de la Renta, with Aquazurra shoes and a bespoke hat by Stephen Jones. Her gentle pistachio shade fit in perfectly with the pastels worn by the top ladies in the royal family. Doria's jewelry came from Birks, the Canadian jeweler often favored by Meghan: the Birks Rosée du Matin Pearl and Diamond Drop Earrings in 18kt white gold and the Birks Snowflake Starry Night Pendant, a new design not available until fall.
Now, over to you:
What did you think of this much-anticipated bridal gown?
