5 Ways to Make Your Wedding “Royal”

2018 is the year to have a royal wedding.

This spring, on May 19th, Prince Harry and American actress Meghan Markle will exchange vows at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle. And later this fall, on October 12th, Princess Eugenie of York (youngest daughter of Prince Andrew) and her fiancé Jack Brooksbank will be wed, also at St. George’s Chapel.

Who says you have to be royalty yourself (or marrying someone who is) to have a “royal” wedding?

Let’s count down the top 5 ways to wed like a royal.

5. Host a wedding breakfast immediately following the ceremony

Photo credit: candyman / 123RF Stock Photo

Ok, the royal breakfast takes place in the early afternoon so I guess we’d think of it as more of a luncheon (brunch?). And the food they serve is phenomenal, and very different than what’s often on our breakfast menu – (salmon, lobster, lamb).

There’s always a fish appetizer, a meat-based entree, and a fabulous dessert.

And there’s always something on the menu that’s named after one or both of the newlyweds, or someone in the royal family, such as Prince Philip’s Filet de Sole Mountbatten, and Bombe Glacee Princesse Elizabeth (ice cream with strawberries) at Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip’s wedding in 1947; and Suprême de Volaille Princesse de Galles, the main course for Diana Spencer and Prince Charles’s wedding in 1981. Galles, in English, is Wales.

Why not have your own “Royal Wedding Breakfast?” Serve delicious blintzes, eggs benedict, and fritattas. Don’t forget to include your favorites.

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4. Incorporate sprigs of Myrtle into your bouquet

One thing that royal brides have in common with other brides is that they carry a beautiful bouquet during their wedding ceremony.

While their bouquets greatly differ in types of flowers and shape/silhouette. Princess Diana carried a cascade bouquet with gardenias, orchids, lily of the valley, roses, freesia, and myrtle; Kate Middleton’s was more understated, a shield-shape arrangement of lily of the valley, sweet William, in addition to myrtle, hyacinth, and ivy.

The similarities of their (and other royal wedding bouquets)? They’re usually white flowers, and they all have a sprig of myrtle.

The practice of having myrtle started not with Queen Victoria, but with her daughter Princess Victoria.

It’s often thought that Queen Victoria was the first royal bride to have myrtle in her bridal bouquet. However, the first royal was her eldest daughter, Princess Royal Victoria, when she married Prince Frederick of Prussia in 1958. The myrtle in her bouquet came from Queen Victoria’s myrtle plant, which was given to her in the 1800s by Prince Albert’s grandmother. Every royal wedding since Princess Victoria has included a sprig of myrtle, also taken from the royal myrtle plant.

In the Language of the Flowers, myrtle represents:
• Love and marriage
• Good luck in love in marriage
• Chastity
• Marital fidelity
• Good luck
• Prosperity

Prince Harry and Megan Markle: What Will We See At Their Wedding?

3. Have children in your wedding party (not just as flower girls or ring bearers, but as bridesmaids and pages)

Royal wedding parties usually do not have adult bridesmaids. Instead these wedding parties typically include young children (usually aged 10 – 12) as their bridesmaids, flower girls, and page boys. Having children even younger is not unheard of – Kate had a couple 3-year-old bridesmaids.

So if you’re surrounded by a lot of children – your own children, nieces, nephews, godchildren, cousins, even friends children – why not include them in your wedding party?

2. Serve a traditional tiered wedding fruitcake

Traditionally, they royal couple’s wedding cake is a fruitcake. But not the undesired dessert we often associate with Christmas. But a luscious combination of candy and cake and fruit all in one. When made with fresh, quality ingredients fruitcake is nutty and fruity and absolutely delicious.

Also, the royal couple’s wedding cake is HUGE! Prince Charles and Lady Diana’s wedding cake was five feet tall, Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson’s cake stood at 6 feet tall. Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip’s wedding cake topped them all at nine feet tall, and weighing 500 pounds.

Yes, Five Hundred Pounds!

So have a grand wedding cake. Scale down a bit – you don’t have to do a 6-footer or go for 500 pounds – but go “royal” with a beautiful tiered wedding cake.

1. Wear a tiara
The word “tiara” (is Persian in origin, refers to the high-peaked head-dresses of Persian kings) comes from head ornaments worn by ancient men and women to denote high status. These jeweled, ornamental crowns are traditionally worn during formal occasions, especially white tie events.

Tiaras worn by royal brides are frequently borrowed:

• Zara Phillips borrowed her mother Princess Anne’s Meander Tiara

• Princess Anne lent the Festoon Tiara to Autumn Kelly when Autumn wed Anne’s son Peter

• Diana wore the diamond encrusted Spencer Tiara, which was also worn by her mother and sisters on their wedding days

• Kate Middleton wore the Queen Mother’s Cartier Halo Tiara (739 brilliant-cut diamonds and 149 baguette-cut diamonds)

• My favorite “royal wedding tiara” is Queen Mary’s Fringe Tiara. This tiara consists of 47 diamond bars which came from a necklace that Queen Victoria gave to Queen Mary. The Fringe Tiara was passed on to Princess Elizabeth’s mother, and lent it to her daughter when Elizabeth wed Philip Mountbatten.

• The Fringe Tiara was also worn by Princess Anne when she wed Mark Phillips.

Hearts, Joy, Love!
Jean

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