Here Comes the Bride

Clearly my invitation to the wedding was lost in the mail, but the lovely couple was forgiven. So, yes I was one of those crazy people that set her alarm for 2:55 am to watch the Royal Wedding. You might ask why on earth did I do this?

Well I wasn't planning to. I honestly don't think I decided to until the day before. First of all, I am a history buff, I have a degree in it and a lot of that was British history, so I have an interest. Second, I wanted to be a wedding coordinator for a long time, so I have an interest in weddings in general. Third, I love princesses! Yeah, it's corny, but it's true. Kate, pardon me, Catherine is living out every girl's dream: she met and fell in love with a prince and she is marrying him!

Here is my play by play on the wedding:

I loved the hats. There were hats everywhere, and I loved it. I hate that we live in such a casual society where you would be looked at as a freak by all the people wearing jeans and flip flops. I want to move to England (as nobility, of course).

I loved that as you looked at the attire of most of the guests for the most part they were timeless. Well maybe not timeless, but they looked so classic, like the wedding could have taken place in the 1950s. I loved that, I might be the only one, but I did.

I loved that the men were all in tails! Oh my gosh, nothing better!

I loved all the pomp and circumstance. It was so classic and traditional, and I love that. I know I want to save the world and I should be disgusted with the amount of money spent on this wedding, but you know what, I'm not. If you've got it, spend it. You only live once. I am certain that Will and Kate will do great things for humanity through their lives, so I say live a little. God willing, they'll only get married once.

I loved that the wedding was at Westminster Abbey, the site of Princess Diana's funeral. I love that there is a positive spin on that location for William. One of the commentators remarked that at the funeral William and Harry walked to the church, but did not make the return trip, and at the wedding there was a joyous return. I think it was very fitting.

I loved the Queen! Now I am not a huge Queen Elizabeth II fan, she's always seemed a bit uppity for me, however at this wedding she was just so cute and happy. I loved her yellow dress, and of course her hat.

I loved that William was in his uniform, but changed into a tuxedo before the second reception. I thought that was a nice balance.

I loved the ceremonious change from commoner to royalty of Kate. The fact that she went to the church in a car and then returned in the carriage. Frankly I loved that all of the Royal Family went to the church in cars.

I LOVED THE DRESS! Say what you will about it if you didn't like it, but I loved it. I knew that she was going to go with her hair basically down, which is very modern and I just knew that the dress would remind me of Grace Kelly's. Grace Kelly is my favorite princess (though Miss Catherine is moving up there). I love that her dress from 1956 and Kate's dress in 2011 were so similar, yet Kate's had many modern elements to make it just perfect for this era. I don't think we will look back in 30 years and think the things we do about Diana's dress. Not that Diana's wasn't beautiful in its own right, however you have to admit it was slightly dated.

I loved the bouquet, though it was small, it had sweet Williams! I thought that was cute! Plus it had some flowers that were in Diana's bouquet, which I thought was a nice tribute to her.

I loved Pippa's dress. Wow! She looked beautiful (though not as beautiful as her sister).

I love the British idea of bridesmaids. I love that there was one maid of honor and then a handful of adorable children. I am seriously thinking about this for my wedding in the future. I think it would cut back on many headaches for many people involved, plus we all know I have a ton of adorable children in my life and choosing between them for flower girl and ring bearer would be awful!

I love that Kate held her father's hand (and then William's) as she walked down the aisle instead of linking arms. It was just so elegant!

I love that when Kate made it down the long aisle to William they were talking and laughing. That made me very happy. You can just see that they really do love each other, and that makes me happy.

I love, love, loved the ceremony. (Chris, if you're reading this, I'm going to need you to work on a British accent, get a fancy Anglican robe, and one of those nifty gold hats (which you must learn to flip) before I get married. :)) I did think it would have been funny if the priest would have mentioned the 2 billion people watching at home when he said something about performing the ceremony for all the guests! This was my favorite part (yes I have watched the ceremony at least three times, and no I didn't memorize this...yet):

Considering the causes for which matrimony was ordained. First, it was ordained for the increase of mankind according to the Will of God, and that children might be brought up in the fear and nurture of the Lord, and to the praise of His Holy Name. Secondly, it was ordained in order that the natural instincts and affections implanted by God should be hallowed and directed aright that those of who are called of God to this Holy Estate should continue therein in pureness of living. Thirdly, it was ordained for the mutual society, help and comfort that the one ought to have of the other both in prosperity and in adversity.

That was just my favorite part. I also liked the gold hatted priest that asked them if they knew of any reason that they shouldn't be joined. I think that's kind of a good idea. We'll leave it at that. :)

I love that you could tell that they were probably thinking of Diana getting Charles' names wrong when Kate said William's names.

When they were saying their vows they looked like any other couple that is in love.

I love that he kind of struggled to get her ring on. That just made it look real.

I love the individual kneeling rails. (That's probably because of the famous photo of Grace Kelly)

I loved the priest flipping his hat (though I kind of wanted it to go flying across the room, that would have been funny).

I loved Kate's brother's reading (Romans 12: 1, 2, 9-18). Although I'm pretty sure you could put any halfway decent looking guy in tails, with a British accent, reading a scripture slowly and I would be in love with it!

I loved that the Right Reverend Richard Chartres gave the wedding address, as he also gave the address at Diana's memorial in 2007 and was one of the executors of her will. I love that he said this:

Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire. Marriage is intended to be a way in which man and woman help each other to become what God meant each on to be: their deepest and truest selves.

I'm sure I could go on and on and on, but those were my highlights of the day. Overall I thought it was a perfect wedding. I would gladly have the same one! Though I might need some anxiety medication to deal with 1900 guests and 2 billion watching on television.

As exhausted as I was all day yesterday (leaving work at 10:50 after moving 11 workers and sleeping the majority of the day) I'm glad that when my children as if I watched the Royal Wedding of 2011 that I will be able to say yes. I am excited to see how William and Catherine are as a couple, as Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and ultimately how the monarchy is when they are King and Queen. It was an exciting day for history and I wish them nothing but happiness for all the days of their lives!

And anyone who knocked the kiss, there was more affection that Charles and Diana, and really they are royalty, they can't exactly make out! I'm sure they did plenty of that later! :)

And I also loved that Brittany woke up to watch it too and text messaged me, and we both commented on all of it, until the wedding started and then all texts stopped, because it's just rude to text during a wedding! :)