The Royal Wedding - New Orleans Style

I did not plan to write about the Royal Wedding in any way, shape or form as I have not mentioned it thus far. But Thursday afternoon, I received an invitation to a viewing of the Royal Wedding and could not pass it up. Mrs. Debbie Perrone invited me to a party that was full-on British style with all party-goers wearing the appropriate hats and gloves, but we were accessorizing our jammies of course. I was the last to arrive at 3:30 am, but the party consisted of a few waves of people arriving as early as 10:30 the night before, midnight and then the “slacker” 3:30 am arrivals.

We spent the hour and a half leading up the wedding watching the coverage of the guests arriving and, of course, judging the people who came on the screen as if we were Joan Rivers on a special episode of “Fashion Police.” Although I would love to discuss the debacle of outfits and hats that arrived to this wondrous event, I would rather give my synopsis of details and traditions that stood out to this wedding planner!

First off, the dress, since this is what everyone was waiting to see more than anything. I believe she knocked it out of the park – 100% perfect! There have been some naysayers out there who believe the dress was not unattainable enough (compared to the details and grandness of Diana’s), but I think that’s what made the dress so right for her. In a time where lace jackets are quickly making a comeback, the lace sleeves were perfectly in tune with today’s fashion, yet still showed an elegance and style that set her above the rest of the population and set her back in time to some degree. As a matter of fact, I felt that way about the entire dress. It said, “I’m classy, I’m classic and I’m royalty, but I don’t need to be obnoxious about it!”

Secondly, for me, the next most noticeable thing about this wedding was the maid of honor. Pippa, Pippa – you are beautiful. In America, brides tend to tone their maid of honor down and an American bride would almost never think to put her maid of honor in the same color as her, but Katherine’s confidence to show off the fact that her sister is stunning was fabulous. The other thing about the maid of honor role is that she was a true maid of honor like we do not see in America. She actually carried that dress around, got the bride out of the car, walked those children down the aisle. She earned her right to steal a bit of the spot light.

Third, and most disappointing, I must talk about Katherine’s bouquet. I thought it was small, plain and looked completely fake. I think because she picked a dress that had such a clean and clear pallet, she could have really made a huge statement with a gorgeous, full bouquet of flowers. It seemed like she might have forgotten to pick a bouquet for herself so they just gave her what was left in the back of the flower shop that morning. I did think that it was interesting that the women did not wear corsages. The queen and Camilla had lovely brooches and I thought they looked good and served the same purpose as a corsage would have. I think I would like to officially claim the brooch as my new idea to brides and their mothers!

Next on the list, the transportation. I love the fact that everyone arrived at the time that they needed to arrive. No dilly dally. Get out of the car and get to your spot for the ceremony! Especially the bride; she was able to get out of the car and start her walk down the aisle. I also love the fact that everyone had their own car so the schedule was laid out based strictly on each individual person’s role and when they were due to arrive to the ceremony. I imagine that the transportation schedule looked something like this:
10:13 am - Prince William and Prince Harry exit the hotel door and get into Car #1 with the car doors closing at 10:14 am – car door will reopen upon arrival to church at 10:17 am and the two will enter the church at 10:18 am stopping to shake the hands of all 5 officials and then 10 guests before settling in at the altar at 10:20 am.

Last, but not least, I loved the fact that everyone wore hats for this wedding, which gave us all something to look at and in some cases, make fun of. Seriously, I loved the traditions of the hats and dressing properly to attend the wedding. One of my favorite things, and something that I think should become a mandatory tradition, is when a couple decides to make their wedding black tie. People do not dress anymore and, in most cases, a wedding should be a proper event that is taken seriously. I think every wedding should be a fun event for the guests to use as an excuse to step out on the town and enjoy the night celebrating with the happy couple. Formal dress always makes that feeling more evident and it always makes for a better party – not to mention better photos.

This concludes the major points of the Royal Wedding, as seen by a professional wedding planner who will leave it up to everyone else to scrutinize the bride’s wedding dress (or other dresses worn to related wedding events for that matter), complain about the lack of flowers in an already beautiful church (although the trees were amazing), point out the obvious shame that was Camilla’s outfit, give credit to the amazing choir, wonder if anyone else noticed the lack of emotion during the ceremony and of course, analyze the kiss. I will say, in closing that I think we should make a bigger deal out of the first kiss at every wedding. I think it’s a dwindling detail that needs to take priority in the ceremony. Overall, it was a beautiful wedding, a beautiful bride and they are a beautiful couple. And I am thankful that their wedding created the opportunity to attend a wonderful party with wonderful ladies all gathered together to do what we do best in this city - celebrate a wedding!