Wedding of William & Catherine: Reflections on the Royal Wedding


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XeniaCasaraghi said:
Question:
Why did Michael and William hold Kate's hand up like that? Were they told not to link arms for a specific reason?
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It is the correct way in which to escort a lady at a formal event and has been done that way for hundreds of years. My parents did this at their marriage and countless others have done it too. There are certain ways to hold and conduct yourself, like there is a certain way to dance the fox-trot or a waltz, or to curtsey or bow, it's kind of just the way it should be done.
 
I seem to remember being abit fed up with too much choral music (or maybe just fed up with shots of the choir all the time) but since then, I've downloaded the music onto my ipod and have to say that the music is amazing. My overall impression is that the wedding was a historic day that will be looked back upon for generations to come, just as I look back photos and film footage of the Queen's wedding all those years ago. In fact, there are many things I think William and Catherine took as inspirations from the Queen's wedding.
 
Yes! The music was a nice surprise to me as well. I remember not paying much attention to it before, but since the ceremony the I'm glad version of the day is on my List. so powerful! Also the last one, when the couple is leaving the abbey I remember thinking "Jezz, this is really what fairy tales are made of" It sounded and looked like a movie.
Kudos to Prince Charles for helping Catherine with the selection.
 
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Kate's eye makeup was a mistake. Oddly, it really showed up badly through the veil. Looked much better without the veil. She made a mistake not having someone professional check out her eye makeup IMO.

Otherwise, the dress was a winner. (As was Pippa's - really outstanding).

The trees in the Abbey were an inspired touch.

The rest was too 'down played' - too much of an attempt to be 'normal'. What is 'normal'? There seems to be a hang-up on that. Standing up to eat? My jaw dropped with that one. I attend a wedding, I want a nice sit-down meal. I attend a royal wedding - I want a very nice sit-down meal! :whistling:
 
I have "I Was Glad" on my iPod as well as "The Prince of Denmark March" from '81. I'm trying to listen to the music from the 2011 wedding now and I'm still not that impressed. Then again Ive only gotten through "God Save The Queen" and "Jerusalem".
 
Tyger said:
Kate's eye makeup was a mistake. Oddly, it really showed up badly through the veil. Looked much better without the veil. She made a mistake not having someone professional check out her eye makeup IMO.
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Completely agree. When I saw her heavy eye makeup through the veil upon her arrival to the Abbey, it brought me back down to earth [insert cringe here] after having a mini spaz attack over her dress. I didn't notice it as the wedding progressed, but it still bugs me today!
Tyger said:
The rest was too 'down played' - too much of an attempt to be 'normal'. What is 'normal'? There seems to be a hang-up on that. Standing up to eat? My jaw dropped with that one. I attend a wedding, I want a nice sit-down meal. I attend a royal wedding - I want a very nice sit-down meal! :whistling:
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I'm confused. Even though I'm not familiar with a Church of England service, I thought it was primarily a very religious ceremony and their solemness reflected that. I didn't think they were attempting to be 'normal', but maybe a more serious version of themselves, as they thought was necessary for the ceremony. But did they really stand up to eat (I'm assuming at the Queen's reception)? I never heard that before, and honestly it doesn't make any sense. Perhaps it wasn't a complete sit-down meal, but I cannot imagine hundreds of distinguished guests standing around eating canapes! :lol:
 
I would have loved to hear the speeches from Mr. Middelton, Charles and of course William.
 
Has it ever been mentioned what sorts of gifts the couple received, both from members of the BRF and the Middleton family?

(I know they wanted donations to charity, but surely they got some personal items as well?
What did Prince Charles give them?
Or the rest of the RF?)
 
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In a Q&A in Billed Bladet #26, 2011, a Otto Grove points out the L on the motor grill on the sportscar Kate and William drove in when leaving Buckingham Palace shortly after the wedding.
L of course meaing: Learner. Otto Grove wondered if it was a little joke about learning to drive on "the highway of love" or whether it was just coincidental.
It was not commented by commentators in DK.

Do any of you know whether that little detail was commented on?
 
It was not especially commented on here in the UK because the L-plate is quite often seen on the car that a newly married couple drive away in (along with balloons, tin-cans etc tied to the back). It's a joke to mean that they are novices/learners in the art of a long and happy marriage and have many years to go before they are experts! The L-plate design is, I think, only used on motor vehicles and so is instantly recognisable here as a learner sign.
 
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To the people who stayed up or got up early to watch the wedding. Have you also or plan to also buy the dvds?
 
XeniaCasaraghi said:
To the people who stayed up or got up early to watch the wedding. Have you also or plan to also buy the dvds?
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I got mine from Amazon.co.uk shortly after the wedding. It's not a part of my royalty/history collection.
 
XeniaCasaraghi said:
To the people who stayed up or got up early to watch the wedding. Have you also or plan to also buy the dvds?
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I would love too. A friend that went to the US recently was able to buy it. but here I still haven't found it.
 
I would love to buy it too! I regretted deeply not recording the event. A young relative was sharing how much she enjoyed the wedding. After watching the event Live and the TV replays - she has now taken to watching on YOU Tube.

After watching the Live coverage of the Monaco Princely wedding on CNN - I can now understand that oft-repeated saying 'No-one does pomp and ceremony better than the British'. The British Royal Wedding is just something else. The spectacular setting, the Majestic music with the sound reverbrating within the walls of the cathedral (unlike being lost in transalation when it is held outside), the wonderful fanfares, the military formations and the overall synchronisation and organization of the whole event is just unbelievable. But then there were the intimate moments between the bridal couple that touched and warmed our hearts. Truly magnificient!
 
I purchased a DVD at Wal Mart. Its okay. I did tape it and deleted it....should have kept it on TiVo but I taped it on the wrong receiver (not the one were I could have transferred it to a DVD).....it was six hours long and I needed the space.
 
XeniaCasaraghi said:
To the people who stayed up or got up early to watch the wedding. Have you also or plan to also buy the dvds?
Click to expand...

Yeah, I got up at 1am to watch it and have seen clips on YouTube but saw it at Target this weekend and picked it up for $6. I couldn't pass it up at the price. If it were $15 or more, I would have likely passed. I'm surprised the price came down so low, so fast. But, it's great for me. That copy (BBC coverage) includes a 50min documentary on the couple through the years. Not all that comprehensive but nice to see footage I hadn't seen in years.
 
Spot Tiddles (Free online documentary covering the Royal Wedding April 2011)

Hi all
I made a documentary film with a friend of mine in which we covered the royal wedding earlier this year. It's a combination of seriousness and comedy and we have released it for free on youtube. It really gives you an idea of what it was like to be there on the day. We also spontaneously interviewed many people so you get to see their real thoughts and feelings, their personal anecdotes and what their day was really like, and their real energy levels (as opposed to the stiff interviews you normally get). There was a dazzling array of people from around the world.

Check it out at:
Spot Tiddles Volume 2 Complete - YouTube

Hope you like it and any comments and criticism would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Uzi
 
I was watching CNN yesterday and the Erin Burnett show did its Top 11 stories of 2011, and of course the wedding was one of them, listed at #9.

They showed a montage of the wedding, though they cut out the vows and showed only one kiss. But they showed one part that I really liked. When all was done and William and Catherine went back into the palace after the balcony scene, the Duchess briefly glanced back at the crowd with a smile to her face. The way I saw it, she was taking in her new life and happy to share that new life with the British people.
 
Yes - the year end round-ups and photo montages are wonderful. Their first kiss on the balcony was a stand-out moment of the entire event. You describe that one moment when she looked back very nicely, Sonjapearl.
 
I actually stayed up to watch it from beginning to end! I was awake at 3am(Atlantic time) to watch the royal wedding on the Internet and I loved every bit of it I loved Elton john's song and the royal vows and their kiss on the balcony of Buckingham palace 2x and the driving out of prince charles' car all of it was beautiful and I will always remmember it and people will remember 29 April 2011 when William and Kate are made king and Queen.
 
My favorite moments:

Harry sneaking a peek

When Will first saw Kate

The music-mostly "I was glad"

Eliza and Grace

The two kisses

The smile the queen gave when they bowed
 
 
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Elton John had a song? The only low point I will say about the day was Kate's hair.
 
On watching the reruns of the wedding this weekend, and having seen various photos of Catherine over the past year, I have to say that I think it is time that she did something with all that hair. She should either have it dressed in a chignon every day, or cut it shorter. Perhaps she could donate it to a charity that makes wigs for cancer patients. She also needs to have her eye make-up softened. I normally like eyeliner, but she really has a heavy hand with it.

She is still a beautiful and classy representative for the BRF, however! She's done a fabulous job her first year out.
 
Part of me does not want to post this because this thread is filled with people expressing what they loved about the wedding, but I don't know where else to post and I'm not sure if a new thread is allowed in this particular sub-forum.

I was watching videos of the wedding on YouTube recently (because Guillaume and Stephanie's made me want to take a look at this one again) and I noticed something that really irked me. Why was Michael placing Catherine's hand in William's more than once during the wedding? To me, that is very archaic and seemed to say that Catherine was property that was being transferred from one male guardian to another. I don't think any of the other European royal weddings had this, not even Guillaume and Stephanie's, Victoria and Daniel's, or Frederik and Mary's.

It just really bothered me and I wonder who's idea was that. The Windsors? Are they that trapped in the past? Was it the Church of England? I thought they were much more progressive than that.
 
It is a traditional part of a Church of England wedding that the father 'gives away' the daughter
 
Sonjapearl said:
Part of me does not want to post this because this thread is filled with people expressing what they loved about the wedding, but I don't know where else to post and I'm not sure if a new thread is allowed in this particular sub-forum.

I was watching videos of the wedding on YouTube recently (because Guillaume and Stephanie's made me want to take a look at this one again) and I noticed something that really irked me. Why was Michael placing Catherine's hand in William's more than once during the wedding? To me, that is very archaic and seemed to say that Catherine was property that was being transferred from one male guardian to another. I don't think any of the other European royal weddings had this, not even Guillaume and Stephanie's, Victoria and Daniel's, or Frederik and Mary's.

It just really bothered me and I wonder who's idea was that. The Windsors? Are they that trapped in the past? Was it the Church of England? I thought they were much more progressive than that.
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I think it is a part of many traditional weddings. My father (now gone) gave all 3 of us girls away. It may be arachic but its a memory we cherish. Sitting around talking the other day we found out he said the same thing to all of us just before we walked down the aisle: you're beautiful, I love you, and if you're having any doubts you don't have to do this -we can leave right now and go fishing( smile).
 
Yes it is part of a traditional wedding, but certainly not a requirement. In the Luxembourg case, although her elder brother walked her down the aisle, the couple were in fact legally married the previous day in their civil ceremony.
 
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