Crown Prince Haakon of Norway & Mette-Marit: 25 August 2001

[marezdote]

Wow!! Thank's so very, very much Alexandria:)

[redeye215]

Thanks Alexandria! I love her bouquet (sp?), its so different and unique and i love the colour! So many royal brides have mainly white bouquets.

[Smilla]

Alexandria, thanks a lot for the wonderful pictures!

[mtbcm]

It is so nice to re-live this fairy tale wedding.
Thank you Alexandria for bring it back again.

Regards.

[Alexandria]

You're very welcome everybody! :) I'm glad that everyone has enjoyed them!

I absolutely fell in love with the pictures, too, when I saw them! (My book is going to have to be laminated so that I don't damage it when I drool all over it!)

I have to say that while I like Mette-Marit a lot, I never cared for her dress. I thought it was too plain and simple (surprising since I prefer plain and simple), especially for a Crown Princess. I pictured a more grand gown for Mette-Marit, something more along the line of what Maxima or Mary wore. And while I admire the historical reasons and inspiration for Mette-Marit's gown, I can't say that I liked it any better.

... But then I saw the Silkehuset pictures Larzen posted and I started to look at it in a new light, and the pictures from this book confirmed it. Mette-Marit's dress, while not grand in the way Maxima's was with its strong presence of a full skirt and regal quality, is grand in its simplicity and the dreamy quality of it. You can see in some of the pictures from Silkehuset and the ones from Det Kongelige Bryllup that the dress (especially the train) has a floating, surreal, cloud-like quality to it. Rather fitting I think, particularly in Mette-Marit's case, who was the ultimate fantasy bride in that she went from working as a waitress and raising a son alone to being a royal bride.

[auntie]

Originally Posted by hippiesheep

Oh.My.God.
Has there ever been a more beautiful bride?
I don't think so.
Thank you for these wonderful pictures!

You are so right, I think MM beauty is in her simplicity, and that she doesn't put on airs and graces. At first I really couldn't understand why th CP fell for her, yet over the years it has been evident.:)

[Smilla]

I have to say that while I like Mette-Marit a lot, I never cared for her dress. I thought it was too plain and simple (surprising since I prefer plain and simple), especially for a Crown Princess. I pictured a more grand gown for Mette-Marit, something more along the line of what Maxima or Mary wore. And while I admire the historical reasons and inspiration for Mette-Marit's gown, I can't say that I liked it any better.


Alexandria, maybe you can tell me, what were the historical reasons and inspiration for Mette-Marit's gown? Whatever they were, the gown was fantastic, a stroke of genius.

[Alexandria]

Originally Posted by Smilla

Alexandria, maybe you can tell me, what were the historical reasons and inspiration for Mette-Marit's gown? Whatever they were, the gown was fantastic, a stroke of genius.

The inspiration for Mette-Marit's wedding dress came from Queen Maud of Norway's daily wear and evening gowns.

[carlota]

any backstage photos of any other royal wedding?

the dress was absolutely marvellous. i'm not a big fan of the front part but the back and train are gorgeous. it looks as if flowing....

[Athena]

I have to agree with some of the posters regarding MM's dress.

At first I didn't like it, but as time goes by I adore the dress. It's classic yet simple -- not over the top; this dress will stand the test of time unlike some of the dresses when have seen of late and in the past. In other word, MM's dress won't look dated nor ostentatious.

[Reina]

I wish I coudl have seen the wedding. I wonder is there a way I can.

[marezdote]

Originally Posted by Reina

I wish I coudl have seen the wedding. I wonder is there a way I can.

Here you can see some clips of the wedding. Crown Prince Haakon of Norway & Mette-Marit: 25 August 2001

[ulik]

o wow...the gown really did flowing!

[Danielle]

Originally Posted by Alexandria

You're very welcome everybody! :) I'm glad that everyone has enjoyed them!

I absolutely fell in love with the pictures, too, when I saw them! (My book is going to have to be laminated so that I don't damage it when I drool all over it!)

I have to say that while I like Mette-Marit a lot, I never cared for her dress. I thought it was too plain and simple (surprising since I prefer plain and simple), especially for a Crown Princess. I pictured a more grand gown for Mette-Marit, something more along the line of what Maxima or Mary wore. And while I admire the historical reasons and inspiration for Mette-Marit's gown, I can't say that I liked it any better.

... But then I saw the Silkehuset pictures Larzen posted and I started to look at it in a new light, and the pictures from this book confirmed it. Mette-Marit's dress, while not grand in the way Maxima's was with its strong presence of a full skirt and regal quality, is grand in its simplicity and the dreamy quality of it. You can see in some of the pictures from Silkehuset and the ones from Det Kongelige Bryllup that the dress (especially the train) has a floating, surreal, cloud-like quality to it. Rather fitting I think, particularly in Mette-Marit's case, who was the ultimate fantasy bride in that she went from working as a waitress and raising a son alone to being a royal bride.

Thank you very much for all of the beautiful photos you have posted. I felt the same way about the dress too. At first I didn't like it very much. It was plain and well, I thought it was ugly. :o But after looking at more photos and learning more about Mette-Marit, I started to like it more and more and realised it suited her personality. As you said, it was dreamy and simple, but not too simple. Actually, sometimes when I look at it I think of jellyfish in the water. I know that sounds strange but they're creatures that float around so gracefully and elegantly. (I hope this isn't taken as an offence to her dress.) It's just a beautiful gown and M-M was an equally beautiful bride.

[Gabriella]

Wonderful pictures, Alexandria!

I have actually always really liked her dress. I liked how original it was. I agree that I'm not sure if it's "princessy" enough, but if I saw it on a bride here, I would love it. I don't think I've ever seen any photos that show close up the train or the bottom of her dress. It's very pretty.

I must say, I do not like her bouquet at all and never have. I love the colors in it, but it just looks like a big long vine to me that was pulled off of someone's trellis. I was looking at one of the pictures and you could see it up close, and now I really don't like it. She wins points for originality though. :)

[Lady Jean]

THANK YOU for the great new pictures.

I have always liked MM's dress, but not the bouquet. Close-up it is ok, but from a distance it looks strange, I think like an eel. Perhaps how it would appear to most people (from far away, on tv, etc.) wasn't thought out too well. The lack of beauty in her bouquet is made up by her physical beauty and lovely gown, though.

[norwegianne]

I read a comment somewhere (think it was Dagbladet, where people can write in their own opinions on strange stuff and win CDs...) that said: I loved Mette-Marit's wedding gown, but why did she feel the need to carry that old washing-mop around with her.

Personally I wasn't too fond of the bouquet at first, but the more I look at it, close, the more I like it. I don't think I'd choose something like that, though.

[Smilla]

The bouquet is very unusual, that's true. But it makes sense in a way as it accentuates the vertical lines: that's what the gown does, too. It makes Mette-Marit appear very tall and "willowy". I wish I could wear a gown like that and not look like a dumpling in disguise!

[LaMinka]

Thanks for the new pics Alexandria! It was some nice decorations.

[Larzen]

Mette-Marit with whom I presume are the designers and seamstress of her wedding dress. (I can't read Norwegian, so it's only a guess. A clarification would be much appreciated!)

The dark haired woman is Wenche Djønne Koch who did her hair and makeup, the blond woman I belive is the Queens seemstress Anna Bratland who did help Finseth saw the dress, and the man is the designer Ove Harder Finseth, you can see if the names correspond with the book

One of the formal portraits.

Now this portrait is much better than the official one they chose and released too the press in which Haakon looks a little sick and is just overly posed, this is much nicer IMO

Thanks for the beautiful pictures Alexandria

A sketch of the wedding dress I saved long time ago and cant remember the source