. . . must confess, still a little caught up in the romance of it all, the stolen glances and secret smiles, the horse-drawn carriages and chantilly lace, the balcony kisses and moments so breathtakingly lovely, can barely stand it . . .
prince william & catherine, the duke & duchess of cambridge
detail of the exquisite wedding gown, put together by hand by sarah burton of alexander mcqueen, it is a perfect intermingling of tradition and modernity, with a bodice of ivory satin made of hand-cut english lace and french chantilly lace, over ivory and white satin gazar {a sheer, lightweight silk organza with a glaze-like sheen and moderate stiffness}; individual flowers were hand cut from lace and hand-engineered onto the ivory silk tulle to create the design, which features rose, thistle, daffodil, and shamrocks, the national flowers of england, ireland, scotland, and wales; 58 gazar & organza covered buttons ran up the back
the eight-tiered royal wedding cake was decorated with 900 delicate sugar-paste flowers, including 17 different blooms and foliage for their meaning and symbolism, known as the language of flowers
the veil was made of layers of ivory silk tulle and trimmed with hand-embroidered flowers, sewn on by the royal school of needlework at hampton court palace
the bridal bouquet included myrtle, lily-of-the-valley, hyacinth and sweet william blooms; in keeping with royal tradition, stems from a myrtle planted by queen victoria in 1845 were also added; according to tradition, the bouquet of a royal bride will be left on the tomb of the unknown solider in westminster abbey; the late queen mother began the ritual by leaving her wedding bouquet at the grave in 1923 in memory of her brother, fergus, who was killed in the first world war 
. . . and of course, with all of this week's talk of tiaras . . . kate's 'something borrowed' was the cartier halo tiara, made in 1936 and purchased by king george VI for his wife queen elizabeth {the queen mother} three weeks before he succeeded his brother as king; the tiara was presented to princess elizabeth, now the queen, by her mother on the occasion of her 18th birthday; the new princess catherine matched the tiara with earrings by robinson pelham, a gift from her parents inspired by the new middleton coat of arms
{p.s.} for the royal wedding reception, catherine changed into a second alexander mcqueen gown, and her sister pippa changed out of the stunning mcqueen into temperley london
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