Here at Guides for Brides HQ we can’t help but sit and wait in excitement for more royal wedding information to be announced and this week we were lucky enough to hear more! Take a look at what we’ve found out about the wedding of the year so far…
The Date
May 19th, 2018. Yes, that’s right. It’s a Saturday. Get the Pimm's and bunting ready - it’s street party time! Planning a hen party that weekend? Why not make a royal wedding theme of it - check out our ideas here.
The Time
The wedding service will begin at 12 noon at St George's Chapel.
The Legal Bit
The Dean of Windsor will conduct the service and The Archbishop of Canterbury will officiate as the couple make their vows.
The Location
The couple will be officially wed at the historical venue St George’s Chapel, Windsor. This is the same location that Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall got married back in 2005. After the ceremony, there will be a ‘Carriage Procession’ from the Chapel through Windsor Town. Meghan and Harry along with their guests will then celebrate at the reception in St George's Hall.
The night before the wedding the couple will spend apart. Meghan will be heading to the Buckinghamshire National Trust property Cliveden House whilst Prince Harry will be relaxing at Coworth Park in Ascot.
The Wedding Party
Kensington Palace has announced that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have chosen 6 young Bridesmaids and 4 Page boys. Her Royal Highness Princess Charlotte of Cambridge and His Royal Highness Prince George of Cambridge are among the party.
Walking down the aisle
Unfortunately, due to his health, Meghan's father is unable to attend the wedding. Nevertheless, Kensington Palace has confirmed The Prince of Wales will be walking the blushing bride down the aisle to her Prince. The statement released by the Palace read "The Prince of Wales is pleased to be able to welcome Ms.Markle to The Royal Family in this way" and we think it's lovely!
The Guests
The Queen and Meghan’s family are the only confirmed guests at the moment. We wonder if The Duchess of Cambridge will be attending after just having given birth to a new baby. As well as their 600 guests, the royal couple has also confirmed they will be welcoming 2,640 members of the public to join them in celebrating their marriage. 1,200 of those will be young people who have served their communities, 200 from charities and organisations Harry and Meghan have a close association with and 100 of the pupils from local schools. The rest of the 2640 public member will be made up of Windsor Castle and Royal household members - who's going to be the lucky ones?
Mel B has confirmed she and the other 4 Spice Girls will be attending the wedding, after accidentally dropping the news after appearing on US talk show, The Real. This has sparked rumours that the girl band maybe reuniting and even performing on the night! #Dreamsdocometrue
The Flowers
The Royal Florist has been revealed! Floral genius Philippa Craddock will be creating the couples flowers and plants using naturally seasonal flowers in bloom in May.
Photo credit: Daily Mail
The invitations
The wedding invitations have been printed and sent - yippee! The couple revealed the invitations were printed with American Ink but on English card, to represent the two nationalities - what a brilliant idea! The royal designers are Barnard and Westwood, who have been printing for the Royal Family since 1943. Kensington Palace released a statement saying “The invitations follow many years of royal tradition and have been made by Barnard & Westwood. They feature the Three-Feathered Badge of the Prince of Wales printed in gold ink".
The Dress
With no clear frontrunners, odds on the dress are fluctuating all over the place, with Alexander McQueen making an 8/1 appearance yesterday despite having low odds from the start. As the infamous designer for Kate and Pippa Middleton's Royal Wedding dresses people thought they wouldn't receive the honour again, but it looks like they're not out of the running yet.
Other favourites include Ralph & Russo following their stunning catwalk show at Paris Fashion Week in January (just look at that dress!) plus Meghan's choice to wear that gorgeous black Ralph & Russo gown for the couple's engagement shoot.
Another designer loved by the Royals is Erdem (pitched for Princess Eugenie's gown as a possible candidate) and London-based designer Emilia Wickstead. Who do you think the lucky designer will be?
The Evening Do
The couple will have a private evening reception hosted by Prince Charles at Frogmore House, which is just half a mile south of Windsor Castle, with 200 of their friends and family. The party will be organised by Alex Fitzgibbons, the managing director of events company Fait Accompli, who also organised William and Kate's reception back in 2011.
The Entertainment
According to multiple sourcing, Ed Sheeran has been personally approached by the couple to perform on the evening of the wedding, perhaps even dueting with queen Bae, Beyonce. But maybe the couple is having a festival themed night as Stormzy has also mentioned he has been asked to perform - what a lineup!
The Bill
As confirmed in the first engagement announcement The Royal Family will be paying for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Wedding. It has recently been revealed that the overall cost of the royal wedding is estimated to be around £32 million with £26,000 of that spent on sausage rolls! Let's hope the guest are hungry!
The Cake
It has been confirmed by Kensington Palace that pastry chef Claire Ptak and owner of the London-based bakery Violet Cakes London, will make the royal couples wedding cake. It is said that Harry and Meghan have requested that Claire makes a lemon elderflower cake, decorated with bright flowers to represent spring. We imagine it will look something like this.
The Best Man
Kensington Palace announced on Twitter on 26th April that Prince Harry has officially asked his brother, Prince William, to do him the honour of being his best man.
Claire announced that the couple shares the same values as her regarding food provenance, sustainability, seasonality!
The Transport
According to the official Kensington Palace Instagram account, Harry and Meghan will be travelling in the Ascot Landau carriage for their wedding procession through Windsor. Apparently, the carriage is often used for important state occasions such as coronations and state visits, and will be pulled by two beautiful horses called Storm and Tyrone! #funfact
The Bridesmaids
With two weeks to go until the wedding, the palace has confirmed that Meghan will have no maid of honour (despite rumours that close friend Jessica Mulroney would take the top spot), and that the bridesmaids and page boys will all be children, including Prince George and Princess Charlotte.
The announcements will keep coming so make sure you check on here to keep in the royal wedding loop!
Photo credit Pinterest