Monday, May 2, 2011

NYR 4-29-11 - the wedding


I am pretty sure I was meant to be born British. Not only British, but a monarchy loyalist, which I believe isn't all that common in Britain. I love the idea of queens and kings and princesses and fancy castles and palaces.

It should go without saying that I was very tuned in to all - and I mean all - the royal wedding news. I had the royal wedding website bookmarked and checked back constantly for late-breaking news, I checked People.com's "Royals" tab nonstop, I devoured the articles in Vanity Fair magazine that appeared every month for the last few months, I studied photos and news articles, etc.

I could have been a commentator next to Meredith Vieira with all the information I knew.

You want to know Kate and Will's school records? Got it.

Little sister Pippa's history? Done.

The trouble that Kate's uncle got in that almost cost him an invite to the festivities? I'm your girl.

Needless to say, I wasn't going to miss a second of the coverage on Friday morning, which meant I had to get up at 3am in Bogota.

YAWN.

Also needless to say, nobody in my house got up with me at 3am. These are the things that you miss when you have a boy who really has no interest in fairy tale weddings between a commoner and her prince.

SIGH.

Thankfully my high school friend Dara was up and on Facebook throughout the festivities and she was a most excellent viewing companion - better than anybody in my house would have been had they gotten up.

I loved everything about the wedding - the dress, Kate's hair, William's uniform, the sermon, the flowers, Pippa's dress, the bridesmaids and page boys. I loved looking at Victoria Beckham's sour face and wondering if she and David had a fight on the way to the church. I loved seeing all the guests arrive in their fancy dresses and hats. (The only dresses and hats that I thought were hideous were those worn by the cousins, Eugenia and Beatrice. I don't know what they were thinking on those choices.) I loved watching the recessional in the carriage. I loved the kisses and watching the family watch the military flyover.

It was a dream wedding and I was riveted.

After it was all over, I went to a British friend's house for a little party. It wasn't a dressy party, but she and I decided to "dress up" at the last minute. Then at the very last minute, I realized I didn't have a hat (except a floppy beach hat which would surely not work for such a monumental occasion) nor did I own a fascinator.

BUT I'd just seen a piece earlier in the week on tv on making your own hats and fascinators so I went to raid our arts and crafts closet.

Then I remembered that I hate arts and crafts and that we don't actually have a well-stocked arts and crafts closet. I prayed that there might be some feathers in there for some strange reason, but it turns out no birds have landed in the closet and left behind feathers. So I had to make do with pipe cleaners. It definitely wasn't the most beautiful fascinator but a girl's got to do what a girl's got to do, right?

the hostess (with a real fascinator) and me (with my obviously homemade fascinator)

the spread which included scones, cream, and homemade-by-the-hostess bramble jam

For still believing at the ripe old age of 40 that fair tales do come true, I am truly thankful.

1 comment:

Jen said...

I DVR'd the wedding and watched it with Sophia after the boys went to school. Don't feel bad...even my daughter who dresses up in princess clothes daily wasn't interested in a real-life princess. She even went so far as saying that when she gets married she is wearing a pink dress and her pink & brown baseball cap.

Having lived in England for three years I really was excited for the wedding.

I agree about the cousin's hats...reminded me of the ugly stepsisters from Cinderella. :)