Harry And Meghan's Wedding: A Royal Affair

The wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle took place on Saturday, 19 May 2018, at St George's Chapel, Windsor. The couple, now known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, captivated the world with their nuptials, which combined British pageantry with modern style.

The wedding ceremony

The ceremony was attended by 600 guests, including senior royals and A-list celebrities. Meghan's mother, Doria Ragland, accompanied her to the chapel, and she was joined by Prince Charles, who walked her down the aisle. Prince Harry's brother, Prince William, served as the best man.

The couple exchanged vows, with Meghan pledging to "love, comfort, honour and protect" Harry, and Harry promising to "love, comfort, honour and protect" Meghan. They also exchanged rings, with Harry giving Meghan a wedding ring made from Welsh gold. The Archbishop of Canterbury then joined their right hands and proclaimed them husband and wife.

The ceremony included a passionate address by the Most Rev Bishop Michael Curry, the first African-American presiding bishop and primate of the Episcopal Church, who invoked the words of Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. The ceremony also featured music from Karen Gibson and The Kingdom Choir, who sang Ben E King's "Stand By Me" and Etta James' "Amen/This Little Light of Mine".

The wedding reception

The first reception of the day was hosted by Queen Elizabeth II, the grandmother of Prince Harry, in the afternoon at St George's Hall. The guest list included approximately 600 people with a "direct relationship" to the couple, as well as notable guests such as George and Amal Clooney, David and Victoria Beckham, and Oprah Winfrey. The reception was graced by a performance from Sir Elton John, who was introduced by Prince Harry with the joke, "Does anyone here know how to play the piano?". Meghan's mother, Doria, danced to Elton John's performance, with Meghan sharing that she "couldn't find my mom because she had beelined to the stage to watch Elton sing."

The couple shared their first dance as a married couple to "Land of 1000 Dances" by Wilson Pickett. Meghan described the music as fun, saying, "I just really wanted the music to be fun. Even our first dance." The reception also included a speech by Prince Harry and a toast by the groom's father, Prince Charles. The wedding cake, a lemon and elderflower cake decorated with peonies, was cut by the couple using a sword. The cake was designed by baker Claire Ptak and featured in one of the three official wedding photos released by the couple.

The second reception of the day was hosted by Prince Charles in the evening at Frogmore House. The event was a more intimate gathering for family and close friends. Meghan changed into a halter-neck, open-back dress by Stella McCartney for the occasion, and she wore an emerald-cut aquamarine ring that had belonged to Princess Diana. The Duke of Cambridge, Prince William, gave a best man's speech, and the couple shared a kiss to end the celebrations. The event concluded with a display of small fireworks above Frogmore House.

The wedding cake

The cake was a departure from the traditional fruit cake served at most royal weddings. Instead, the couple chose a spring-inspired cake, reflecting their wedding date. The cake was covered in buttercream and adorned with fresh flowers.

Ptak was given complete creative freedom by the couple, who chose her because they shared her values of "food provenance, sustainability, seasonality, and flavour". Ptak created six different options for the couple to taste, and they ultimately selected her first choice of lemon and elderflower. The cake was made with 200 Amalfi lemons, 500 organic eggs, 10 bottles of elderflower cordial from the Queen's Sandringham estate, 44 pounds each of butter, flour, and sugar, and an unknown quantity of elderflower cordial to soak the cake layers.

The cake was assembled at Windsor Castle on the morning of the wedding, and the final product was a modest display of two single-tiered cakes and one two-tiered cake, adorned with 150 fresh flowers. The cost of the cake was estimated to be $70,000, with each slice costing about $100.

The wedding dress

The dress was made of double-bonded silk cady cushioned by an underskirt in triple silk organza. It featured a boat neckline, long sleeves, and a sweeping train. The silk fabric was difficult to work with, and the dress featured only six seams. The dress was without lace or any other embellishments, in a departure from previous royal wedding dresses. The dress also featured a sculpted waistline and structured three-quarter sleeves.

The veil was 16 feet long and was embroidered with 55 flowers, representing the 53 countries of the Commonwealth, as well as Wintersweet, which grows in front of Nottingham Cottage, where the couple lived, and the California Poppy, the state flower of California, where Meghan grew up. The veil was secured by a diamond bandeau tiara, made in 1932 for Queen Mary, and lent to Markle by Queen Elizabeth II.

The shoes were also from Givenchy and featured a pointed couture design. Markle's hair was styled by Serge Normant, who rolled it up with a face-framing fringe tucked behind her ears. Her makeup was done by Dior make-up artist Daniel Martin, who described the look as "a soft brown eyeshadow" with minimal makeup on the face. Markle's nails were painted in a neutral pinky-beige for the ceremony.

The wedding guests

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding took place on Saturday, May 19, 2018, at St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, with 600 guests in attendance. The groom's family, including his paternal grandparents, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, his father and stepmother, the Prince and Duchess of Wales, and his brother and sister-in-law, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, were all present. The groom's nephew, Prince George of Cambridge, and niece, Princess Charlotte of Cambridge, were also in attendance and served as page boys and bridesmaids, respectively.

Other relatives of the groom who attended included his paternal aunt and uncle, the Princess Royal and Vice-Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence; his first cousin and wife, Peter and Autumn Phillips; his first cousin and her husband, Zara and Michael Tindall; his paternal uncle (godfather) and his ex-wife, the Duke and Duchess of York; his first cousin, Princess Beatrice of York; his first cousin and her fiancé, Princess Eugenie of York and Jack Brooksbank; and his paternal uncle and aunt, the Earl and Countess of Wessex, among others.

The bride's mother, Doria Ragland, was also in attendance.

Several members of reigning and non-reigning royal families were also present, including Prince Seeiso and Princess Mabereng Seeiso of Lesotho, the Hereditary Prince and Princess of Oettingen-Spielberg, and Sir John Major and his wife, Dame Norma Major.

Notable guests and friends of the couple included:

• Oprah Winfrey
• David and Victoria Beckham
• George and Amal Clooney
• Idris Elba and Sabrina Dhowre
• James Blunt and Sofia Wellesley
• Priyanka Chopra
• James Corden and Julia Carey
• Nacho Figueras and Delfina Blaquier
• Abigail Spencer
• Tom Hardy and Charlotte Riley
• Carey Mulligan and Marcus Mumford
• Serena Williams and Alexis Ohanian
• Elton John and David Furnish
• Patrick J. Adams and Troian Bellisario
• Gina Torres
• Sarah Rafferty
• Rick Hoffman
• Gabriel Macht
• Ben and Jessica Mulroney
• Jill Smoller
• Janina Gavankar
• Misha Nonoo
• Joss Stone
• Jonny Wilkinson
• Chelsy Davy
• Cressida Bonas
• Markus Anderson
• Izzy May
• Heather Dorak and Matt Cohen
• Guy Pelly and Lizzie Wilson
• Tiggy Pettifer and Charles Pettifer
• Julia Samuel and Michael Samuel
• Ed Lane Fox and Sonia Lane Fox
• The Duchess of Westminster
• Lady Edwina and Daniel Snow
• The Duke of Westminster
• Lady Viola Grosvenor
• And many more

In addition to the 600 guests inside the chapel, approximately 1,200 members of the public were invited to greet the couple outside on the grounds of Windsor Castle, bringing the total number of guests to around 1,800.

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