Royal Wedding 2018

As you may recall from my post about ball gowns, I was looking forward to the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, mostly for the clothes!  I said then of Ms. Markle's dress that I hoped I would "either love of hate it.  The worst would be boring."  As the date neared, I remembered that Royal weddings in England are generally an excuse for fantastic hats and fascinators, and I got excited about those, too. 
 
So the day came, and I gussied myself up with fantastic fifties hat and floral dress, and co-hosted a tea party for other Anglo-philes!  We shared the savory course at the table, then loaded up our tea-plates and moved to the TV to watch the recording! 

MENU
Savory:
tuna sandwiches, cucumber sandwiches, mini-quiches

Scones:
scones with wine-soaked craisins, pastry-cups w/ vanilla pudding and raspberries, variety of jams and clotted cream

Sweets:
marzipan, chocolate truffles, vanilla meringues, Tim Tams, mini-cakes, shortbread cookies

Teas:
Lady Grey or Peach Medley.  With cream, non-dairy milks, honey, and sugar cubes.

THE FASHION

While there were many beautiful dresses and hats at the royal wedding, three stood out to me.  The first, absolute best, was the yellow outfit worn by Amal Clooney.  Dang, that was gorgeous!  The dress was designed by Stella McCartney.  I love the color, the simple shape enlivened by fan-shaped gathers at the sleeves, and the sash almost becoming a train.  She wore the hat with wonderful confidence.  Ten out of ten! 

Photo from Just Jared. Click to follow link.

Getty Images, found on Harper's Bazaar's website. Click to follow link.

Victoria Beckham was another standout, but not in a good way.  Is that a light black or a very dark navy?  Why does she go to weddings looking like a storm cloud?  Does she not like weddings?  Here's an image of how she dressed for William and Kate's wedding (left side) and for Harry and Meghan's wedding (right side).  Not even a smile!  And I know, I get it: public appearances can be stressful, and no-one is obligated to smile to decorate my world.  But it does make me wonder when a wedding guest looks so unhappy to be there. 

Getty Images, via Harper's Bazaar. Click to follow link.

And finally, there was the wedding dress, designed by Clare Waight Keller, the British artistic director of the French fashion house Givenchy.  It was pretty, but not memorably so.  I dislike the bateau neckline, and the raglan sleeves.  Some people online say it was too large for Meghan (though she wouldn't be the first bride to lose weight before a wedding, nor would she be unreasonable to want to be able to eat at her reception!), but I think the fit is classy.  It was a church wedding, so a clingy fit would have been inappropriate. I also noticed with interest that as she went down the steps when leaving the chapel, her train appeared to be stuffed or quilted in some way to give it body so it wouldn't crumple or flip on itself.  Well done, designer! 

The veil was beautiful, and I wish I could see close-up pictures of the embroidered flowers on it, which represent each of the commonwealth countries and the State of California (her home-state). 

photo by Andrew Matthews/WPA Pool/Getty Images, via Vanity Fair; click to follow link.

FINAL IMPRESSIONS

Overall: my tea party was lovely and fun; the wedding was beautiful, joyful, and optimistic; and the clothes and hats were worth tuning in for!  Congrats to the happy couple, and thanks for sharing your day so that even a complete stranger thousands of miles away could see it!