The Royal Wedding

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This past week was filled with news, photos, and a never ending stream of live updates of the newly married couple, William and Catherine. Here's a roundup of all the events that followed the build up to their amazing one of a kind wedding and events that followed:

Let's start with the Wedding day it self.

The day started of with Catherine getting her hair done as early as 6:30 am, as her trusted hairdressers got to work on her specially created half up look, the half chignon look as her hairdresser, James Pryce calls it. We then assume that all the family members of both, Prince William at Clarence House, and Catherine, at the Goring Hotel (which by the way spend a thousands of Pounds just to renovate the suite and floor the arrival and stay of the bride to be & family) continued to get ready and to make sure everything was in order.

The rest of us then turned on out TVs and watched the crows of thousands and thousands of people waiting for the arrival of Prince William and Prince Harry, whom we saw riding to the Abbey much earlier than the brides family. The 1800+ guests started to arrive and take their seats inside Westminster Abbey.

As if we don't love Catherine's down-to-earth personality enough, but loving the great out doors, she ordered special maple trees to be brought in to the Abbey to decorate the edge of the aisle she would be walking down. Love the personal touch to the otherwise formal event (not that there was anything wrong with that)

One by one, the royal family started to arrive and enter the Abby. Soon enough the cameras at the Goring hotel spotted Mrs. Middleton, her son James, and the beautiful sister of the bride and Maid of Honor, Pippa sit in their car, ready to get to the Abbey. The adorable bridesmaids and Pippa entering the Abbey was the last scene we saw before the much awaited arrival of Catherine's face on all of our screens!

The much anticipated wait was over when all of us caught a glimpse of the beautiful bride entering her car. The little bit of her lace sleeves, tiara and veil was all it needed for all of us to ooh and aah. Even that  much just made me happy! Well until she arrived at the Abbey. As the door of her car opens and the bride steps out of the car, ('and the crowd goes wild!!) the world literally stops and stares at her head to toe, taking in the beauty of Catherine her self, and the decadent English and French Chantilly lace that flowed over her arms, and decorated her ivory heaven of a dress. The Sarah Burton creation was a hit with the audience.

Elegantly, poised, and full of happiness, Catherine Middleton walked down the aisle side by side to her father, accompanied with her just over 8 ft train, Pippa & her little attendants, right behind her. Just a few steps away from the altar, Prince Harry turns around and takes a look. Amazed, he whispers to Prince William "Wait till you see her", which - as we can imagine is killing Prince William, since he is the last to see her - was a great heart-warmer and just one of the many things that captured the audiences' hearts.

The ceremony then began, the Bride and Groom said their vows, and Prince William put the Welsh Gold band on her finger. The ceremony was then followed by a prayer that the couple had written themselves,  an extract from the Bible, read by Catherine's brother James, and a speech about life, and married life in particular. Numerous songs were sung by the choir and audience. The couple and their respective family members than, for a short time, went to the back side of the church (where the offices are?!) to sign the wedding contract. Then the couple came out, as HRH Prince William and HRH Princess Catherine, s the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

The couple then left the Abbey, sat in their very vintage and elegant looking horse-drawn carriage which took them Buckingham Palace, via the Royal Route. The whole journey took them an estimated 1 hour.

On arrival at the Buckingham Palace the families took their Royal Wedding Portraits in the Throne Room, which were all taken by Hugo Burnand. Here are some of the beautiful portraits:

The balcony appearance was the next big thing that everyone was waiting for and soon enough they did appear in the balcony. The audience was greeted by the Bride and Groom first appearing, with Catherine saying "Oh wow!" as she stood in amazement by the number of people all around the palace. The couple and their immediate family members that also stood on the balcony waved to their fans, just before the famous kiss, which was then followed by a second! After the WWII planes flew over the Palace, the couple and family members went back inside and got ready for the Brunch held by the Queen.

The couple leaving in their bio-fueled car from the Palace to Clarence House

The Reception

By around 6:oo pm London time, we then saw the couple, Prince Charles and Camilla leave for the reception that was held by Prince Charles for just 300 of the couples closes family and friends, which was then followed by live music, dancing, and 2 minutes worth of fireworks.

 Catherine's second dress for the day, also a dazzling Sarah Burton creation

 The wedding cake, baked and decorated by Fiona Cairns. There was also a chocolate biscuit cake that was made on the Prince's request from a Royal family recipe.

The Next Day

The next morning we saw the newly-wed couple leave the Palace in the Queen's helicopter to an unnamed destination within England for a small getaway before they returned to their normal lives in Wales. They announced that their honeymoon was postponed to a later date when they could get away to a quiet place away from the media.

The Next Week

A week later, Clarence House announced that the couple will be visiting Canada, as part of their Royal Duties, and will finish their long trip by visiting California for two days in early July.

We also saw Catherine visiting her local branch of Waitrose to pick up some basic and exceptional groceries - perhaps in preparation for a great home made meal for the happy couple after the Prince's 24 work day for the SAR team. This is why we love her (and the couple so much). They are living normal lives and Catherine remains to be her down to earth self. She was spotted very jolly looking, and sporting skinny jeans with a plain long sleeve white t-shirt and a dark hunter green, ruffle edged cashmere poncho. The couple have gone back to living their normal lives, and Catherine starts to settle in as the perfect housewife (She did her own grocery, loaded the car by herself, and other than the protective body guards the couple has, they have no butlers, chefs, or any exquisite help at home!). We love it!

Till Next Time...

À Bientôt!

Here's a message from the couple to all those that 'attended' the wedding.

All photos are credited to ABC News and The Daily Mail (UK)