Warning: this post has almost absolutely nothing to do with design. But please notice the elegant gilding on the palace doors. Day 25 A Royally Grand Day
Day 25 A Royally Grand Day
As many of you know I am a royal enthusiast. On Saturday, October 20, Prince Guillaume, Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg and Belgian Countess Stephanie de Lannoy were married. Prince Guillaume is the eldest son of Henri, Grand Duke and Maria Teresa, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg.
As is custom, a civil service was performed the day before.
A gala dinner was held a few hours afterwards. The Grand Duke, Henri, is giving a toast to his new daughter in law.
Look at those roses!!! Where was MY invitation?
The religious service took place the next day in the tiny duchy’s Cathedral of Our Lady of Luxembourg.
For those of you who are history buffs, the Grand Ducal Family of Luxembourg is a branch of The House of Bourbon-Parma. This basically means the family members are descendants of the Capetian dynasty (also known as the House of France) ~ it is the oldest and largest European royal family. The line began way back around 800 A.D.
Luxembourg became a grand duchy (a territory whose head of state is either a grand duke or grand duchess ~ a rank one below a king or queen but higher than a duke or prince) in 1815 when they became an independent kingdom and Luxembourg was handed over to the King of the Netherlands. Luxembourg is the only remaining grand duchy in Europe.
The Wedding Dress
The bride was escorted to the church by her father, Count Phillipe de Lannoy. She wore an Elie Saab satin organza dress lined in tulle and silk crepe. It featured three-quarter length sleeves and lovely ivory Chantilly and Calais lace embroidered with silver thread leaves. The embroidery was the result of 3,200 hours of embroidery work by 15 people.
The gorgeous gown was paired with a beautiful diamond tiara and silk tulle veil.
Her spectacular train and veil were over 13 feet (4 meters) long. The silk tulle veil was decorated with 200 iridescent sequins, 80,000 iridescent crystals, and 50,000 beads embellished with silver embroidery thread.
Hereditary Grand Duchess Stephanie wore the Lannoy Family Tiara made by Altenloh in Brussels. It is composed of 270 old-cut brilliant diamonds set in platinum, with a diamond in an inverted pear shape superimposed in the center. A dozen larger diamonds stand out appearing like buttons along the patterns of leafed scrolls. The contours of the tiara, traced by the arrangements of the stones, are underlined by a thin line of platinum gilded pearls.
Her bouquet of orchids was created by Parisian florist House Lachaume.
The maid and matron of honor were Antonia Hamilton, a niece of Stéphanie, and Princess Alexandra, Prince Guillaume’s sister. Both were dressed by Edouard Vermeulen of Natan.
The groom approached the church with his mother, the Grand Duchess. She also wore a creation by Natan and a hat by Fabienne Delvigne.
There was a minute’s silence for Stephanie’s late mother Countess Alix de Lannoy, who sadly passed away in August of this year. The bride was walked down the aisle by her brother Count Jehan de Lannoy.
There are three official languages in Luxembourg, German, French and Luxembourgish, a mixture of French, German and Dutch. The ceremony was conducted in both French and English.
Again, can I just say LOOK AT THE FLOWERS!!!
Prince Guillaume is a lieutenant colonel in the Luxembourg army and wore the Grande Tenue, a dark blue uniform from the Maison grand-ducale with the following decorations: the grand cross of the Ordre du Lion d’Or de la Maison de Nassau and the Ordre de la Couronne de chaîne.
The couple began dating in 2009 and became engaged in 2011.
On Saturday the newlyweds emerged from the church under a canopy of drawn soldiers swords while church bells rang out.
The Bridal Party
The bridal party was dressed in the traditional colors of the House of Nassau: orange and blue. The attendants were as follows, Miss Isaure de le Court, Countess Louise de Lannoy, Mr. Lancelot de le Court (brides nephew), Countess Caroline de Lannoy, Miss Madeleine Hamilton and Mr. Gabriel de Luxembourg (groom’s nephew).
Wedding guests included Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex and Sophie, Countess of Wessex who represented the House of Windsor. Sophie wore a dress by Emilia Wickstead.
Princess Caroline of Monaco was dressed in Chanel.
Also in attendance were Crown Prince Felipe of Spain and Princess Letizia of Spain. Her attire at Royal events is always stunning.
There were also a host of other royals in attendance.
On the balcony from left to right: Prince Louis, his wife Princess Tessy, Prince Felix, Grand Duke Henri, Princess Stephanie, Prince Guillaume, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa, Princess Alexandra and Prince Sebastien.
The post nuptial photographs took place at the Grandducal Palace, the official residence of the Grand Duke and Duchess.
Best wishes to the happy couple!
Are there any weddings in your future?
Laura
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I enjoyed every word and photograph of this post.
Thanks so much for putting it together for us, Laura!
xo,
RJ
What a beautiful wedding!!! I love love love her train!!
Such a beautiful wedding. A royal treat to get to see. Thank you for sharing. Cindy
Hey!
I love her hair, the tiara & the veil!! Thanks for the post!
Love & hugs,
Your Royal PEAculiar
Fabulous post. I loved all pics, what a stunning wedding. Hugs, marty
Beautiful wedding.. those 2 look truly happy.. I mean, their smiles arent fake..
I wish I could get my hands on a couple yards of that black n white horse fabric that one woman has on..
Laura,
When I read Day 25 – A Royally Grand Day, I thought how did you find out it's my love's birthday? 🙂
The bride's dress and veil are stunning.
Yes, there is a wedding in my future.
🙂
Your Friend,
Deborah
FairfieldHouseNJ.com
What a beautiful event – no wonder we believe in fairy tales! Thanks for sharing. As always, you did a terrific job!
The royals really do it up right, don't they? Where do you find those stunning photos – I feel like I was there! Hope you and your readers will stop by and enter my Novica giveaway and support artists around the world!
http://www.chattafabulous.blogspot.com
Awww, royal weddings are so fun to watch. The flowers, the gowns! The wedding gown is gorgeous, and I loved those yellow gowns worn by two women in one of the pictures. And the little boys in their Little Lord Fauntleroy outfits … we are reading that book aloud and I'm sure those are pretty similar to what he wore! So fun. Thanks for the smiles this morning.
How nice to see a bride looking so “bridal”. I'm so tired of the “prom dress” look. She was radiant.
Oh that dress. I just want to reach out and feel the lace myself. Thank you for all this detail, Laura. I know it took a lot of time to put together.
Really enjoyed this post, some beautiful fashion and hair that is for sure! Don't see Prince Edward “out and about” as much as some of the other members of the British monarchy, so nice to see he was there.
Very sad that her mum passed away before the wedding.
Lovely! I had no idea who they were, but your post is lovely and interesting. 🙂
No, no weddings in our near future. Just a lovely 50th Wedding Anniversary for my parents on November 17th! ♥
Stunning post!
Enjoyable post! Thanks for sharing!
That was a very interesting post . . .I feel that I soaked in a little royal knowledge. It seems all a bit fairy tale . . . happily ever after, you know:)
Thanks for sharing.
Your blogging sister, Connie 🙂
Laura I love your Royal Assignments! I know how you research the families and I adore seeing the gowns and attire!
xoxo
Karena
Art by Karena
My daughter just got married the beginning of September. Thank you for the wonderful pictures of the royal wedding. I always love the way you research and present royals and their weddings.
So very elegant!!! Thanks for sharing all those amazing pictures.
Weddings…. no weddings in my future or my family. Maybe in 12-15 years.
You do the most wonderful job reporting all the elegance of the royals! I poured over every word!!!
Thank you so much Laura!
Thanks for this royal treat! I have been lucky enough to of been to Luxenbourg. The pictures are amazing. Hate to say it but Princess Caroline is starting to look her age.
Laura, Loved this post!
You are royally the best blogger I know of when it comes to Royal Post!!!
Great job you've done.
d
Oh I am just swooning over her dress! Love every single thing about it. My pie-in-the-sky dream? To have the privilege of working on such a lovely dress!
How do you know all this?
Detail after detail, Fabulous!
OOOOhhhhh… I love these pictures and information. makes me want to marry my husband all over again!
Oh how I love it when you do these posts! I love anything having to do with the Royals. 🙂 Kit
LOVE LOVE LOVE your royal posts!
Such an amazing world. And yes! Those flowers were over the top. Can you imagine how fragrant?
Thanks for sharing!
~Liz
How beautiful Laura! You do the best job on reporting on these events. I really didn't realize there were still so many royal families left. They have amazing homes and immaculate attire. It is all just stunning.
Sherry