Royal Wedding, part 1

As I mentioned a while back, the Cayman Islands (as an overseas territory of the United Kingdom) declared April 29th, 2011 a public holiday in honor of the royal wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton. Since the accounting busy season around here technically runs through the end of April (with a second mad dash in June), we weren't sure if we could get the chance to take this day off. But when we found out we would have house guests (more on that later) during this all-important weekend, taking the day off seemed like a no-brainer. 

As this event could prove to be the wedding of the century, we had no shortage of Royal Wedding festivities that Friday. One of my clients expressed surprise that I, as an American, would be so excited about the wedding (and he reminded me that Americans have a reputation for not having interest in events outside the U.S.) I countered that many of my American girlfriends intended to tune in; one planned a viewing party back in the States, and one even live-blogged during the event! Opportunities to see so many royals in one place just don't come along every day. 

 J&S have TiVo and generously offered to record the wedding (and pre-wedding) coverage on two separate networks so that we could watch the proceedings at a time more favorable than the 3 a.m. local start time. To be honest, I probably would have gotten up to watch it live if I had no other option. But this was way better.

I think it was the promise of breakfast that convinced the boys to come along.

Are you paying attention to all the amazing hats? Or is this a conversation about biceps?

SD, KK, and I all made scones for the occasion, and SD provided clotted cream and jam. Once I had a sampling of each, as well as a toasty cup of tea, I settled in for two hours of pre-wedding coverage.

Oh, and KK's pumpkin muffins! What a great way to start our day.

Frankly, we did fast forward through some of the pre-wedding pomp and circumstance. The boys did pretty well, but soon retired to the balcony, leaving the five of us girls (and three small ones) to obsess about the guests, the dresses, the tails, and the hats. Observations included:

• We didn't expect the queen to wear yellow. Not that there's anything wrong with that. But I would have chosen dark blue for her.
• Some of the hats made the girls look like they had a rhinoceros tusk on their foreheads. Maybe their goal was just to get extra media coverage. They got it.
• Westminster Abbey never looked better than with all those lovely trees inside. I don't want to take any credit away from the bride, but I used that idea in my wedding eight years ago. Just sayin.
• There was not enough smiling from the guests. Although maybe I'm just remembering David and Victoria Beckham. She probably thought that if she smiled, her forehead would move and her hat would fall off.

While watching coverage of the guests arriving at the wedding, we all agreed that Kate Middleton seems to have perfected the art of carrying oneself with the utmost of class and grace. Royalty is a bit of a foreign concept to an American, but I think if any "commoner" could successfully become a royal, it must be Kate.

When the wedding party and royal family arrived at Westminster Abbey, I was absolutely glued to the tv. And when we caught the first glimpses of the bride, it nearly took my breath away. 

But to be honest, the events noted in the two sentences above took a while. So I busied myself photographing the littles.

           

T&J were my guests for the week, and I'm so glad they RSVP'd yes to this viewing party. What cute faces to be surrounded by!

The two little J's chatted away and shared some giggles.

But when Baby Girl moved on, Baby Boy assumed the man pose on the couch.

Meanwhile, T drank his fill of his choice "juice" of the week - watered-down Gatorade.

Keeping two hands on the wheel. What a guy.

Finally, the wedding began. Is it okay that Pippa also wore white? Have we reached a consensus on this? I mean, she did look amazing.

In any case, Kate's dress was perfection. The lace, the length of the train, the neckline, the sleeves - this bride didn't make one false move.

I guess love was in the air, because I caught this guy hugging Baby J more than once during the ceremony.

The Royal Wedding Breakfast was such a nice way to start the day, and it certainly saved me from sleep-deprivation. All too soon, we were on our way to get small ones in for naps and to feed the boys something hearty. Then B and I donned tea dresses and pearls for the second half of our Royal Wedding celebrations.