Love Is In the Air: April 29, 2011

My favorite wedding look-back from the old FBTB blog

Today, as I hoped, William and Kate shared another portrait from their wedding album. This beautiful black and white is such a welcome treat in the midst of our ongoing drought of Kate news. They look stunning.

This morning, I started the Royal Wedding first thing, and it played in the background while I straightened up and my 12-month—who loves music—stared wide-eyed at the Westminster Abbey choir. I love John Rutter’s “This is the Day,” which he arranged specifically for William and Kate’s wedding. I hope Kate has been listening to it today and taking comfort in the beautiful prayer:

He shall defend thee under his wings.
Be strong, and he shall comfort thine heart,
Shall comfort thine heart,
And put thou thy trust
Thy trust in the Lord.
Put thou thy trust in the Lord.

It is a busy day for me, because today is my wedding anniversary, too. Yes, I got married on Kate’s date. There were some non-royal factors that played into my choice, but you all know I would be lying if I claimed that the Royal Wedding didn’t play a very large role in convincing me the 29th was the right date.

Today, instead of randomly choosing a Monday Memory, I am obviously going to highlight April 29, 2011. I went back to the archives from my blog and pulled one of my favorite Royal Wedding look-backs that I ever wrote. In this post, I focused on pictures from the day that were from a distance, and so featured Westminster Abbey. I loved these pictures so much that when I got married, I stressed to the photographer that I wanted pictures that were intimate, but also pictures that were framed by the architecture of the church or celebrated its beauty, too. Not everything went right on my wedding day, but the photographer executed that part of the brief well.

I published this on April 29, 2015. I think this is when the blog peaked. ;) Here you go:

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It is April 29th, and it has been four years since Kate Middleton married Prince William Arthur Philip Louis at Westminster Abbey. As we wait for the Royal Baby to make his or her fashionably late appearance, I have to say that the excitement of the Royal Wedding cannot be matched for me. I have been ODing on the soundtrack all month. I love the intimate shots of William and Kate, their happy smiles and their stolen little moments throughout their lavishly gorgeous ceremony. They succeeded in making the televised wedding of the decade into a personal and private affair, too. This year, though, I want to take a step back and see the wedding as the historic occasion that it was, and to get a sense of the majestic scope. So, this afternoon, on this joyous anniversary, I present their wedding entirely from a distance. Love is in the air...

As the princess-to-be threw a final wave at the cheering crowds, Kate, Michael, and Pippa Middleton were framed in the centuries old columns of the West Door.

Final adjustments were made to the dress, designed to look like an opening flower, as both Pippa and designer Sarah Burton arranged the pleats and folds one last time:

As the first strains of Sir Hubert Parry's triumphant "I Was Glad" began to boom through the cathedral, Michael and Kate began the walk up the aisle, which extended in front of them approximately three hundred feet!

Quick deviation, that is Mr. Security and his wife watching Kate process up the aisle!

The majority of Westminster Abbey dates to the 13th century, when Henry III began the more magnificent structure we have today.  There are thousands of tombs in the Abbey, including royals across England's history as well as many famous figures.

Westminster is a Gothic cathedral, a style of architecture that emerged in France in the High Middle Ages, and spread throughout Europe. While it has many characteristics, perhaps the primary contribution it made was the use of flying buttresses. Flying buttresses enabled architects to transfer some of the weight carried by the walls to the exterior buttresses. This meant that the primary walls, which before had had to be strong and solid, could then be laced with beautiful windows. Installed with stained glass, churches were suddenly filled with colorful light that lifted the eyes and the spirit upward toward the divine. Very famous Gothic churches include Chartres, Notre-Dame-de-Paris, York Minster, and many more. I think one of the most breathtaking and impressive uses of the technique is at Sainte-Chapelle in Paris, where the entire chapel seems made of entirely jewel-toned stained glass. 

Even the Queen had to get a last look at Kate's stunning train as the wedding party made its way back down the aisle.

As the Crown Imperial picked up the pace of the recessional, the couple approached the door and the excitement outside built to a fever.   

The Prince was handed his hat, with his gloves inside...

The new Duke and Duchess of Cambridge emerged from the Abbey into the bright exterior and paused on the steps. The crowds roared as the bells began to boom, answered by smaller churches all across London. Westminster Abbey's bells were given a full peal, "A full peal features a minimum of 5,000 different changes (or sequences) and lasts more than three hours."

The carriage procession took the wedding party from Westminster to Buckingham Palace, cutting through the Horse Guards, very familiar to royal watchers thanks to the annual Trooping the Colour, in addition to other events. 

On a number of occasions, William saluted the flag, in addition to paying his respects to the Cenotaph, as Kate respectfully bowed her head beside him.

For some, the highlight of the day was the balcony appearance and now-traditional kiss. The usually reserved William was more than happy to oblige and even egged Kate into a second smooch. I read somewhere he had a specific cameraman who was supposed to capture a great shot so William could get it framed. Did I make that up? Anyone else remember that story? I imagine it over their mantle in Norfolk. 

Happy Anniversary, William and Kate! Many more years of happiness.