The Royal Wedding, A First Hand Account of Prince William and Princess Catherine's Nuptials
The Royal Wedding, A First Hand Account of Prince William and Princess Catherine's Nuptials
May 17, 2011
Alexa Sabelhaus Talamo and her mother, Melanie Sabelhaus, visited London on the occasion of the Royal Wedding. Not only was Alexa, Robinson's bride, but also, she and her mother are close friends of Betsy and Alan's. This is Alexa's account of her time in London.
My mom and I decided to go to London right after Kate Middleton and Prince William's wedding date was revealed to the world in November. Timing worked out so well because we were planning a girls trip to celebrate my 30th birthday and it became very easy to decide on a location. We arrived to London Thursday morning, the day before the wedding, and hit the streets. We wanted to see all of the wedding hot spots before the crowds got there. We went to Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, the Goring Hotel where the Middleton Family was staying and finally the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, where the Rehearsal Dinner was located. We even went to a pub for Fish and Chips right by Westminster Abbey! London was energized. Every store, restaurant, street and pub was ready for the wedding of the century!
Friday morning, the big day, we woke up and immediately turned on the news coverage of the wedding. We ordered room service, sat in our robes and watched everything unfold on TV; the 1,900 guests arriving Westminster Abbey, seeing Prince William and Prince Harry in uniform, and of course the reveal of Kate Middletons dress as she got out of the car. What a moment! She looked beautiful, radiant, just like a princess! After the ceremony ended at noon, mom and I put on our hats and hit the streetsagain! We were trying to get a glimpse of the bride and groom during their first celebratory kiss on the balcony of Buckingham Palace. My mom and I still dont know how we did it, but we walked from the hotel towards Buckingham Palace passing blockade after blockade and ended up at a gate right across from Buckingham Palace. At around 12:45pm, the gate opened and thousands of people streamed in front of the Palace and all of us were able to see the kiss seen around the world!
To top it off, Sunday afternoon, we were invited for a private tour of Westminster Abbey by Lady Lamport, a friend of my mothers through the American Red Cross. My Mom and I were so excited at the chance to see the wedding flowers inside the church, but we didnt realize that we would also see the private room where William and Kate signed the marriage certificate, the chairs they sat in during the ceremony and Kates bouquet, which every royal bride donates to the grave of the Unknown Warrior.
Almost every night my mom and I would end our day with a glass of champagne at our hotel! We will never forget our girls weekend and being in London during the wedding of the century.
Alexa and her husband will celebrate their 2 year anniversary on September 12th of this year! She wore Carolina Herrera to her Nantucket wedding.