There was a time, not so long ago, when I might have felt a little coy about admitting to having royalist tendencies.  But in view of the national outpouring of affection for the Royal family over the last few years, both when William married Kate and, earlier this year, when HRH The Queen celebrated her Diamond Jubilee, I now realise that I am less out of step with the rest of the country than I once assumed.  So I thought you might enjoy a tongue-in-cheek account of how Mr Moore and I injected a little regality into our own wedding day celebrations.

The Car

Top spot must go to our vintage Rolls Royce which has the honour of having once enjoyed the patronage of a royal derriere.   

Fig. 1. 1935 Rolls-Royce 20/25 Barker Bodied Limousine courtesy of Warwickshire based Celestial Cars

Manufactured in 1935, this beautifully maintained vehicle was once owned by the aristocratic Carew Pole family who lived at Antony House, Torpoint in Cornwall.  In July 1950 Princess Margaret was staying in Cornwall with her parents, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (The Queen Mother), and the car was used to chauffeur her to the Cornwall Royal Agricultural Show.

The after dinner entertainment

Anxious to avoid a post wedding-breakfast lull while room was being prepared for the evening band, we supplied various games for use in the bar.  At one point I sourced a lovely antique snooker table for hire.  But then financially reality set in and I decided to settle for a chess set from John Lewis, a couple of boxes of Fortnum and Mason’s ‘After Dinner Quizzes’ and several packs of ‘Royal Playing Cards’ from the V&A, each one sporting corgis and crowns on one side and a photo of HRH The Queen (resplendent in full Coronation Day regalia) on the other.  I’m not convinced that anyone actually used them but you never know, they might come in useful one day.

Fig. 2. Crowns and Corgis Royal Playing Cards from the very nice shop in the V&A

The dress designer

Fig.3. Mrs Moore gives Sassi Holford’s ‘Fleur’ an airing

Those of you who have been following A Warwickshire Wedding since last year might recall that I wrote a post entitled Mrs Adams is Keeper of the Dress which was all about how a window shopping expedition to London resulted in my walking out of Sassi Holford’s Kensington shop with my wedding dress.  I know that this link is somewhat tenuous, but it just so happens that the said Sassi Holford designed the dress that Autumn Kelly wore when she married Peter Phillips, the Queen’s oldest grandson, in 2008.

The music

One of the highlights of our wedding day was the amazing choir assembled and conducted by the marvellous David Guest of The Wedding Music Company.  Grown men, I am told, wept.   At some stage I plan to devote an entire post, including audio clips, to this subject, but for now I’ll just mention one particular piece; namely John Rutter’s ‘This is the Day’.  If it sounds familiar that’s because it was commissioned by Westminster Abbey to celebrate the nuptials of none other than our favourite Royals, Kate and Will.  We reckoned that if it was good enough for them, then it was good enough for us.

The Kate double

And finally, there’s my friend Mrs Ottywill whose first name just happens to be Kate.  Is it just me, or does she also happen to bear a striking resemblance to The Duchess of Cambridge?

Fig.4. The other Kate on her wedding day

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