An Iconic Image

We’re skipping forward a few decades in this third installment of Wedding Lanterns‘ celebrity wedding series, to the shoulder-padded, bomber jacketted, bleach denim-ed, Pat Butcher ear ring-ed, 1980s, and to one of the most iconic and symbolically charged weddings of all time. This is of course the wedding of the late Lady Diana Spencer to our Prince Charles.

Looking back at images of the wedding ceremony now, in the light of all the tragedy that has come to pass since, one can’t help but feel the presence of impending doom lurking in the shadows. Were those smiles concealing a deep rooted uncertainty and sadness? Was that kiss just for show or born out of a genuine affection? Far be it for me to comment…What is certain however, is that when Lady Diana married Prince Charles in 1981, the wedding pictures became the images that defined an era. The dress, which spawned a decade of meringues, was designed by David and Elizabeth Emmanuel and featured a 25 foot train and 10,000 hand sewn pearls and sequins.

The wedding itself was a momentous occassion, as around 600,000 people filled the streets of London to catch a glimpse of the pair. In addition 750 million viewers tuned in fo the live broadcast, making it the most popular programme shown in history. It was a national holiday in Britain.

Fit for a Princess

The couple were married at St Paul’s Cathedral before an invited congregation of 3,500. Lady Diana was just 20 at the time. Arriving from Clarence House in a glass coach, the young prnicess made the three minute walk up the red-carpeted aisle (what a strangely symbolic nod to her new celebrity, a celebrity that was always at odds with her royal title), with her luxurious (and probably extremely heavy) train of ivory taffeta and antique lace flowing behind her. This was a wedding dress to rival the puffiest and boldest of gowns. There was certainly nothing subtle about it, but why would there be? This was, after all, a royal wedding.

Of course, we all know what happened in the next two decades…but still the wedding is lodged in people’s memories, frozen in time in an image which has become part of the warp and weft of British culture. Taken in isolation, it was a happy day, as weddings should be, and captured the imagination of a nation.

Had the wedding taken place in 2009, there may even have been a ritual releasing of wedding lanterns, as is the fashion of these days. Still, there’s William and Harry yet to come. I might just give Buckingham palace a call…

Here is celebrity wedding number 2 brought to you by the team who supply you with wedding lanterns on your special day…

On June 29, 1956, in the same year that Grace Kelly married her prince, an altogether different pairing was being officially recognised. Marilyn Monroe, pioneer of the dumb blonde stereotype, famed for her high pitched simple characters and blazing hot sex appeal, married playwright Arthur Miller. It was certainly not the most obvious match, but nevertheless it gave every beta-male, every underdog, every nerdy intellectual in America a little hope.

Monroe first met Miller in 1951, and it was at a party, a few days after their first encounter that the relationship between the two seems to have started. The party was thrown for him, and a number of young and attractive women were invited, but it was Marilyn whom Miller was drawn to. There was something about her, the vulnerability that seeped through her brazen surface, that attracted him- years later Miller reflected, She was a whirling light to me then, all paradox and enticing mystery, street-tough one moment, then lifted by a lyrical and poetic sensitivity that few retain past early adolescence -He felt protective towards her. The two of them danced together, and that, as they say, was that.

Happier Times

They got married un-announced, in a civil ceremony in White Plains, New York. City Court Judge Seymour Robinowitz presided over the somewhat hushed ceremony in the law office of Sam Slavitt (the wedding had been kept secret from both the press and the public). Monroe converted to Judaism (she was raised a Christian) before marrying Miller. It seemed to the casual observer that the happiness Monroe had been seeking for years, had finally been granted to her. With Miller on her arm, she was no longer perceived as a joke- something she greatly feared. But- as is so often the case, especially for such high profile lovers- the marriage was not to last. The couple divorced just a few tempestuous years later in 1961, and by 1962, Marilyn was dead.

This is not the happiest of celebrity wedding stories, and certainly not one you’ll wish to emulate, but its a little snippet of history that may just make you thank your lucky stars that you’re not media fodder, a vitim of the public’s quenchless obsession, a celebrity…

What could be more fitting for the first in wedding wish lanterns‘ celebrity wedding series, than to profile perhaps the most lavish, elegant and iconic of all celebrity weddings; the Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier III of Monaco ceremony of 1956.

This really and truly was the ultimate fairytale wedding between royalty and celebrity. Where the symbol of high, archaic tradition met with the then icon of popular culture. The whole world was mesmerised.

A 1956 newspaper clipping documents the following: The religious ceremony follows yesterday’s civil ceremony held in the throne room in the Palace of Monaco. The celebration of the Nuptial Mass was held in the Cathedral of Monaco. Miss Kelly looked every bit the film star in her ivory gown made of silk taffeta and lace… a typically brisk piece of 1950s journalism, with none of the in depth, no-holds-barred tone of our glossies. It’s hard to imagine Grace Kelly proclaiming in enthused tones, Read all about my marriage to a real live prince, only in OK!

Fit For a Princess

Kelly’s wedding dress was designed by Helen Rose who had built up a reputation as MGMs principal costume designer and maker. This dress (pictured) was most expensive design that Rose had ever made. It used twenty-five yards of silk taffeta and one hundred yards of silk net. Its 125-year-old rose point lace was purchased from a museum and thousands of tiny pearls were intricately sewn on the veil. It must have been a very fiddly job!

Many celebrities were in attendance at Kelly’s wedding including such golden oldies as David Niven, Gloria Swanson, and Ava Gardner, and a reported 30 million people watched coverage on their television sets. That’s quite something when you consider that televisions weren’t all that commonplace.

The only thing missing from the wedding, was a flock of wedding lanterns, but that’s only because no westerners really knew they existed fifty years ago.

Wedding Wish Lanterns is a specialist in unique wedding and reception ideas. To contact us either email sales@weddingwishlanterns.co.uk or call 0845 500 1215

Installment 9 (the ultimate fairytale wedding) of Wedding Wish Lanterns’ (that’s me) unique wedding ideas series

Some have been pinnacle moments- who could forget David Furnish and Elton John’s ceremony, one of the first of its kind- others have re-defined tradition- Elizabeth Hurley with her double, multi-cultural ceremonies, for instance- and others have played out our own fantasies before us (I’m thinking more of the Brad Pitt/ Jennifer Aniston fairytale at this point rather than the barbie doll, sparkle saturated, cinderella affair that was the Andres’).

Celebrity weddings are the icing on society’s celeb culture cake, as it were. They hold a fascination for us regular folk because they are symbolic of everything that celebrity means and entails, they are the culmination of the celebrity plot- the point where Mr and Mrs Perfect (who we’ve been tracking for years) officially profess their love and walk off into the studio lit sunset. They are the chance for the already radiantly shiny to shine even more and blind us all in the process. Our ultimate fantasy wedding played out on the big screen so to speak.

Sure, not all celebrities make it into the glossy pages of  ‘OK” or ‘Hello’- Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin’s do seemed to have scuttled by relatively unnoticed- but they still cause our ears to prick, and our hearts to beat just that little bit faster…. So, what better way to satisfy our appetite for celebrity than to gather up their wedding stories and pop them all in the same place, this blog? What you see may even give you a few ideas of your own for a dazzling and unique wedding reception…. Look out for part one coming next time.

Gwyneth and Chris

VB