Every Bride Expects To Have A Fairytale Entrance On Her Wedding Day—Especially Royal Brides. Here is part three Of Royal Wedding Dresses Throughout History.
Princess Helena of Waldeck and Pyrmont
The gown was made of white satin, decorated with traditional orange blossom and myrtle and trimmed with fleur-de-lis, with the edge topped with point d’Alençon and white satin. The long tulle veil was held in place by a diamond head dress and a wreath of orange blossoms and myrtle. The shoulders were bare and the short drop sleeves adorned with the Royal Family Order of the Royal Order of Victoria and Albert and the Companion of the Order of the Crown of India pinned to the left. The bosom was swathed in tulle and ruched laces with a small bouquet of flowers. The fashionably cut bodice ended in a sharp V–shape that accentuated the bride’s tall and slender figure.
Princess Helena
Sophia Magdalena of Denmark
She wore a cloth of silver mantua style dress, an open-fronted silk gown with a train and matching petticoat. The train was worn looped up over the hips to reveal the petticoat. The bodice had loose elbow-length sleeves finished with wide turned-back cuffs. A hoop petticoat and several under- petticoats wore worn beneath the outer petticoat. The corset was worn under the bodice. It was made of linen and stiffened with whale bones inserted between lines of stitching. They fastened with lacing down the back which was laced tightly to give an upright posture to the torso and to emphasise the waist. A ‘busk’ or strip of bone was incorporated into the front of the stays.
Sophia Magdalena
Princess Maud, Countess of Southesk
The design followed the Coco Chanel-dictated trends of the time: dropped waists and straight silhouettes. The gown is silk crepe moiré embellished extensively with pearls and silver embroidery. The four-yard-long train of silver-run net was underlined with silver tissue, and draperies of the net fall over the shoulders to make sleeves. Silver-run net was also used for the veil, which was arranged in the Dutch bonnet fashion with a bunch of white heather at either side. She wore a goingaway coat of mink with a large collar.
Princess Maud
Lady Charlotte Wellesley
The royal bride wore a custom-made wedding gown designed by luxury fashion designer Emilia Wickstead. The cream gown featured an off-the-shoulder lapel, with a large train and long sleeves. Contrasting with the thick fabric of her wedding dress, Lady Charlotte’s veil was made from a delicate and soft white tulle which featured elegant white spot detailing. Charlotte paired her glamorous gown with a sleek bun, gold drop-earrings and an unstructured bridal bouquet made of white flowers and flecked with soft greenery.
Lady Charlotte Wellesley
Lady Davina Windsor
The 2004 wedding was a sweet, understated occasion, with the bride wearing a simple cream satin bustier dress with a lace over-blouse with pearl buttons on the sleeves and carrying a bouquet of beautiful blue florals, which were also pinned in her blonde hair.
Davina Windsor
Marie-Chantal, Crown Princess of Greece
Marie-Chantal’s pearl-encrusted ivory silk 1995 wedding dress with a tulip-shaped front and 4.5 meter Chantilly lace train was made by Valentino Garavani and reportedly cost £225,000. Twenty-five people worked on Marie- Chantal’s dress, which took four months and 12 different kinds of lace to complete
Marie-Chantal of Greece
Wallis Simpson
She wore a soft blue in what was termed her signature colour of “Wallis blue” to match her eyes, Tailored silk crepe gown overlayed with a buttoned corset-style bodice. A sleek floor-length skirt, wide-fitting waistband that had delicate buttons on the gathered waist. A matching blue halo-effect straw hat with flowing blue tulle, and long-sleeved jacket. silk crepe gloves and completed her look with a diamond and sapphire brooch.
Wallis Simpson
Princess Alice of the United Kingdom
On 1 July 1862, in the dining room of Osborne House on the Isle of Wight, she married Prince Louis of Hesse. Seven months had passed since the death of the Prince Consort and the Royal Family was still in mourning. The venue was chosen so that the Queen would be able to avoid inviting the usual guests of state. She wore a ‘half-high dress with a deep flounce of Honiton lace, a veil of the same and a wreath of orange blossom and myrtle’. It was a simple style and not embellished with a court train. Queen Victoria later confided to her daughter, the Princess Royal (Vicky), that the wedding of ‘poor Alice’ had been “more like a funeral.”
Princess Alice
Princess Claire Of Luxembourg
The ivory silk dress was intricately embroidered with Chantilly lace floral motifs and glimmering silver thread. The gown featured a 10ft flowing train with a neo baroque flower detail which continued through the length of the silk tulle veil. She chose a glittering floral tiara. She accessorized with a pair of dazzling diamond earrings, the same ones worn by Princess Stephanie of Luxembourg and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa on their wedding days, which complemented the stunning headpiece.
Claire Of Luxembourg
Princess Stéphanie of Monaco
On July 1, 1995, Princess Stéphanie wed her former bodyguard, Daniel Ducruet, in a civil ceremony at the Palace of Monaco. Theirs was not a grand ceremony and no reception was held – the couple already shared two children together and wanted to avoid the fanfaronade of media attention. Even today, the Palace has never released details on her knee-length lace dress, which is one of the shortest dresses in the history of royal weddings.
Stéphanie of Monaco
Princess Marie of Denmark
Marie chose a traditional white dress for her 2008 wedding. The top of the gown, with its sweetheart neckline, is where the lace really stars. It’s Calais lace with a flower motif which can be clearly see on the sleeves and on the back of the dress. It covers the bodice with its dropped waist and continues across the length of the flared skirt. The train is three metres long and flows from the bodice. It was completely covered by the tulle veil which was trimmed with more lace and held in place by a diamond floral tiara.
Marie of Denmark
Autumn Phillips
She chose a British designer when she wed on May 17, 2008 at St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle. Her gown by Sassi Holford featured a silk duchesse skirt with a three-tiered sash at the waist. A fitted bodice made of hand-beaded lace, and silk with a beaded French lace shrug layered over her shoulders. She borrowed the Festoon Tiara from her mother-in-law, Princess Anne, and accessorized with a necklace and earrings given to her by her groom. Autumn appeared calm despite later revealing she was terrified of walking down the aisle in front of 300 guests.
Autumn Phillips
Ekaterina Malysheva Princess of Hanover
The gown was a wedding gift from her friend, Sandra Mansour, a Lebanese fashion designer. A traditional princess gown with Russian influence, it has lace sleeves, a fitted bodice and a full skirt, with hand-stitched pearl embroidery, delicate Chantilly lace with a pearl overlay and a sweeping veil. The beading took four months to embroider.
Ekaterina Malysheva of Hanover
Marie José of Belgium
Princess Maria José wore a long white velvet dress, decorated with ermine fur, with a 5 meters long cloak embroidered with golden threads and a lace veil presented by the lacemakers of Bruge the dress was designed by her husband.
Maria of Belgium
Victoria, Princess Royal
The dress was composed of a rich robe of white moire antique ornamented with three flounces of Honiton lace. The design of the lace consisted of bouquets in open work of the rose, shamrock, and thistle in three medallions. At the top of each flounce on the front of the dress were wreaths of orange and myrtle blossoms, the latter being the bridal flower of Germany. Every wreath ended with bouquets of the same flowers and the length of each being so graduated as to give the appearance of a robe hemmed with flowers. The apex of this floral pyramid was formed by a large bouquet worn on the girdle. The train, which was of an unusual length of more than three yards, was of white moire antique, trimmed with two rows of Honiton lace surmounted by wreaths similar to those on the flounces of the dress with bouquets at short intervals.
Victoria, Princess Royal
Princess Mabel of Orange-Nassau
Mabel Wisse Smit married Prince Johan Friso on April 24, 2004. She requested something memorable and was interested in a three-dimensional train detail. They came up with a dress that featured 248 handmade crepe georgette bows, 128 bows on the skirt, 85 on the bodice, and 35 on the train. The bows are graduated in size, beginning with tiny bows at the shoulders and growing to massive bows at the end of the 3.15 meter (10’4″) train. The bateau neckline and belted waist give the dress a flattering shape and it’s a true piece of couture art, very cleverly made so that the ribbon lattice pattern behind the bows covers the seams. The gown is crafted from snow white double-faced duchesse satin and took 600 hours to make. The bride kept her veil short and topped it with a diamond tiara that borrows its larger stones from the top of the Dutch Sapphire Tiara.
Mabel of Orange-Nassau
Noal Zaher Shah of Afghanistan Princess of the Sa’id
For her 2013 wedding she wore an ivory, flowing wedding gown that had an intricate lace overlay and appliqué with pearl and swarovski crystal embellishments. She wore a delicate tiara and completed her royal look with sparkling diamond jewellery and a tulle veil.
Noal Zaher Shah of Afghanistan
Princess Carolina, Marchioness of Sala
The 2002 dress’ most notable feature is the heirloom Bruges lace, which was worn by Princess Irene at her wedding in 1964 and has now been adapted for use by her daughter. The short sleeves and bodice are all of lace, which parts to reveal a plain skirt underneath and travels back to form the modest train. The gown is topped with a long veil secured by a tiara borrowed from the Dutch royal house: the diamond Laurel Wreath Tiara is about 200 years old. arolina accessorized with a beautiful pair of diamond and pearl drop earrings.
Princess Carolina
Sophie of Württemberg
The bride wore a white belted column gown with a train overlay, three-quarter sleeves and bateau neckline. Along with a lace veil and the Württemberg ‘Small’ Diamond Tiara, which is the traditional wedding Tiara for most Württemberg brides.
Sophie of Württemberg
Maud of Wales Queen of Norway
The dress was designed by Rosalie Whyte of the Royal Female School of Art. The dress was made from white satin manufactured in Spitalfields, London, with chiffon and flowers at the skirt hem, and a long train bordered with orange blossoms. The waist was embroidered with silver and diamonds. Maud wore her mother’s wedding veil and minimal jewellery, with a choker on her neck and some bracelets; she also wore flowers on her head instead of a tiara. Her bouquet was a mix of white jasmine, orange blossom and German myrtle.
Maud of Wales
Princess Ingrid of Sweden
Ingrid’s dress was a “simply cut” white gown, described alternately as silk or crepe satin. The gown featured a high neck, a draped bodice, and long sleeves with a 20-foot train, trimmed with point de venise lace worn by Ingrid’s mother Margaret of Connaught on her own wedding day in 1906. The veil was made of the same lace and has since been worn many descendants of Ingrid or their brides on their own wedding day. Atop the veil, Ingrid wore the crown of myrtle common for Swedish brides. She wore the Khedive of Egypt Cartier tiara she had inherited from her mother and a strand of simple pearls.
Ingrid of Sweden
Majeedah Nuurul Bulqiah of Brunei
For her 2007 wedding the bride dressed in traditional Malay brocade of maroon and gold. She wore a tiara and carried a small diamond studded gold bouquet.
Majeedah Nuurul Bulqiah
Marie Louise Empress of France Queen of Italy
She was dressed in the imperial cloak, made of crimson velvet with hermine and gold embroidery. Marie-Louise’s wedding outfit, which cost 12,000 Francs, was a magnificent dress made from silver tulle netting, embroidered with pearls and lamé. The high waist dominated the long, flowing dress. Her locks were covered by a veil of Alencon lace, held in place by a diadem. On her feet she wore white satin slippers, embroidered with silver. She finished off her wedding outfit with diamonds from to the French Crown Jewels.
Marie Louise Queen of Italy
Cleopatra von Adelsheim
Cleo wore a custom-made gown by Luisa Beccaria that took several trips to Milan to complete. The organza creation had flowers embroidered in light rose and beige and a seven-meter summer cape with stitched diamond and pearl details. The bride topped off the look with the Oettingen House diadem.
Cleopatra von Adelsheim
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur a
Therese wore a floor-length empire dress with lace and silk. During the ceremony, she suffered from a terrible toothache. The ceremony took place in the evening and the city was illuminated by lights. The city celebrated with bread rolls, cheese, sausages, wine and beer and even held a horse race. The decision was made to repeat the spectacle surrounding the 1810 celebrations and we now know the annual event as Oktoberfest.
Therese of Saxe-Altenburg
Princess Xenia Georgievna of Russia
Princess Xenia wore a simple dress of Liberty satin and had a garland of orange blossoms around her waist. A full veil of tulle Jell from her head. The only jewelry she wore was a long chain necklace set with diamonds, with a sapphire and diamond pendant — a gift from her mother.
Xenia Georgievna of Russia
Princess Maxima of Orange
Maxima’s 2002 Valentino gown had a cow neckline and was made of ivory mikado silk. It has three quarter sleeves and a 16.4 foot lace train; the skirt featured lace designs, as well, as slightly flared out. She wore the star version of the Pearl Button Tiara. Her bouquet included white roses, greens, lily of the valley, and gardenia.
Maxima of Orange
Baroness Francesca Thyssen-Bornemisza
She wore a 1993 Versace design. The lace-up front, enormous ball skirt, heavy 200-year-old Habsburg veil held in place with a small pearl and diamond bandeau tiara, even the bride carrying a Mass Book instead of a bouquet – looks like something that could have come straight from a winter wonderland film set.
Francesca Thyssen-Bornemisza
Josephine of Leuchtenberg
For her 1823 wedding the petite bride wore a white and silver empire dress which featured a fitted bodice and high waist and was extravagantly trimmed and decorated with lace, ribbons, and netting. She sported short sleeves her bared arms were covered by long white gloves.
Josephine of Leuchtenberg
Catherine the Great
For her 1745 wedding the 16 year old bride wore a gown made of luxuriant silver silk, with lace sleeves and a lace bertha around the neckline. Embroidered silver serve as the repeated pattern throughout with ermine trim at the hem and a pink sash.
Catherine the Great
Mary, Princess Royal and Countess of Harewood
Mary’s 1922 dress was white and silver. The embroidery consisted of seed pearls, baroque pearls and tiny diamonds. The train was woven at the Braintree Mills and was 20,000 threads wide. On either side of the train was Honiton lace designed to reflect “Britain’s position as ruler of a vast empire” embroidered in silver thread and seed pearls with the rose, shamrock, thistle, daffodil, the lotus of India, the maple of Canada, the wattle of Austrialia and the fern of New Zealand. Part of the wedding veil lace was said to have belonged to Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII’s first wife, and her mother and grandmother had worn it before her.
Mary, Princess Royal
Princess Sinaitakala Tukuʻaho
The wedding ceremony was held at the Centenary Church of the Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga in Nuku’alofa on 12 July 2012. Tupouto’a ‘Ulukalala became the first Crown Prince to marry in sixty-five years. The groom wore grey and black morning dress, while the bride wore a long sleeve, lace wedding dress with a veil that reached the floor of the church. The marriage caused much controversy over the practice of marrying closely related cousins.
Princess Sinaitakala Tukuʻaho
Franziska Balzer
Franziska’s wedding gown was kept top secret until the last minute. A cropped silk jacket was worn over a dress with a transparent floral lace bodice and A-line skirt. A Bulgari tiara finished off the look, with her veil trailing behind.
Franziska Balzer
Zara Tindall
This 2011 bride opted for an ivory gown made of duchess satin and faille. It had a structured bodice with an unusual empire line that gave way to a dropped waist. The top was finished with small cap sleeves. The gown also had a full skirt that fanned out into a very modest train covered by a silk tulle veil. Zara wore the Meander Tiara, one of Princess Anne’s favourite diadems. It originally belonged to the mother of the Duke of Edinburgh, Princess Alice.
Zara Tindall
Charlotte Bonaparte
Princess Charlotte’s wedding gown was made in the current style, with a empire line waist and a hem that fell to ankle length. The puff-headed sleeves went to just above elbow length. This elegant garment was comprised of a silver tissue petticoat and a silver net over-dress with a deep flounce embroidered in a pattern of shells and flowers. The net was made of lama fabric woven of silver threads. The bodice and the sleeves were trimmed with Brussels point lace, also worked in silver thread. The train was made of the same fabric as the petticoat, lined with white satin and embroidered around the edges in the same patterns which appeared on the flounce of the gown, all worked in silver thread. The dress was the height of European fashion, but Americans called her ‘an almost naked woman.’
Charlotte Bonaparte
Sophie Winkleman
Actress Sophie wore a stunning wedding dress created by one of her mother-in-law Princess Michael of Kent’s favourite designers, Anna Bystrova from Roza Couture. The silk gown was hand- embellished with sequins, beads and crystals, with a sweetheart neckline and three-metre train.
Sophie Winkleman
Alexandra of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Her wedding dress was made of the new material moire velours in purest white, which dazzled with silver thread. The skirt had a long train, which was embroidered all round in a design of orange blossom and myrtle in silk and silver connected with chains of pearls several rows deep. The bodice was pointed and outlined with a double row of pearls. On the front there were curving lines of pearls and silver and a berthe of white silk muslin, with sprys of orange blossom and myrtle. The sleeves were of snowy silk muslin wrought with pearls and silver. She wore a tulle veil and a mantle of white moiré veours to match the dress.
Alexandra of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Princess Hajah Hafizah Sururul Bolkiah
The wedding took place in the Throne Hall of Istana Nurul Iman palace. She wore a crystal beaded beige silver and gold gown with an elaborate matching headpiece and veil.
Princess Hajah Hafizah Sururul Bolkiah
Princess Alexandra of Denmark
Alexandra’s gown was made by Jorgen Bender, royal couturier extraordinaire. He used whole silk and nearly 9,000 pearls to create the gown. It features a high collar, long sleeves, cummerbund cinched waist, and full skirt with a 4 meter train. The pearl detailing travels around the collar, down the front pleat of the skirt, and around the hem and sleeves. Her voluminous tulle veil and equally voluminous hair were crowned with a diamond tiara given to her by her new in-laws.
Alexandra of Denmark
If you’re like me and very much enjoy reading all about history I recommend amazon for good deals.
Below are some interesting books and films about royal wedding’s and the beautiful dresses.
Thank you for looking
If you would like to make a one off donation
Every penny I receive will go towards research material for future projects.
Thank you.
or
Please show your support and become a patreon
or
Why not buy me a coffee
My pinterest page
My YouTube Channel
My twitter page
