There was a really special feel about the whole day. It had all the pomp and ceremony one would expect from a Royal Wedding, but also, helped by advances in technology and perhaps the young couple’s approach to being part of the monarchy, it was at the same time a truly intimate affair. It felt very much like one had been invited to a family wedding and the public had unprecedented access to catch all the special moments of the day, and there were so many of those special moments!

The day before the wedding

From the eve of the wedding it was clear that both William and Catherine appreciated their public support and wished people to share in their happiness. Catherine Middleton paused outside The Goring Hotel where she spent her last night before her wedding, to wave at the waiting people and allow them to take photographs. Prince William went even further than that. Late on Thursday night, he and his brother Harry came out of Clarence House to talk to the people camped out on the pavement there.

“I hope I’m not too nervous tomorrow,” Prince William said, before thanking the crowd. He even told them, “Make sure you wave at Charles and Camilla,” (his father and stepmother).

Prince Harry joked that he would be camping out himself, because of the “fantastic” atmosphere. He said the brothers had come out to greet the crowds because they could actually hear them while they were inside.

The journey to Westminster Abbey

The journey to Westminster Abbey was a modern one for Catherine Middleton, who was transported to the service with her father in a burgundy Rolls Royce, and for all but the principal guests, who arrived in Mercedes minibuses. Senior Royals took the more traditional carriages. Inside the Abbey, it wasn’t quite audibe what the Royals were saying to each other but the cameras took us close enough to see Charles kiss his mother the Queen on the cheek and the Duke of Edinburgh to kiss his daughter-in-law Camilla on the cheek. We also got to see some good natured teasing between the brothers, no doubt attempting to keep William calm as he waited for Catherine to arrive.

Once the couple stood side by side at the altar it was impossible to miss the loving looks and little giggles that passed between the betrothed couple. One didn’t have to be expert in lip-reading to also discern that Prince William apparently told Catherine Middleton, “You look beautiful.”

Westminster Abbey decoration

The Abbey itself was decked out unusually as an English country garden which gave the wedding theme a really modern feel. Instead of fussy floral arrangements the nave was transformed into an avenue of maples which denote modesty and humility. The last two trees by the high altar were hornbeams, which signify faithfulness and eternal love. The wall of the altar had had its tapestries removed to reveal a beautiful mosaic and several Westminster Abbey treasures were brought out for the occasion.

Wedding dress

The first real glimpse of Catherine’s wedding dress was when she stepped out of the car at the Abbey. The style of the Sarah Burton wedding gown was simple understated elegance which suited Catherine’s slender figure and small features beautifully. Burton is the creative director at the fashion house the late Alexander McQueen. Catherine’s gown was fitted at the waist and hips, in ivory and white, with a low sweetheart neckline and sheer lace sleeves. It was decorated with hand-made lace appliqué flowers.

Catherine wore a simple long veil secured with a halo tiara which was borrowed from the Queen. It had been given to the then Princess Elizabeth as an 18th birthday present. The wedding dress train was 2.17 metres long. That is quite short compared to some other royal trains, but it suited the dress perfectly.

The small bouquet carried by Catherine, and the buttonholes worn by the men in the wedding party were all of white flowers. They included some Sweet William, as Catherine’s tribute to her husband-to-be.

What the rest of the wedding party wore

Prince William wore the dress uniform of a Colonel of the Irish Guards. Prince Harry wore the uniform of the Blues and Royals, the Household Cavalry.

There was the maid of honour, Philippa (Pippa) Middleton) and four young bridesmaids. Two page boys wore knickerbockers livery.

Music

The wedding music was a mix of new and deeply traditional. The hyms were: “Love Divine, All Love’s Excelling”,   “Guide Me, O Thou Great Redeeemer” and the patriotically stirring “Jerusalem”. A special song, “This is the Day”, was composed by John Rutter for the occasion. “God Save the Queen” was also played at the wedding.

Vows

The couple took the wedding vows on velvet kneelers. The both promised to “love, honour, comfort and keep” each other.

Wedding ring

There was a little struggle to get the wedding ring on Catherine’s finger, but then we saw that it was a plain band of Welsh gold, fashioned from a nugget given by the Queen to Prince William as a pre-wedding gift as has been traditional for recent Royal weddings. It was made by Royal jewellers, Wartski.

Titles

After the ceremony, it was announced that that Prince William and Princess Catherine would now also be called the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and in Scotland, the Earl and Countess of Strathearn.

The wedding procession

The wedded couple took a carriage ride back to Buckingham Palace. Emotional moment along the way came not only from their obvious love for each other but also Prince William’s salutes to the Cenotaph and when passing the Household Cavalry guard.

The balcony kisses

Crowds massed outside Buckingham Palace to wait for the bride and groom’s appearance on the balcony. This provided one of the most truly special moments of the day, with not one but two kisses between the happy couple. The second at least seemed completely spontaneous and caused the crowd to gasp in delight and cheer wildly.

Leaving Buckingham Palace

The couple then went inside to enjoy a standing buffet lunch. Afterwards, there was a wonderfully unexpected event. When William and Catherine emerged from Buckingham Palace to go to Clarence House for a larger, informal reception, Prince William was driving his bride in his father’s 1969 Aston Martin, Charles’ 21st birthday gift from his parents.

The vintage car has been restored to a green car, running on alcohol. Someone had decorated it for the Royal Wedding, with heart shaped balloons, ribbons and streamers. The attached number plate read “JU5T WED”. There was also an “L” plate on the back. The bride and bridegroom drove along, still in their wedding outfits, happily chatting to each other and waving to the crowd. Unusually for the Prince, they were alone in the car, although a Royal Protection vehicle followed them a little way behind.

With that, Prince William and Catherine, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge went off to enjoy their party at Clarence House.

We will be watching the events unfold live and tweeting at the same time. Do join in the conversation and follow us on twitter: RoyalFamilyInfo

Don’t forget to join our Flickr group and add your pictures to the stream.

Read on for some ideas and to let us know what you’ll be up to.

What will you be doing today, the Royal Wedding Day?

Getting married?

Churches and registrars across the country reported a surge in interest in setting a wedding date after Prince William and Catherine Middleton announced that they would marry on 29^th April, 2011. Many couples were keen to marry on the same day as the Royal wedding. Even though it is a Bank Holiday, you can get married on this historic day.

Camping out on the wedding route?

Tens of thousands of people are expected to camp out in the capital to get a good spot on the wedding procession route from which to see the happy couple returning from Westminster Abbey.

If you are one of these people you will be in a good position to get one of the 150,000 copies of the official souvenir programme booklet which will go on sale on Friday. Military cadets and Explorer Scouts will hand out the programmes along the route, for a price of £2, to raise money for the Foundation of Prince William and Prince Harry. You can also download a free programme from the Internet. Go to the official Royal Wedding website and get your copy.

Having a street party?

There was initially a poor response to applications to close of roads in order to hold street parties safely across the country. However, it is likely that many quiet residential streets are intending to hold informal street parties without officially closing off the roads. Still more people will congregate in the houses of friends and family to watch the wedding ceremony on TV.

However, councils are now reporting a late upturn in applications for road closures.  Over five thousand street parties are now going to be held, officially. The street parties will be most common in Hertfordshire and Surrey, but certain other places, such as Glasgow (at the time of writing), have not applied for any road closures to hold Royal Wedding street parties.

As would be expected, street parties are also a popular chose of Royal Wedding celebration in London. Cardiff and Bristol will also have over fifty roads closed off for festivities. Newcastle has had thirty-two applications for road closures and Lancashire has had ninety, so there is a good spread across the nation.

Prime Minister, David Cameron, has encouraged people to dress up for the occasion

The first multimedia Royal Wedding

The wedding of Prince William to Catherine Middleton is certainly the first multimedia experience we will have ever been able to have of a Royal Wedding.

Live streaming of the royal wedding ceremony will be up on the Royal YouTube channel. There will also be live blog reports from staff at both Clarence House and St. James Palace, giving historical information as well as up to date news of the day. The blogs will also feature photographs and videos we will ever have seen before.

You can expect the Royal Facebook account to be busy with updates throughout the day, too.

Digital Wedding Book

You are invited to send your good wishes for William and Catherine in the form of a video message that will go into an online digital wedding book.

Twitter

This will be the first royal wedding with its own twitter hashtag: #rw2011.

You can follow these Tweets and leave your own with your thoughts on the wedding and the marriage, your good wishes for William and Kate and let people know how you spent or will spend the Royal Wedding Day.

Leave comments on our guestbook below

We would also love to know how you celebrate the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton.

Leave your comments on our guestbook and share your memories of this historical and happy day. It will be an interesting historical record to look back upon and see how ordinary people in Britain and around the world celebrated Prince William and Catherine Middleton’s wedding day.

Most of us Brits will be lucky enough to have the day off work as it has been designated a special Bank Holiday but travelling to London to camp out on the streets to catch a glimpse of the wedding procession as it passes by is not an option. The vast majority of people who watch the Royal Wedding will do so from the comfort of their own homes, via a TV screen or computer.

If you are travelling to London to soak up the atmosphere, you can view the ceremony live on giant screens constructed in the major London parks like Hyde Park and Regents Park.

They will be showing the mainstream TV coverage, probably from the BBC. So what will you be able to see and when? If you are an armchair royalist, sit back and relax, because there is a whole day of coverage and you can pick and choose your channel throughout the day so you don’t miss a thing.

You can also watch the event take place online (live streaming) at www.YouTube.com/TheRoyalChannel so most of you who have to work can still catch all the action live!

On which TV Channel is the Royal Wedding to be Shown?

The BBC and ITV have full live coverage of the event from very early on Friday morning so the question is more likely whether you can turn on your TV and avoid the Royal Wedding, but we know you don’t want to do that, so here are all the TV scheduling details you need:

BBC One

If you only want to see the basics (the ceremony itself) switch on BBC 1 at 8:15 GMT. That is when you will begin to get the arrival of wedding guests at Westminster Abbey. The wedding service is due to start at 11am GMT (depending on how fashionably and traditionally late Catherine Middleton chooses to be!). Most of the televised broadcasts should be over by 5pm GMT but no doubt you will be seeing the day’s highlights throughout the weekend.

Anchorman Huw Edwards will be based at Buckingham Palace but there will also be outside broadcasts from all over London.

The BBC website bbc.co.uk/royalwedding will also offer live streaming all day.

ITV1

ITV is the place to get all the early speculation about the dress, wedding music, etc, because coverage of the Royal Wedding begins at 6am with the Daybreak programme  coming live from a studio set up outside Buckingham Palace especially for the royal wedding.

There will also be broadcasts from Bucklebury, Kate Middleton’s home village and of course, Westminster Abbey. There will also be some coverage from Camp Bastion (Afghanistan), visited by Prince William in 2010.

From 8.30am, old ITV favourites like Alastair Stewart and Mary Nightingale will provide coverage at various points throughout the day, from important locations on the wedding procession route.

The Westminster Abbey coverage will be done in part by political editor Tom Bradby, who conducted the engagement interview of Prince William and Catherine Middleton, so you can expect a nice insight into the couple’s lives.

There will also be a report from St Andrews, where Prince William and Catherine met and fell in love while studying at university there, and from Anglesey, where the couple currently live.

If you miss any of the live action there will be rolling coverage throughout the day from 8am, with extended news flashes and a special round-up of all the day’s news at 6pm.

Watching the Royal Wedding in the USA and parts of Canada

Royal Wedding fans in the USA and parts of Canada will also have plenty of opportunities to watch the celebrations. Here are some of the shows and channels providing Royal Wedding coverage:

• “The Early Show” on local CBS stations
• “Good Morning America” on local ABC station
• “Today” on NBC
• FOX channel
• TLC (satellite channel 183)
• CNN (satellite channel 200)
• MSNBC (satellite channel 209)
• E! (satellite channel 114)

Don’t forget too that there is also BBCAmerica. Check out their website for more details.

Today it’s the dress rehearsals for all the soldiers and police who will be involved on the big day.

We thought you might like to see this abc news film which includes some footage of London today.

Prince William will set off from Buckingham Palace, while Catherine will take the route from The Goring Hotel, which is just a stone’s throw away from Buckingham Palace.

People travelling to central London in order to watch the Royal wedding procession or to see the TV coverage of the wedding ceremony are being urged to dress up for the occasion so that they can actually feel like wedding guests. However, to get a good viewing point on the route you will probably need to camp out overnight. Don’t forget to take a raincoat too!

If you are going to London and cannot get close to the route, try going to Hyde Park, Chelsea Physic Garden or Trafalgar Square to watch the wedding on a large screen. The sites open at 7am on Friday but you should be lining up for a place long before that.

For the more adventurous, you can buy a camping pass for a three night stay on Clapham Common for £75. There will be hot showers, a wedding party and perhaps even free hot drinks. This could be fun if you’re into camping.

For more information about the route and places to go…

Read more about the Wedding Procession Route

Even if it rains, when the 29^th April dawns, very little will be able to spoil the excitement of watching the procession live, in person. No doubt some people will congregate outside the Goring Hotel to catch the first glimpse of Catherine Middleton in her wedding dress as she steps into the Rolls Royce which is expected to transport her and her father, Michael, to Westminster Abbey. We expect it do be very busy with press photographers and well wishers at the  The Goring. Ofcourse, by that point, Prince William should have made his way from Buckingham Palace and be waiting nervously with brother and best man, Prince Harry, in Westminster Abbey.

At the Abbey, it is thought that there will be a canopy to shelter wedding guests and the happy couple in case of rain. The aisle will be covered in a red carpet, as it was for the Queen’s wedding to Prince Philip in 1947. The only stone not covered by the carpet along the way will be the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior in the nave. The carpet will divert around this grave which is always surrounded by artificial poppies and there are rumours that Prince William and his Princes will stop to pay tribute here. Queen Elizabeth laid her wedding bouquet there at her own wedding and it will be a very touching moment if Catherine does something similar.

The most thrilling procession will be when William and Catherine leave the abbey as husband and wife and travel back to Buckingham Palace together, in a horse-drawn carriage, either closed or open as the weather permits. It is that route which we will go into detail about now.

The Royal Wedding Procession Route

Below is a short 3D Google map of the Wedding Procession Route. Let us know what you think about it below. We think it’s pretty amazing and gives a real feel of London and the route the happy couple will take.

A million wedding guests!

Over a million people are expected to line the wedding processional route from Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace. The best spots to see anything will probably be on the wide paths of The Mall or standing on the steps which lead up to the statue of the Duke of York in Carlton House Terrace. Expect them to be busy!

The procession will go along the Mall, down Horse Guards Parade into Whitehall and then will go around Parliament Square to Westminster Abbey on the way to the service and take exactly the same route on the way back. It is a short procession but on the way back from the wedding, the horse-drawn carriage will travel slowly to allow the thousands of well-wishers expected to throng the streets a chance to greet the happy couple.

There are several places of historical and architectural interest along the wedding procession route, such as the Palace of Westminster, where the House of Commons and the House of Lord sit. The procession will go pas the west face of the building, so Big Ben and its clock tower will be seen (Big Ben is actually a bell, although many people wrongly believe it is the clock).

Standing by the west side of the Houses of Parliament should give you a good view of the start of the wedding procession from Westminster Abbey.

From there, the procession will turn up Whitehall. Later, you can take the opportunity to check out the Churchill War Rooms in this area. Lying beneath the Treasury building, this is where the Prime Minister directed the British war effort between 1940 and 1945. They are perfectly preserved and offer an interesting insight into the war effort and Churchill the man. This is right beside Downing Street, which is of course worth a look at the current house of the serving Prime Minister.

After passing the Women of World War II monument on Whitehall, the procession will pass Horse Guards Parade. The mounted guard of the Household Cavalry will be there, guarding the royal family and the palace. There is a museum dedicated to them here where you can see the horses and hear about their training and that of the guards.

St. James’ Park, the oldest of the royal parks, is next on the route. It will probably be packed with people on Friday Carlton House Terrace runs parallel to the Mall and is a good place from which to see the procession. The British Academy and the Royal Society are both here, as is The Turf Club, Britain’s most exclusive Gentleman’s Club, of which Prince William is rumoured to hold membership.

From there, the procession will pass St. James’ Palace on Pall Mall. This is actually the Queen’s official residence where she lives most of the time. Clarence House is also part of the same massive residential complex. This is where Prince Charles. Prince William and Prince Harry all officially live at the moment.

The Kiss

Then they arrive back at Buckingham Palace and we wait to see Prince William and his new Princess appear on the balcony. Rumour has it that we will also see them kiss. Apparently, it has been officially scheduled!

Prince William and Catherine Middleton (who is now rarely referred to as Kate in the media) have been inundated with wedding gifts from well-meaning fans; that is despite their request that people should donate something to charity instead.

Gifts have included a wide selection of the memorabilia specially produced for the occasion. However, William and Catherine are keen to appear a modern couple, aware of their privileged position in society and to do some good with their wedding gifts.

Read more about the Royal Wedding Gifts

Some of the wildest and wackiest wedding gifts already lined up for Prince William and Catherine Middleton include a mural painted by artist Rich Simmons that portrays the happy couple as Sid Vicious (the late lead singer of punk rock group, The Sex Pistols) and his girlfriend, Nancy Spungen. The figure of the prince is seen smoking a cigarette and riding a motorbike.

South African cheap airline, Kulula.com, is going to send the couple a traditional gift of a herd of cows, to commemorate the custom of paying a bride’s family with such a dowry for the loss of a daughter in marriage. To facilitate delivery of this gift, the airline will actually source a herd local to the Royal couple!

English darts champion, Martin Adams, upon defending his title, donated his winning set of darts to Prince William and Catherine Middleton.

Also, not quite a wedding gift but still a nice gesture, the Queen has invited Prince William and Catherine to have a private apartment at Buckingham Palace. If they accept the offer, the Palace would then be their official Royal residence, ending weeks of speculation about where the couple would live whilst in the capital. Prince Charles has also made a similar offer to renovate a private apartment for the couple at his London home, Kensington Palace, so the young couple have an enviable choice of starter home!

A higher education scholarship in the couple’s names, from St. Andrew’s University, where the couple met, was the first of the philanthropic gifts to be announced. However, Prince William is the patron of several charities, such as the Tusk Trust and Centrepoint and Starlight, a charity which helps to fulfil the dreams of terminally ill children, is also close to Prince William’s heart. It’s possible that as well as asking for charity donations as gifts, Prince William and Catherine Middleton may sell off the range of toasters, kettles, tea services and other general gifts that the public have showered them with, in order to raise more money for charity.

This request for charitable wedding gifts by the latest Royal Wedding couple is in stark contrast to the wildly extravagant gifts given to Prince Charles and Diana upon their 1981 wedding. The people of Canada sent them a roomful of antique furniture; Australian citizens sent twenty plates inscribed with the wedding date and the US President at the time, Ronal Reagan, sent the couple a porcelain set and engraved glass bowl.

Prince William and Catherine Middleton appear to be encouraging people more towards giving useful gifts that will benefit ordinary people less fortunate than them.

Probably nothing will spoil the special day for the happy couple but for them, the guests who have also turned out in their finery and the millions of people expected to line the processional route between Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey and back again, what will the weather be like?

The people planning celebratory street parties up and down the country will also probably be interested in what the weather forecast is expected to be on Friday. Want to know more – well let’s look into our weather forecasting crystal ball…

Read more about the weather forecast for the Royal Wedding Day

Weather forecasting seems to be a ‘dark art’ here in the UK and our crystal ball predicts some heavy showers for the Royal Wedding in London on Friday. That is a particular shame as for the last few days most of the country has basked in sunshine which is not at all typical for April. Temperatures on 29^th April are still predicted to be warmer than average for the time of year, but by Friday, conditions will be cooler and cloudier than they have been, with heavy downpours of rain expected both for Central London and for Catherine Middleton’s hometown of Bucklebury in Berkshire.

Temperatures are likely to be in the high teens (Celsius), high sixties Fahrenheit all over the country. That is quite warm for this time of year but the wind will probably stronger by Friday when some heavy showers become likely. It may feel cool compared to the wonderful weather experienced practically all over England over the Easter weekend, even between the showers.

Northern and Western areas are likely to see the best of the weather on Friday. That is unfortunate for the Royal couple, given that their wedding will take place in the South West but hopefully they will be able to dodge the rain showers on their horse-drawn carriage ride back to Buckingham Palace after the wedding ceremony. The rest of the day they can stay under cover inside or in the cars that will transport them to the wedding.

The forecast so far for Friday indicates that the rain will fall on Central London later in the afternoon. As the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton is due to take place at 11am, they should not be bothered by the showers. They should be inside, enjoying their reception by the time the rain comes. However, tourists and patriotic well-wishers wanting to celebrate with a London street party might not be so lucky.

Of course, exact weather predictions are difficult to give for three days’ time, but if the Met Office announces any major deviation from the warm but showery wet outlook we have at the moment, we will update this page.

Queen Elizabeth II and other royal family members will sit in the front row across the aisle from the Middleton family. The Royals will be closest to the abbey’s sanctuary, where William and Catherine will stand to take their vows. The Middletons and other members of Catherine’s family will sit with their friends and Princess Diana’s Spencer family.

To find out who some of the other guests are 

Read more about the Royal Wedding Guests

Elton John tops the list of celebrity wedding guests. He was a close friend of Prince William’s late mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, and famously sang a new version of his hit song, “Candle in the Wind” for her funeral in 1997. He is likely to be accompanied by his civil partner, David Furnish.

Soul singer Joss Stone, who performed at the Concert for Diana at Wembley in 2007, is also invited, as is photographer Mario Testino, who took the couple’s the official engagement portraits of Prince William and Catherine Middleton.

“Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels” director Guy Ritchie, ex-husband of the pop star Madonna, is also invited. He is said to be a mutual friend of William and Kate.

Comedian Rowan Atkinson, perhaps most famous as Mr Bean, is to attend as a close friend of the Charles, Prince of Wales.

From the world of sport, soccer star David Beckham, has got an invitation. He worked with Prince William on England’s failed bid to host the 2018 World Cup and the two were said to have become friends through it. David is likely to be accompanied by his wife, the ex-pop star turned fashion designer, Victoria Beckham.

Prince William’s deep love of sport is also shown in guests such as the Australian Olympic swimmer Ian “Thorpedo” Thorpe, Welsh rugby player Gareth Thomas, former England footballer Trevor Brooking, and another friend of the Prince, jockey Sam Waley-Cohen.

Another definite inclusion on the wedding list is England rugby star Mike Tindall who is engaged to be married to the prince’s cousin, Zara Phillips. Their wedding date is set for July.

Aristocratic socialite and reality TV star Tara Palmer-Tomkinson has been invited, as has the journalist Tom Bradby, who conducted the first interview with Prince William and Catherine Middleton as a couple, and television presenter Ben Fogle, a friend of the Prince.

The celebrities will sit side by side with veterans of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Among the more surprising invited guests is 70 year old Canadian billionaire Galen Weston and his wife, the former lieutenant governor of Ontario, Hilary Weston. They are close friends of Prince Charles.

Attending members of foreign Royal families (many of which are related to the British Royal family) include Prince Albert of Monaco. He will soon be attending his own July 1 wedding to South African swimmer Charlene Wittstock.

Several heads of state will also attend, which has sparked controversy. Leaders of countries such as Bahrain and Swaziland with questionable human rights records will be there.

Former Conservative Prime Ministers John Major and Margaret Thatcher were invited, yet former Labour Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown were not. The explanation has nothing to do with politics. It is simply that Thatcher and Major are members of the Order of the Garter, Britain’s highest honour.

So, there are a few of the guests who will be attending the Royal wedding on Friday. What do you think and should you have a got an invite?

You can read a transcript of the video here: www.archbishopofcanterbury.org