A film star turned royal, Grace Kelly is a Hollywood icon that will always be remembered for her style and class. The award-winning actress became real royalty when she married Prince Rainier of Monaco on April 19, 1956. This wedding has since gone on to inspire many brides on their own big day. Let’s take a look into this glamorous affair.
Kelly and Rainier met at the Cannes Film Festival in 1955, and were married within a year at Monaco’s Saint Nicholas Cathedral.
The highly anticipated marriage of the A-list movie star and Prince of Monaco drew much attention from the public. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the production company Kelly worked for, broadcast the entire ceremony to 30 million viewers in Europe. There were two parts to the celebrations held on consecutive days: the civil ceremony and then the church marriage. It was a star-studded event, with old-school film icons like Cary Grant, Ava Gardner, and Gloria Swanson, as well as society notables Aristotle Onassis and Conrad Hilton in attendance among the 700 guests.
Kelly chose close friend and double Academy winning designer, Helen Rose, to create her perfect wedding dresses. For the civil ceremony, Kelly wore a pink floral embroidered suit, topped off with a Juliet cap. Her church ceremony dress was a gift from the MGM production house, as Kelly had starred in many of their films. Rose was the costume designer on four of Kelly’s films with MGM.
The Victorian-inspired gown was made of 125-year-old Brussels lace, taffeta, and thousands of hand-sewn pearls. The skirt was made of ivory faille and featured three petticoats: a smoothing petticoat, a ruffled petticoat and a foundation petticoat. Underneath the dress was the skirt support, the under bodice and the lace bodice with a slip. The gown itself was made of 100 yards (91 metres) of silk net, and the veil was 90 yards (82 metres). To keep the veil in place, Kelly opted for a Juliet cap decorated with lace, orange blossoms and seed pearls instead of a tiara. 30 seamstresses worked for 6 weeks to complete the look.
Keeping with tradition of the time, Kelly carried a bible instead of a bridal bouquet, although it was decorated with a small bouquet of lilies-of-the-valley. The bible was a gift from MGM.
The groom wore a military uniform he designed himself.
For their reception, guests feasted on a six-tier white wedding cake, out of which a pair of live turtledoves flew when the newlyweds cut into the cake with a sword.
Following the wedding, the pair honeymooned with a seven-week cruise on the yacht, Deo Juvante II, a wedding gift from Onassis.
Feature image: Instagram
