Prince Albert and Princess Charlene of Monaco recently celebrated their ninth wedding anniversary.
The official Prince’s Palace of Monaco Facebook page shared two photos to honour the occasion. One captures the couple, another shows them with their 5-year-old twins Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella.
The Prince and the South African Olympic swimmer married on July 2, 2011 in a three-day royal wedding that cost an estimated $55-million (R935 473 000). The bride wore an off-the-shoulder Armani Privé silk gown adorned with 40 000 Swarovski crystals and 20 000 mother-of-pearl teardrops. They welcomed the twins in 2014.
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Feature image: Instagram / HSH Princess Charlene
Art-lovers will find a new favourite in abstract-inspired wedding cakes. These cakes display the visual language of abstract art, which does not attempt to represent an accurate depiction…
If you’re a Sailor Moon fangirl or boy, you’re in luck. A new wedding line is bringing the magic of the anime to real life, allowing brides and grooms to dress up like their favourite characters on their big day.
The Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon wedding collection is inspired by the popular Japanese shōjo manga series which has been adapted into an anime series much-loved across the globe.
The collection is created by Japanese fashion line Mariarosa and was completed under the supervision of Professor Naoko Takeuchi. It features six wedding dresses and two tuxedos, and will be available to rent or purchase from August 2020.
“The lineup is rich in variations, including princess serenity dresses and wedding dresses that Usagi-chan wore in the final episode, including those that reproduce the dresses that appeared in the work, as well as image dresses inspired by the work. ..” says the website.
Check out more on the Mariarosa website HERE.
Feature image: Mariarosa / Sailor Moon Collection
Actor Alec Baldwin and wife Hilaria celebrated their eighth wedding anniversary on July 1. The happy couple honoured the occasion with some sweet Instagram posts. Baldwin shared two…
They say you can’t put a price on happiness, but some think differently. Royal weddings are known to be lavish and larger-than-life.
Over the decades, royals across the world have spared no expense to make sure their big day was picture perfect. Here are some of the most expensive royal weddings that have dazzled crowds over the years.
Princess Hajah Hafizah Sururul Bolkiah and Pengiran Haji Muhammad Ruzaini
The Sultan of Brunei’s daughter Princess Hajah Hafizah Sururul Bolkiah married non-royal Pengiran Haji back in 2012. The pair wed at the monarch’s 1 700-room palace, and their guest list included 3000 people, which probably greatly contributed to the $20 million cost (R338 718 000) of their big day.
Prince Felipe and Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano
Spanish Crown Prince married journalist Letizia Ortiz in 2004, before they became King and Queen. The couple had over 1200 guests witness their big day, and was the first Spanish royal wedding in almost a century so they had to do it big.
The bride wore a stunning Manuel Pertegaz gown with gold details and a 14-foot (4.27 metre) train. The wedding reception featured a 7-foot (2.13 metre) high cake and over 1000 bottles of champagne. The government and the Royal House shared the estimated bill of between $25-30 million (R423 397 500 – R508 077 0000).
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Prince Harry and Megan Markle
The fairytale 2018 wedding had a pretty frightening bill at the end of it. The wedding is estimated to have cost about $45 million (R762 115 500), of which $30 million alone was dropped on security to keep the Royal family safe during the day.
Interestingly, the royals paid for the majority of the wedding themselves instead of having the state foot the bill. “As was the case with the wedding of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, The Royal Family will pay for the core aspects of the wedding, such as the church service, the associated music, flowers, decorations, and the reception afterwards,” read a statement from the Royal Family.
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Prince Albert II and Charlene Wittstock Wedding
Many tuned in to witness South African swimmer Charlene Wittstock become royalty when she said ‘I do’ to Monaco’s Prince Albert II in 2011. The wedding festivities lasted three days.
Wittstock’s Giorgio Armani wedding gown was made of silk, embellished with pearls and 40 000 swarovski crystals. The 450 guest wedding cost the Crown about $65 million (R1 100 833 500).
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Princess Diana and Prince Charles
The marriage of Lady Diana Spencer and Prince Charles was considered the wedding of the century, and of course it had the price tag to match.
Being such high-profile figures, the royal family shelled out an estimated $600 000 on security and crowd control alone. Princess Diana’s dress cost around $13,000. All together, the wedding is believed to have cost the modern day equivalent of $70 million (R1 185 513 000).
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Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Princess Salama
The prince and Princess of Abu Dhabi hold the record for the most expensive modern royal wedding. They tied the knot back in 1981 in a 20 000 seat stadium they had specially built to accommodate the week-long wedding celebrations. The royals dropped a casual $100 000 (R1 693 590 000) on their big day, of which very few public photos exist.
Feature image: Instagram / The Royal Family
For the eco-friendly bride, sustainability is of extreme importance. However, wedding dresses, in their most traditional sense, are not very sustainable. They take a lot of resources to…
The wedding exit is a special moment as newlyweds step out for the first time as a married couple. Traditionally, excited guests line the steps and hurl handfuls of uncooked rice at the couple on their way.
The rice toss tradition is an interesting yet strange one that can be dated back to the Ancient Romans. Here’s how it started and evolved over time.
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The origin:
In Ancient Roman times, marriage was symbolic of expansion, both in terms of starting a family and growing one’s assets. Because of its affordability and easy availability, rice was used to usher newlyweds into their marriage and encourage both fertility and prosperity. The rice is meant to resemble rain, which is also a positive symbol on a wedding day. Romans also used wheat and oats as alternatives.
The tradition began losing popularity after a rumour grew that birds would eat the rice once the wedding was over and their stomachs would explode from it. In the US, state legislation banned the tradition entirely in 1985 to protect unsuspecting birds. However, this theory has since been proven false, the rice doesn’t actually expand in a bird’s stomach and cause them to explode.
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Modern times:
Nowadays, the rice toss doesn’t hold the same weight it once did as modern couples are more conscious of their surroundings. Eco-friendly, alternative options are more commonly used for the perfect exit moment.
If you’d still like to have a rice toss but in a way that’s kinder on the environment, consider using items like dried petals, fresh leaves, or eco-friendly confetti made of growing paper.
Feature image: Pexels