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Let’s Look at All the Wedding Details Revealed in Harry & Meghan

What was actually happening behind the smiles and royal waves?

Of all the startling and not-so-startling revelations in Netflix’s Harry & Meghan, on the lighter side is a glimpse into the couple’s 2018 royal wedding day, a massive global event watched by more than 29 million people.

Curious about what goes on behind all the pomp and pageantry of a royal wedding day? Turns out theirs had all the elements of a regular wedding day, but with some very big extras, like the venue: a castle; cutting their cake with a sword; and Elton John and Idris Elba leading the reception entertainment.

Here are seven royal wedding day details Harry and Meghan revealed.

Meghan indulged in a pre-wedding bridal tradition: Mimosas

Getting into royal bride mode for Meghan meant having some fun on the morning of her wedding as she got ready. “All I wanted was a mimosa, a croissant and to play the song ‘Going to the Chapel.’ And that’s what I did, and it was great.”

Despite the enormous audience, Meghan recalls looking back on it all, that she was remarkably chill. “On the day of our wedding, I went into a really calm space,” says Meghan. “I don’t know how I was so calm. I look back and, ‘How was I so calm?!’” Mimosa, anyone?

Meghan’s wedding dress designer felt pressure for perfection

harry & meghan netlfix royal wedding
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The docuseries features an interview with British designer Clare Waight Keller, the then artistic director of haute couture and ready-to-wear creative for Givenchy, who Meghan personally tapped to design her wedding dress. Waight Keller said the design of the dress was truly a collaborative process with the bride. “Looking at the design of the dress, there were many conversations we had over how you want to present yourself to the world,” said Waight Keller. Most of us have a wedding with 70 to 100 people. This was billions of people watching. It has to be flawless. It had to be perfect.”

The minimalist silk white gown with open bateau neckline, tailored sleeves, cathedral train and six meticulously placed seams ushered in a new simplistic era in bridal fashion, which is still very much on trend. Meghan’s veil—a five-metre silk tulle veil hand-embroidered with the flora from each Commonwealth country—was also the beginning of the epic veil trend embraced by so many of today’s modern brides.

Harry picked Meghan’s wedding processional song

As Meghan shares, “H” chose the song she walked down the aisle to, a classic instrumental piece by George Frideric Handel called “Eternal Source of Light Divine.” King Charles was also instrumental (pun intended) in shaping the sounds of the wedding ceremony as it was he who helped the couple chose an orchestra, a detail Harry says, “made all the difference.” Charles also helped organize the gospel choir, an element that was a first for any royal wedding in history. “There was not a lot of pushback on that one,” the couple said.

Charles of course also played another vital role in the day walking Meghan down the aisle.  “Harry’s dad is very charming. I said to him, ‘I’ve lost my dad in this,’” remembers Meghan. “So, him as my father-in-law was really important to me. So, I asked him to walk me down the aisle and he said yes. The whole thing was surreal.”

When they met at the altar, it was electric

harry & meghan netlfix royal wedding
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“Look what I get, look what I found,” was Harry’s reaction to seeing his bride for the first time on the day. If you watched the wedding, you will remember when these two locked eyes before saying ‘I do’ you could feel the fire between them. Meghan says the moment she saw Harry when she was coming down the aisle, she felt home. “H and I are really good at finding each other in the chaos. When we find each other, we reconnect to, like, ‘Oh it’s you. It’s you.’ It’s not that the rest of it doesn’t matter, but…the rest of it feels temporary.”

There was sword play at their reception

We know that cutting the cake is an age-old wedding tradition, but in the case of a royal wedding, the couple shared that the moment had a mediaeval twist. Their wedding reception was held at St. Georges Hall at Windsor Castle, and in the docuseries they share a never-before-seen photo of Harry going to slice one of their three lemon elderflower cakes (scroll the carousel below to see the moment) created by Violet Cakes owner Claire Ptak.

 

 
 
 
 
 
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Their first dance (and entire reception) was epic

H & M recounted their joyful first twirl as Duke and Duchess—they agree it was one of the best moments of the day. “We really wanted the music to be fun, even our first dance,” shared Meghan. They chose Wilson Pickett’s 1966 hit “Land of 1000 Dances” as their song. “That was our first dance. It was so fun. Just spinning like a whirlwind, it was so great.”

The doc shares photos of that first dance, cut together with a bunch of party pics including ones featuring Elton John performing at the piano (and Meghan’s mom, Dora, dancing), and Idris Alba in the DJ booth. The fairy-tale night ended with guests joining the couple for fireworks on the grounds of Windsor Castle.

Meghan’s wedding speech foreshadowed their future

In the very last moments of the final episode of Harry & Meghan, the bombshell series ends on a rather uplifting note. Meghan pulls up a photo on her iPhone of the speech she gave at her wedding reception, one that pays tribute to her new husband, their love story, and a bright future ahead in the face of any adversity.

“Onto the crux of why I wanted to speak tonight,” reads Meghan. “First of all, it’s been a while,” Meghan begins, “but mostly, I wanted to share a story. A story that I wrote about the man that I love and the way that we met. Let’s call this a modern fairy tale. Once upon a time there was a girl from L.A.—some people called her an actress. And there was a guy from London—some people called him a prince. All of those people didn’t fully get it because this is the love story of a boy and girl who were meant to be together.”

Meghan ends with, “I appreciate, respect and honour you, my treasure, for the family we will create, and our love story that will last forever. So I ask you to raise a glass to the astounding assurance that now life begins, and the everlasting knowing that above all, love wins.”

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