Meghan Markle makes for one beautiful bride.
Meghan Markle makes for one beautiful bride.
The 36-year-old actress stunned in a gorgeous white Givenchy boatneck dress on Saturday, while marrying Prince Harry at St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle. Meghan also wore Queen Mary's diamond bandeau tiara with her hair up, and a dramatic long veil.
Meghan’s wedding dress was designed by the acclaimed British designer Clare Waight Keller. Waight Keller became the first female Artistic Director at the historic French fashion house Givenchy last year.
According to the Palace, Meghan and Waight Keller worked closely together on the design.
The pure lines of the dress are achieved using six meticulously placed seams, according to a press release of the dress, though the focus of the dress is the graphic open bateau neckline that frames the shoulders. The lines of the dress extend towards the back where the train flows in soft round folds cushioned by an underskirt in triple silk organza.
Following extensive research by Waight Keller in fabric mills throughout Europe, the exclusive double bonded silk cady was developed as the fabric of the dress.
As for the veil, Waight Keller designed a veil representing the distinctive flora of each Commonwealth country united in one floral composition, after Meghan said that she wanted all 53 countries of the Commonwealth to be incorporated in her bridal look. The Commonwealth family of nations will be a central part of Harry’s and Meghan’s official work following Harry's appointment as Commonwealth Youth Ambassador. Meghan wanted to express her gratitude for the opportunity to support the work of the Commonwealth by incorporating references to its members into the design of her wedding dress.
The veil is five meters long and made from silk tulle with a trim of hand-embroidered flowers in silk threads and organza. According to the press release, workers spent hundreds of hours meticulously sewing and washing their hands every 30 minutes to keep the tulle and threads pristine. In addition to the flora of the Commonwealth, Meghan also selected two personal favorites: Wintersweet (Chimonanthus praecox), which grows in the grounds of Kensington Palace in front of Nottingham Cottage, and the California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica) the state flower of Meghan's place of birth, California. Symmetrically placed at the very front of the veil, crops of wheat are delicately embroidered and blend into the flora, to symbolize love and charity.
The former Suits star is expected to wear two gowns, one for the ceremony and one for the reception.
Prior to the wedding, many speculated that Ralph & Russo would design her all-important wedding dress. The British label was favored after Meghan previously wore a showstopping black tulle dress from their Autumn/Winter 2016/2017 runway collection for her memorable engagement photos with Prince Harry.
In January, a source told ET that Meghan had her first fitting for her wedding dress at Kensington Palace with her close friend, Jessica Mulroney, who flew in from Toronto, Canada, to help with wedding planning. Mulroney is a top stylist, her high-profile clients including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's wife, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau. According to the source, Meghan's goal for the dress was for it to be "simple and elegant."
Meghan had her final fittings in late April, a source told ET.
Royal expert Katie Nicholl told ET in March that when it came to her wedding dress, Meghan had no plans to try to "upstage" her sister-in-law Kate Middleton's memorable Alexander McQueen wedding dress from Kate's 2011 nuptials to Prince William.
"I think when it comes to her wedding dress, she knows that this is a very, very important dress,” Nicholl said. “It’s got to fit for the occasion, it’s got to suit the regal historical backdrop that is Windsor Castle.”
“There have been reports that [Meghan’s] considering spending hundreds of thousands of pounds on a wedding dress. I think that’s incredibly unlikely,” she further noted. “Kate Middleton's dress cost 150,000 pounds. It was her parents, Carol and Michael Middleton, who paid for that bill. I think it was very unlikely that Meghan would spend more than that and in doing so try and upstage a future queen.”
Earlier this month, Meghan's close friend, actress Priyanka Chopra, hinted that Meghan cried when she chose her wedding dress during Chopra's appearance on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen. Watch the sweet moment below:
RELATED CONTENT:
