Best Royal Wedding Gown--and a Runner Up--of 2012

Best Royal Wedding Gown--and a Runner Up--of 2012

  

The Bride (Gown) of the Year Is...

The Elie Saab Haute Couture wedding gown for Princess Stephanie de Lannoy when she married Prince Guillaume of Luxembourg

Last year--2011--was THE YEAR of royal weddings with the William and Kate Wedding and Prince Albert and Charlene of Monaco Wedding...but 2012 also had its share of weddings albeit on not such a grand seen-round-the-world scale. One of these occurred this past October, the tiny Grand Duchy of Luxembourg was all abuzz because of the great wedding of Prince Guillaume, who happened to be the last heir-to-a-throne in Europe to get married. The wedding was a grand event and all the Who's Who of Royals were in attendance representing all the major European (and beyond) royal houses--including Princess Caroline of Hanover and Monaco, Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia of Spain, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, Queen Margrethe of Denmark, King Constantine II of Greece, the King and Queen of Norway and even the Crown Prince of Japan.

 Wedding Gown Perfection: Princess Stephanie de Lannoy with her brother Count Jehan de Lannoy

What the bride wore made it here as my Top Pick of Best Royal wedding Gown for 2012. The bride, Belgium-born Princess Stephanie de Lanoy, wore a BEAUTIFUL gown designed by Lebanese Couturier Elie Saab. Famous for his stunning red carpet gowns, Saab has a very thriving Made-to-Order Couture House, and all the Euro Royals (as well as the Gulf States fashion divas and a Russian and Chinese billionaire's wife or two) flock to him for his $100,000+ creations.

Princess Stephanie de Lannoy with her brother Count Jehan de Lannoy

The Dish on the Gown: Masses of fabric went into this creation: 76 yards
of silk crepe and tulle for the lining, plus another 33 yards of satin
organza, 55 yards of Chantilly lace, and 44 yards of Calais lace.
More silk tulle was used for the veil. The leafy pattern embellished all
over the ensemble included 50,000 pearls, 80,000 crystals, and almost
11,000 yards of silver embroidery thread. The price: undisclosed but...it would not be a bad guess to say it probably cost in the area of about $250,000. Not only was it gorgeous, it was beautifully made, very grand yet
not over-the-top opulent. It was also timeless. I feel that if one
looked at a photo of this gown many years from now, it would not look dated.

The Tiara and Veil

Stephanie wore a Lannoy family tiara, made of platinum and diamonds with a
large inverted pear shape diamond in the high center. It was made by
Althenloh of Brussels and was worn by Stéphanie’s sisters and
sisters-in-law at their weddings. So, it is a family wedding tradition.



The Runner Up:

 Princess Carolina de Bourbon-Parma Marchioness of Sala, Duchess of Guernica

The Runner Up for Best Royal Wedding Gowns of 2012 goes to Princess Carolina de Bourbon-Parma. She wed Albert Brenninkmeijer in June of this year at the Basilica San Miniato al Monte in Florence Italy. Albert Brenninkmeijer comes from the very wealthy German-Dutch Brenninkmeijer family--owners of the C and A Department Stores. The bride, she's the daughter of Irene of the Netherlands and her aunt is Queen Beatrix, so yes, she's royal blue blood. Her father, Carlos Hugo de Bourbon, was passed over by the Spanish dictator, Francisco Franco, when Franco chose Juan Carlos to rule Spain, as opposed to Carolina's father, who publicly laid claim to the Spanish throne.

Her gown was a bit more simple and subdued than my Top Pick of Stephanie de Lannoy. But ti was still beautiful enough that I had to make it a "Runner Up". It was designed by Dutch fashion designer Addy van den Krommenacker. Princess Carolina's wedding gown, had a fitted but still slightly A-line skirt silhouette--featured lace embroidery--from Brugge Belgium--that was in her mother's Wedding
Gown. It was delicately incorporated into the gown and
veil. It seemed very old-school classic in its design but the cap sleeves and draped lace overlay brought it into a more 21st century chic level.



And there you have it, my two Top Royal Wedding Gowns of 2012--Can't wait for next year's Royal Wedding girls...and their gowns!



***Next Up: The Best Figure Skating Costumes of 2012 !!! 

Royal Wedding Minute: Wedding of Princess Carolina de Bourbon-Parma

Royal Wedding Minute: Wedding of Princess Carolina de Bourbon-Parma

Ciao Italia and The Netherlands

The Happy, Rich, and Very Titled...Couple: Princess Carolina de Bourbon-Parma and Albert Brenninkmeijer, Basilica San Miniato al Monte Florence Italy

Today, Saturday June 16th, Princess Carolina de Bourbon-Parma, Marchioness of Sala, Duchess of Guernica (yes, from the Salvador Dali painting!) wed Albert Brenninkmeijer of the very wealthy German-Dutch Brenninkmeijer family--owners of the C and A Department Stores...

At the Basilica San Miniato al Monte in Florence Italy.

Princess Bride: Princess Carolina de Bourbon-Parma

First a little background on the bride: Princess Carolina is fourth and youngest child of Princess Irene of the Netherlands (sister to Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands) and Carlos Hugo Duke of Parma. Carolina is a member of the Dutch Royal Family.



Royal Spain-Dutch DRAMA:

Wedding of Princess Irene of the
Netherlands and Carlos Hugo de Bourbon Parma at the Borghese Chapel at
the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, Italy, 1964

When her mother, Irene of the Netherlands, married Paris-born Carlos Hugo de Bourbon in Rome Italy in 1964, no member of the Dutch Royal Family attended the wedding. Why? Well, here you go: the marriage caused a constitutional crisis in the Netherlands. Irene lost her rights of succession to the Dutch
throne because the government refused to enact a law permitting the
marriage (Ay Dios Mio!).

Fuchsia Mother of The Bride: Princess Irene of the Netherlands and her handsome son Prince Jaime, Count of Bardi

Her mother could not go to Rome to talk Irene out of the
marriage and of her conversion to Catholicism because the government advised her against it (seriously, these people needed to get a LIFE!). If that wasn't enough, there was the issue of the Dutch government seeing international
political difficulties arising from a possible heir to the Dutch throne
holding a controversial claim to the throne of a foreign state (keep up kids, it's complicated!): In the early 1950's, Carlos' father publicly laid claim to the Spanish throne as being a member of the House of Bourbon-Parma (a branch of the Bourbon's), but Spain's Dictator Francisco Franco ignored him and later chose King Juan Carlos as Franco's successor. Now, speaking of Juan Carlos...

A Who's Who of Blue-Blood Bridesmaids: Wedding of Prince Juan Carlos and Princess Sofia, 1962 Athens Greece

In 1962--two years before she got married to el Escandaloso Carlos,  Princess Irene of the Netherlands just happened to be a Bridesmaid at Prince Juan Carlos and Princess Sofía's wedding in Athens Greece. Check out the rest of the illustrious Bridesmaids (it reads like a "Who's Who of A-List Blue-Blood Royalty!): From left to right in the photo: Princess Alexandra of Kent, Princess
Tatiana Radziwill, Princess Benedikte of Denmark, Princess Irene of
Greece, Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark, Princess Anne of France,
Princess Irene of the Netherlands (second from the right) and the Infanta Pilar of Spain. Anyhow, Carlos and Irene of the Netherlands divorced in 1981 and Princess Carolina's father--Carlos Hugo de Bourbon--passed away almost two years ago.



Now that we got that out of the way, let's get to The Wedding, the fabulous Guests and the fashion. Let's begin with the Wedding dress:

The Gown: Designed by Dutch fashion designer Addy van den Krommenacker (above), who has been designing since 2002. For Princess Carolina's wedding gown, he incorporated the lace embroidery-- from Brugge Belgium...

That was in her mother's Wedding Gown from 1964 (as seen above) and placed it in Carolina's gown and veil. According to his pr people, it took months to restore and make the lace embroidery "come to life" for 2012 standards.



Wedding Guests:

Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands: One of the Richest Women on Earth, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands--the Bride's aunt--wore a mauve-colored silk jacquard suit with bell-styled sleeves with ruffles; the jacket also featured cascading ruffles down the front.Matching hat, gloves, shoes and hosiery of course, as only a Queen would do.

Feathered: the always stylish Princess Maxima of the Netherlands (far left holding on to her Mother-in-Law Queen Beatrix and her husband Willem-Alexander Prince of Orange, on the far right)--wore a taupe ensemble with a blouson top, feathered shirt and bell-shaped sleeves. The Argentinian-born Crown Princess to the Dutch throne finished it off with a fabulous hat.

Princess in Red: Princess Laurentien and Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands with their
children Countess of Orange Leonore and Count of Orange Claus-Casimir
leave the Princess Carolina Wedding with Mr Albert Brenninkmeijer
at Basilica di San Miniato al Monte

Fab Shoes Ladies--and Gentleman: Princess Marilene and Prince Maurits of the Netherlands (10th in line for the Dutch Throne) (left pic) and Prince Bernhard (11th in line for the Dutch Throne) and Princess Annette of the Netherlands (right photo). I LOVE the bejeweled ankle-strapped heels of Princess Marilene on the top left photo. And take a look at Prince Bernhard's silver shoes!! Those Dutch boys can really give it you...when it comes to "Yeah, I'm royalty but I'm still a Hipster Fashion Boy!"

Polka Dots, Prints and...OH HUNEY: Two guests on the left pic showing how it's done when attending a semi-royal wedding Florence Italy. I LOVE this woman in her orange-and-white bold polka dot printed chiffon dress and silver sandals. She's my new Best Friend! And speaking of friend, whoever is next to her is also working the printed dress look to no end. The colors are absolutely fantastic! On the right photo we have Margarita de Bourbon (the Bride's older sister), who decided to go "Tacky Wedding Party" in her baby blue ensemble featuring a too-wide notch-collared/lapel coat. Poor thing, she looks like she didn't get the COUTURE memo...those over-sized coat lapels are something straight out of a Fashion Student's sophomore-year project.

Congratulations and Happy Wedding to the Royal-and-Rich Couple of Princess Carolina and Albert Brenninkmeijer