Our decade was enriched by one of the most iconic royal weddings, the wedding of Meghan Markle to Prince Harry.
For us, the wedding dress of Meghan Markle was the main highlight of this whole wedding because it actually gave you the princess vibe.
Although many people didn’t like it as it was not something worthy for a princess to wear on her big day, still it is the fact that this dress set trends for years to come.
So buckle up, my friends, because, in this article, we are bringing every little detail about this dress hidden from the public to this date.
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Pre-wedding Dress Preparation
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry revealed to the public their engagement on 27 November 2017, but the search for the bride’s dress began months earlier.
According to some sources, Meghan wanted to avoid wearing white in her wedding gown since it was the color she had previously been married to.
Shortly after the engagement, Meghan asked all A-list designers to submit their ideas for the wedding dress. So, in December 2017, Israeli designer Inbal Dror presented designs for Meghan Markle’s wedding dress.
In addition, Erdem, Ralph & Russo, Stewart Parvin, Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, and Waight Keller also submitted their designs for the Suits actress’s wedding gown.
Clare Waight Keller of Givenchy got the responsibility for creating Meghan Markle’s wedding dress, which she designed under the Givenchy label.
Meghan Markle’s Dress Designer
Meghan chose Waight Keller’s designs because her dress designs were minimalist and elegant.
Moreover, according to resources, she chose British designer because she “wanted to highlight the success of a leading British talent who has now served as the creative head of three globally influential fashion houses — Pringle of Scotland, Chloé, and now Givenchy.”
According to the Kensington Palace statement, Meaghan and Keller reached each other via discreet messages and phone calls before and after nondisclosure contracts were signed.
These contracts restricted the designer from disclosing any information regarding the dress.
Meghan Markle Dress Wedding
Markle and Waight Keller worked closely for about five months to create the dress, which displays a “timeless minimal elegance” and after five months of hard work, they were finally able to create this masterpiece.
Very few people in the world knew the actual design before the wedding.
The wedding dress was made from silk with three-quarter-length sleeves, an open boat neckline, a train with an organza underskirt, and a train in gown.
Waight Keller assisted in developing a double-bonded silk cady to construct the dress, which featured only six seams. It was worth noting that this dress was without lace or any other embellishments.
As the bride exited her car to enter St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle for the wedding service, the design of the simple white gown and its maker’s name were revealed.
On her big day, the officials of the Kensington Palace released an official statement regarding Meghan’s wedding dress and designer. The statement stated,
“The dress epitomizes a timeless minimal elegance referencing the codes of the iconic House of Givenchy and showcasing the expert craftsmanship of its world-renowned Parisian couture atelier founded in 1952.”
aeworld
The statement further said,
“True to the heritage of the house, the pure lines of the dress are achieved using six meticulously placed seams. The focus of the dress is the graphic open bateau neckline that gracefully frames the shoulders and emphasizes the slender sculpted waist. The dress lines extend towards the back, where the train of the dress flows in smooth rounded folds cushioned by an underskirt in triple silk organza. The slim three-quarter sleeves add a note of refined modernity. The Duchess and Ms. Waight Keller worked closely together on the design, which epitomizes a timeless minimal elegance referencing the codes of the iconic House of Givenchy.”
aeworld
A pair of exclusive sketches of dresses were later posted by Kensington Palace on Instagram.
Shortly few months after the wedding day, the Duchess of Sussex shared her thoughts about her dress, and she said,
“I had a very clear vision of what I wanted for the day, and what I wanted the dress to look like. “So, what was amazing in working with Clare is that sometimes you’ll find designers try to push you in a different direction, but she just completely respected what I wanted to see for the day, and she wanted to bring that to life for me.” In so many ways you are capturing dreams, that as a girl and as you become a woman you will have been thinking about for years.”
brides.com
Meghan Markle Wedding Veil
Meghan Markle’s Wedding Veil has more details than the dress, and according to sources, it took more time to create. The silk tulle veil was 5 meters long and 3 meters wide.
Furthermore, it was hand-embroidered with a combination of different flowers on its hem. These embroidered flowers were chosen by the duchess herself as each flower represents a special place in the world.
The embroiderers took around 500 hours to finish the embroidery on the veil.
For embroidery flowers, the Duchess of Sussex chose wintersweet (Chimonanthus praecox), which grew outside Kensington Palace, and California poppy (Eschscholzia California), a flower from her hometown.
Moreover, she also chose one national flower from each of the 53 Commonwealth countries in order to pay homage to Great Britain. These flowers included,
- Antigua and Barbuda – agave (Agave karatto)
- Australia – golden wattles (Acacia pycnantha)
- Bahamas – yellow elder (Tecoma stans)
- Bangladesh – sada shapla or white water lily (white form of Nymphaea nouchali)
- Barbados – the pride of Barbados (Caesalpinia pulcherrima)
- Belize – the black orchid (Prosthechea cochleata)
- Botswana – ear of Sorghum and cat’s claw (Uncaria tomentosa)
- Brunei Darussalam – simpor (Dillenia suffruticosa)
- Cameroon – red stinkwood (Prunus africana)
- Canada – bunchberry (Cornus canadensis)
- Cyprus – Cyclamen cyprium
- Dominica – carib wood (Poitea carinalis)
- Eswatini – fire heath (Erica cerinthoides)
- Fiji – tagimaucia (Medinilla waterhousei)
- Gambia – white variety orchid
- Ghana – caladium (Caladium)
- Grenada – bougainvillea (Nyctaginaceae)
- Guyana – Queen Victoria water lily (Victoria amazonica)
- India – Indian lotus (Nelumbo nucifera)
- Jamaica – lignum vitae (Guaiacum officinale)
- Kenya – the tropical orchid
- Kiribati – Bidens kiribatiensis
- Lesotho – spiral aloe (Aloe polyphylla)
- Malawi – lotus (Nymphaea lotus)
- Malaysia – bunga raya or tropical hibiscus (Hibiscus rosa-sinensis)
- Malta – Maltese centaury (Cheirolophus crassifolius)
- Mauritius – Trochetia boutoniana
- Mozambique – maroon bell bean (Markhamia zanzibarica)
- Namibia – welwitschia (Welwitschia mirabilis)
- Nauru – Calophyllum
- New Zealand – kowhai (Sophora microphylla)
- Nigeria – yellow trumpet (Costus spectabilis)
- Pakistan – jasmine (Jasminum officinale)
- Papua New Guinea – Sepik blue orchid (Dendrobium lasianthera)
- Rwanda – torch lily (Kniphofia uvaria)
- Saint Lucia – the rose and the marguerite
- Samoa – teuila (Alpinia purpurata)
- Seychelles – tropicbird orchid (Angraecum eburneum)
- Sierra Leone – scadoxus (Scadoxus cinnabarinus)
- Singapore – Vanda ‘Miss Joaquim’
- Solomon Islands – hibiscus (Hibiscus)
- South Africa – protea (Protea cynaroides)
- Sri Lanka – blue water lily (pale blue form of Nymphaea nouchali)
- St Kitts and Nevis – poinciana (Delonix regia)
- St Vincent & the Grenadines – Soufriere tree (Spachea perforata)
- Tonga – heilala (Garcinia sessilis)
- Trinidad & Tobago – chaconia (Warszewiczia coccinea)
- Tuvalu – plumeria (Plumeria rubra)
- Uganda – desert rose (Adenium obesum)
- United Kingdom England – rose (Rosa)
- Northern Ireland – flax (Linum usitatissimum)
- Scotland – thistle (Cirsium vulgare)
- Wales – daffodil (Narcissus)
- United Republic of Tanzania – African violet (Streptocarpus sect. Saintpaulia)
- Vanuatu – anthurium (Anthurium)
- Zambia – bougainvillea (Bougainvillea)
The bridal veil was also laced with a piece of Markle’s blue dress from her first date with Prince Harry.
Wedding Tiara
To complete her look for the wedding, Meghan chose Queen Mary Diamond Bandeau Tiara, a Cartier bracelet, and a pair of earrings.
This Tiara was created from platinum bandeau and is a flexible band assembled up of 11 sections and has a detachable center brooch.
Featuring ten eye-catching diamonds, this brooch was given to Mary of Teck by the County of Lincoln at her wedding to Prince George, the Duke of York, in 1893. Moreover, the tiara features intertwined ovals and is set with various-sized glowing diamonds.
The brooch was converted into a bandeau by Queen Elizabeth’s grandmother, and it was designed to adjust an exchangeable center brooch.
The tiara was so unique that it was not worn by any royal family member for nearly half a century.
The officials of Kensington Palace also shed light on the features of this tiara and said, “The veil is held in place by Queen Mary’s diamond bandeau tiara, lent to Ms. Markle by The Queen. The diamond bandeau is English and was made in 1932, with the entre brooch dating from 1893.”
Meghan also loves this tiara because, in her opinion, it was perfect with her dress. She said,
“I think it was just perfect because it was so clean and simple—and also, to that point, an extension of what Clare and I had been trying to do with the dress, which was have something that could be so incredibly timeless but still feel modern,”
Recording for the Royal Wedding
Meghan Markle’s Reception Wedding Dress
After the exchange of vows at St. George’s Chapel. Meghan changed her dress and wore a Stella McCartney halter-neck sheath gown for her reception dinner, which was hosted by Prince Charles and Meghan Markle at Frogmore House.
The reception gown consisted of a slinky silhouette and a sophisticated glamour. Meghan’s dress, which featured a high halter neckline and no sleeves, gave her a totally modern and Hollywood look.
Wearing a sleeveless white silk crepe gown with a high collar and bare shoulders, she paired the dress with Aquazzura satin shoes with baby blue soles.
The designer was honored to be able to design the reception dress and said,
“I am so proud and honored to have been chosen by the Duchess of Sussex to make her evening gown and represent British design. It has truly been one of the most humbling moments of my career and I am so proud of all the team on this stunning sunny royal day.”
WWD
Wedding Dress Exhibition
From October 2018 until February 2019, the Royal Collection Trust exhibited the dress, veil, and tiara at Windsor Castle, and from June to October 2019 at Holyrood Palace.
