There really is no wedding quite like a royal wedding, is there? Little girls around the world have for generations dreamed about having a fairytale princess wedding with all the glitz and glamor and publicity that comes with it. And when we think about royal weddings in the US, we usually associate them with the UK’s Windsor Family. With its shared language and fairly similar culture, it’s only natural that Americans would think of the United Kingdom first.
And while there is no doubt that the Windsors have had some of the most beautiful and awe-inspiring royal weddings, they certainly don’t have the term “royal wedding” trademarked. There are wonderfully opulent royal weddings in countries all around the world, and with a little bit more than half of 2016 now behind us, it’s time to take a few moments to look back on the biggest and best so far this year. So expand your horizon a bit and take in some royal wedding culture from these five amazing royal families – and don’t worry, we still snuck one UK royal wedding in here.
Prince Maximilian of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg and Franziska Balzer
Laasphe, in the Siegen-Wittgenstein district of Germany, served as the backdrop for Prince Maximilian of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg wedding with Franziska Balzer. There were 150 guests in attendance for the nuptials of the son of Prince Otto Ludwig Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (phew, kind of a mouthful) and Franziska, whose wedding gown was kept under wraps until the last moment. She ultimately wore a gown that exquisitely mixed a classic look with a contemporary one: she sported a silk jacket over top of a dress adorned with transparent floral lace bodice and an A-line skirt paired with a tiara and trailing veil.
Princess Alex de Ligne and Count Guillaume de Dampierre
Princess Alex de Ligne of Belgium and Count Earl Guillaume de Dampierre of France married in June, which was around six years after they first met at a Parisian party in 2010. Approximately 800 guests were in attendance for their marriage at the bride’s family chateau – what, your family doesn’t have a chateau? – which is also known as the Versailles of Belgium. Alex decided on a fringed gown made by Belgian designer Gérald Wathelet with a veil from 1810, which most certainly qualifies it as her “something old.”
Lady Charlotte Wellesley and Alejandro Santo Domingo
As promised, here’s the tying of the knot between the daughter of Duke Wellington Charles Wellesley of the United Kingdom and financier and philanthropist Alejandro Santo Domingo. The couple were wed in Illora, Spain this past May, with Charlotte walking down the aisle in a flowing white wedding gown that – naturally – had all guests’ eyes on her. The gown was an Emilia Wickstead number with an off-the-shoulder style and featured long sleeves, a full skirt and a flowing cathedral veil in a Swiss dot pattern. The couple exchanged their vows in front of 200 guests during a Catholic ceremony held at the Duke of Wellington’s Spanish estate.
Prince Franz Albrecht zu Oettingen-Spielberg and Cleopatra von Adelsheim von Ernest
Hats off to anyone who can pronounce this couple’s names 10 times fast. Let’s go first names only from here on out, shall we? Cleopatra is a one-of-a-kind triple threat: actress/model/baroness. But she met Franz, Bavaria’s hereditary prince, ordinarily enough at a mutual friend’s 30th birthday party back in 2011. The couple married on July 9 with a civil ceremony at Cleo’s (as her friends call her) father’s estate in Adelsheim, Germany followed by a reception at Oettingen, Bavaria, where the couple calls home. Luisa Beccaria custom-designed the gown, which Beccaria says “had flowers embroidered in light rose and beige and a seven-meter summer cape that she took off for the reception.” Cleo paired it with the Oettingen House diamond tiara.
Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar and Trishika Kumari Singh
Yep, these names are not getting any easier. In any case, we wrap things up with the maharaja of Mysore, India and his marriage to childhood friend Trishika, herself the daughter of the maharaja of Dungarpur. The two were wed in a ceremony attended by very nearly 1,000 guests at the Mysore Palace this past June. The evening reception was even more packed, with 2,500 (!) guests in attendance. The wedding was a traditional one, honoring centuries-old practices including a religious ceremony called “Pooja” for the bride before the ceremony officially began.
Cubic Zirconia Jewelry
We can’t all have a royal wedding, but we can all certainly dream. One thing we don’t have to dream about, however, is having the beautiful engagement ring we’ve always wanted. Thanks to Russian Formula cubic zirconia jewelry, your engagement ring can be big enough to impress even a princess and look unmistakably like the real thing to the naked eye. Best of all, it’ll only cost a fraction of the price.