PIPPA’S COPY-KATE WEDDING
There’s a f ly-past, the bride has TWO dresses and there’s even talk of a balcony kiss. No danger of THIS little sister settling for second best!
the dress has been delivered, the posh portable loos polished and a gigantic greenhouse worth £100,000 built on the Middletons’ back lawn. The details of today’s proceedings are more closelyguarded than the Crown Jewels, but well-placed sources have given the Mail an exclusive glimpse behind the scenes of the society wedding of the year. And there’s an undeniable whiff of deja vu.
It seems Pippa has been taking tips from her big sister for her own special day with multi-millionaire fiancé James Matthews. From the bridesmaids’ outfits to the black-tie evening do, the second dress to the street food supper, the day sounds remarkably similar to the royal extravaganza back in 2011.
here, SARAH RAINEY guides you through the not-so-royal wedding — and why you might feel like you’ve seen it all before…
A BLEARY-EYED MORNING SERVICE
PIPPA’s 60-minute service will begin at the unusually early hour of 11.30am. Kate’s was at 11am.
The timings have been planned with Prince George and Princess Charlotte, the page boy and bridesmaid, in mind. Charlotte, two, needs her afternoon nap.
But the schedule hasn’t gone down so well with older guests. Chums of mother Carole are said to be ‘rather annoyed’ at the prospect of such a long day.
Learning from her sister’s mistakes (Kate inadvertently let slip her order of service in advance), Pippa’s kept her choice of hymns and the sermon by Rev Nick Wynne-Jones under wraps.
But younger brother James, who overcame his dyslexia to give a reading at Kate’s wedding, will do the same today, having been coached by Carole.
As for decor, the pews will be adorned with white calla lilies, lily of the valley and bluebells, and a Green Parlour van was seen at the church yesterday — the same florist Kate used. Overflow guests will be seated on white chiavari chairs — a delicate, elegant style often used at wedding receptions.
TWO DRESSES — WITH A TWIST
KATE’s ivory satin, lace and silk gown was like something out of a fairytale. But designer sarah Burton, creative director of avantgarde fashion house Alexander McQueen and favourite of raunchy popstar Lady Gaga, was a far from conventional choice.
Pippa has gone similarly offpiste, opting for quirky Brit Giles Deacon, who featured wedding dresses with scorch marks in his 2012 collection, and has designed lingerie for Ann summers.
Giles is understood to have made a toile — a rough cotton version of the dress — after showing Pippa and Carole sketches last summer.
‘Pippa wanted something classic, but with a bit of edge and a twist to reflect her personality,’ a friend told the Mail. ‘It is a relatively contemporary, progressive design.’
her dress, thought to cost around £40,000, will be worn with custom-made heels by Manolo Blahnik (Kate’s were bespoke sarah Burton courts). Like her sister, who changed into a sarah Burton satin dress with diamanté belt for her evening reception, Pippa is thought to have a second gown by the same designer.
MILITARY TIMING AND ID CHECKS
PIPPA’s dad Michael was seen at st Mark’s Church in englefield, Berkshire, last week, carrying a sheaf of papers as he chatted to wedding planners from royal favourites Fait Accompli.
eagle-eyed onlookers spotted a church seating plan and a timetable, divided into 15 detailed stages. A source says this is known as ‘spreadsheet splicing’, with minute-by-minute timings identified in coded colours assigning duties to family members.
‘Military precision is the order of the day,’ the insider explains. ‘The wedding planners have identified timings down to the very last second, even bath-running in the morning.’
Pippa’s approach smacks of a major royal event — and with Kate, William and harry in attendance, she’s got every excuse to play the princess. Kate’s wedding was just as tightly choreographed. From the departure of the bride (10.51am) to the balcony kiss (1.27pm), no detail was left to chance.
security will be regally rigorous, too. As well as royal protection officers for the VIPs, there are several plain-clothed policemen and an entire marquee for security.
englefield locals, who’ve been instructed to wear wristbands and carry ID, are none too happy with the closed roads and high policing costs. One resident told the Mail: ‘I wish I could go away for the weekend. It’s going to be chaos!’
THE HIGH SOCIETY GUEST LIST
she’s got just 120 church guests, a fraction of the 1,900 who attended Kate’s Westminster Abbey service (plus the 600-strong reception). But later Pippa, following Kate’s lead, has invited 300 to dance the night away.
Among them are ‘black sheep’ Uncle Gary — pictured this week modelling a sharp £1,700 suit; adventurer Ben Fogle and wife Marina (also at Kate’s); and tennis champ Roger Federer and his wife Mirka.
Despite rumours of a ‘no ring, no bring’ rule, Prince harry and James Middleton’s significant others — actress Meghan Markle and Donna Air — will attend.
Others include Pippa’s close girlfriends (Marlborough tennis partner Alice st John Webster and edinburgh University pal Camilla Campion-Awwad) and the groom’s business partner, edward horner, with wife Lady emily Compton.
RANGE ROVERS TO THE RECEPTION
WHILE William and Kate had the red and gold 1902 state Landau to escort them from the Abbey, Pippa’s relying on a fleet of gleaming Range Rovers to ferry the newlyweds and their guests.
These will make the one-mile journey from st Mark’s to englefield house, the elizabethan pile where the couple are hosting a drinks reception from 1pm.
This is understood to be taking place in the Long Gallery, a ‘light, elegant, versatile room’ with large windows, a wooden floor and raised stage, perfect for a string quartet or harpist. It’s not a patch on Buckingham Palace, but the estate does have regal connections: in 1559, it was confiscated from sir Francis englefield, a servant of Queen Mary, for ‘consorting with the enemies’ of the new monarch, elizabeth I.
Afterwards, the happy couple will travel the seven miles between englefield and the Middletons’ home in a ribbon-adorned Jaguar Mark V, their take on Will and Kate’s open-top Aston Martin.
FIVE TIERS WITH EDIBLE FLOWERS
IT’s hard to compete with eight tiers created by Fiona Cairns — but Pippa’s going to try.
she will have a five-tier cake, believed to be made by motherdaughter team Rosalind and Yasmine Miller, who supply The Ritz, Blenheim Palace and harrods. Rosalind’s three-tier cakes, which serve 95, start at £1,260 and include sugarcraft, 24-carat gold leaf and edible cascading flowers.
In her much-mocked 2012 book, Celebrate, the bride revealed her favourite flavour is coffee, decorated with crystallised petals of violets, primroses and cowslips.
NAP-TIME AND AN OUTFIT CHANGE
IT WOULDN’T be a Middleton wedding without an interval — and an outfit change — so it’s thought
Pippa is stopping proceedings around 3pm, so everyone can nip home for a nap before the blacktie do kicks off around 7.30pm. Guests have been advised to bring a second set of clothes, though it’s understood the issue of where to change is fraught. Kate, George and Charlotte are in situ at the Middletons’ £4.7million Bucklebury home — and this is completely off-limits to all but family. Even the groom’s parents David and Jane Matthews (James’s glamorous mother was recently pictured carrying a large Christian Louboutin bag) have had to rent nearby. In the unlikely event any guest doesn’t have a dinner jacket, help is at hand. A car from Stress3Hire, a premium suit hire company where prices start at £125, has been seen at the venue.
A TREE-LINED PORTA-PALACE
PIPPA’S conjured up her own palace: the £100,000, 140ft glass marquee which sprung up in the Middletons’ garden this week. Teams from Belgian company PBI and Yorkshire marquee builders Peppers have been battling the rain ever since. The glass is not reinforced and the roof is said to be a nightmare to clean. Adjacent are luxury loos from Worcestershire-based Andyloos, which — for an estimated £6,000 — boast oak fittings, porcelain basins and full-length mirrors, as well as orchestral music. Inside, the theme is more gala dinner than the ‘relaxed country wedding’ Pippa was said to want. Sources say places will be laid with silver cutlery, bone china plates, Waterford crystal glasses and starched linen napkins. There will be no favours; just single roses tied with a silk ribbon. Flowers are provided by prestigious London florist Lavender Green. Founder Sue Barnes says sweet peas and peonies are popular among their brides.
The marquee is understood to be lined with cherry trees — a number of field maples were among the foliage adorning Westminster Abbey when Kate and William married — with tables bearing displays of amaryllis, jasmine, white hibiscus and hydrangeas, and roses in Pippa’s bouquet.
A friend says: ‘The scent will be quintessentially country garden.’
BRITISH FIZZ WITH MIDNIGHT SNACKS
IT’S understood the caterers are Royal Warrant-holders The Admirable Crichton, a London event planner that boasts its dishes are like ‘bites of heaven’.
Guests will tuck into haggis bites (the groom loves Scotland and his father owns the 10,000-acre Glen Affric estate in Inverness-shire) and £40,000-worth of the finest Russian caviar, given by an anonymous Russian donor.
The fizz is believed to be £75-a-bottle 2010 Blanc de Noir Tillington by Sussex winery Nyetimber. All will be served on silver trays by well-groomed waiters and waitresses, hand-picked by Pippa.
In the evening, there’s a threecourse dinner, almost certainly fish followed by red meat. Pippa’s Valentine’s Day menu in Celebrate sheds light on her go-to romantic foods: oysters and salmon, beef Wellington and raspberry soufflé.
Guests at Kate and William’s wedding were served similar dishes: crab, salmon and langoustines, organic lamb with vegetables and a trio of desserts.
There will be more nibbles at midnight — the caterer specialises in street food, inspired by ‘sunny LA, a spicy Cantonese kitchen or a sultry Arabian souk’.
At the Royal Wedding, Pippa masterminded the late-night bacon butties and ice cream van, so it’s not so much copying as having the idea first. To drink there is beer from the Ramsbury Brewery in Wiltshire, and crates of red delivered this week look like the 2004 L’Hospitalet de Gazin Pomerol (£24.95) served at Kate’s. Pippa may also offer her favourite cocktails: a rumbased dark and stormy or vodka sea breeze.
THE LOTHARIO BEST MAN
AS BEST man, the groom’s younger brother, reality TV lothario Spencer Matthews, will regale the guests — as did Prince Harry (who referred to William as ‘The Dude’ in his speech, lost his dinner jacket and commandeered a bus of afterparty revellers).
Events company Starlight Design, who also did the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations, are in charge of the party — which some say may run until 4am.
From neon-coloured lights and smoke machines to fire-eaters and giant helium balloons, the company guarantees a spectacle of Hollywood proportions.
The music is James’s domain. Friends say Pippa ‘never really showed any interest in music, even at university’. U.S. starlet Rita Ora (whose synthetic pop is similar to royal wedding singer Ellie Goulding’s) is conveniently in town.
Later, guests will boogie to a playlist of favourites, with input from Abba-loving Kate.
AN OUTDOOR MARTINI BAR
AS FOR the much-vaunted ‘flypast’, in fact a solitary Spitfire will zoom over the celebrations, a gift from a friend of Mike Middleton.
And if that’s not regal enough, construction workers have erected a raised outdoor terrace next to the marquee, featuring sofas and a martini bar. The perfect place for guests to take a breath of fresh air, it would also be the ideal spot should the newlyweds want to perform a balcony kiss.
NOT ONE BUT TWO ROYAL SNAPPERS
THE official photographer, Getty Images staffer Chris Jackson, has no doubt come recommended by Kate — he’s done lots of work for the Cambridges and recently married the Duchess’s stylist, Natasha Archer.
But why settle for one photographer when you can have two?
For personal mementos of the day, the couple are understood to have engaged Dorset-based Millie Pilkington, also William and Kate’s private wedding day photographer, for an estimated £3,500.
SO WHAT ABOUT THE WEATHER?
EVEN uber-efficient Pippa can’t control every aspect of her big day. When it comes to the weather, it looks like she’s going to be trumped by her big sis.
The Met Office predicts thundery showers over Bucklebury today, with temperatures peaking at 14c. Lucky Kate was blessed with a mostly bright and dry day.