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Pippa Middleton was Radiant & The Duchess Wore McQueen 

The sun was shining this morning as Pippa Middleton and James Matthews were married at St. Mark’s Church.© i-Images / Polaris

Guests included Sophie Carter, a close friend of Kate’s and one of Charlotte’s godparents; Lady Laura Marsham; and James Meade, Lady Laura’s Marsham’s husband. Prince William was Mr. Meade’s best man, and he is also a godparent to Charlotte. ©James Whatling

Claudia and Tom Bradby. The Duchess worked at Jigsaw at the same time as Ms. Bradby, who now has her own jewelry company. Mr. Bradby conducted the television interview with Kate and William after they announced their engagement.©James Whatling

Donna Air, James Middleton’s longtime friend, wearing Emilia Wickstead and a Jane Taylor hat. There has been discussion about the dress color, as it looks white in the photos. I believe it is a soft lemon yellow.©James Whatling

Here is a snippet of the fabric.©James Whatling

Roger Federer and his wife, Mirka.

Princess Eugenie with her boyfriend, Jack Brooksbank.Roya Nikkhah The Sunday Times

The bride’s brother, James, escorting Carole Middleton into St. Mark’s. Mrs. Middleton was in a bespoke Catherine Walker design.© i-Images / Polaris

Prince Harry, Prince William, and Spencer Matthews, the groom’s brother.©i-Images / Polaris

Pippa’s new in-laws, David and Jane Matthews.©Stephen Lock / i-Images / Polaris

The Duchess corralling the page boys and flower girls when they arrived.©Greg Sirc / Splash News

The bride arriving in a bespoke Giles Deacon gown.©Splash News

With her father, Michael Middleton.© Splash News

The dress featured a high neck, cap sleeves, heart cutout on the back. From The Guardian’s story:

The high neckline and covered shoulders of Pippa Middleton’s Giles Deacon dress make it unassailably demure, yet it has a little more drama and attitude than found at the average home counties church wedding. The upstanding lace collar is rather fashion-forward, and the heart-shaped keyhole detail at the nape of the neck makes the dress interesting when seen from behind

A look at that heart-shaped cutout.©i-Images / Polaris

“Remember, shhh.”

Ken Goff/IPA Rota/Nunn Syndication/Polaris

Ken Goff/IPA Rota/Nunn Syndication/Polaris

Kate and Charlotte on the left, and a very excited flower girl on the right.©Jason Dawson/Nunn Syndication/ Polaris

In a Business of Fashion interview, the designer noted the dress is “all hand-pieced which is why you don’t actually see a seam.”©Jason Dawson / Nunn Syndication / Polaris

The Duchess arranging her sister’s dress.©i-Images/Polaris

The dress bodice has an internal corset; more details from The Telegraph:

“The bespoke silk cotton lace was hand appliqued to create an illusion of the dress having ‘no seams’.”

“The lace bodice is embroidered with pearl detailing over an organza and tulle underskirt, which has layer upon layer to enable a floor sweeping movement.”

The lace was exquisite.© i-Images / Polari

Bethan Holt’s story for The Telegraph offers this perspective:

Giles Deacon is an inspired, but perhaps unexpected choice from Pippa. When her engagement was announced last summer, it was widely thought that she would opt  for a gown by a traditional bridal designer from a Belgravia-based couturier au fait with designing for an English society wedding.

Pippa’s veil was by renowned milliner Stephen Jones, made from fine tulle with a dégradé of embroidered pearls.©Splash News

Her Maidenhair Fern tiara and matching headpiece are by Robinson Pelham.©

The bride’s something old: the earrings she wore to her sister’s wedding in 2011, custom made by Robinson Pelham.

©Polaris/Robinson Pelham

©Polaris/Robinson Pelham

Pippa wore a custom pair of Manolo Blahnik heels, the brand’s Seneca Bridal Pump in ivory ($925).  The silk satin pump has a pointed toe, ankle strap, and Swarovski crystal buckle embellishment.FarFetch.com

The bride’s bouquet included astilbe, sweet pea, peony, freesia, and waxflower.Pippa Wedding Bouquet Two 2 Shots

This ITN video (about 1:40) shows Pippa arriving at St. Mark’s.

The service lasted about an hour.©Ken Goff/IPA Rota/Nunn Syndication/Polaris

The newlyweds looked very happy.©i-Images

Just a bit more about Giles Deacon:

Deacon’s girlfriend, the Game of Thrones actress Gwendoline Christie summed up the appeal of Deacon’s designs in an interview last year: “He has two of my favourite attributes in artists: wild imagination and technical rigour. [His designs] can be practical, otherworldly, sculptural and mind-bending, but you always feel celebrated as a woman when you wear them… Their confidence somehow increases yours. It’s quite a power for a designer to have. His clothes have personalities.”

©Ken Goff/IPA Rota/Nunn Syndication/Polaris

As one would imagine, the young page boys and flower girls were quite a hit.

Ken Goff/IPA Rota/Nunn Syndication/Polaris

Ken Goff/IPA Rota/Nunn Syndication/Polaris

George and Charlotte looked just precious.©

Mother and daughter.Pippa Middleton wedding

Visit our sister site, What Kate’s Kids Wore for loads more photos and all the details on the children’s outfits.

Now to what the Duchess wore: a bespoke design by Alexander McQueen.©i-Images / Pool

From Ella Alexander’s Harper’s Bazaar UK story:

The Duchess visited McQueen’s HQ in recent weeks to meet with Sarah Burton to discuss the design.

Presumably the Duchess didn’t want to overshadow her sister on her big day, thus the pared-down, yet elegant look.

©Polaris/Splash/

The dress has elements from previous McQueen designs, including one Kate has worn. Our thanks to Michelle Forest of Perth’s Fashion, once again offering ID information on Kate’s dress.

She wore her go-to Gianvito Rossi suede pumps in the ‘praline’ colorway. The style is available in limited sizing ($675) at online retailer My Theresa.Gianvito Rossi

Kate’s hat was by Jane Taylor.©

She also wore new morganite and diamond earrings by Kiki McDonough.Kiki McDonough / Polaris

The newlyweds after the first reception, held at nearby Englefield House.© Splash News

The second reception is at the Middleton home; we’ll have a separate post on that.

NOTE: I will be updating this throughout the evening, there are many more photos I need to add and some more info.

We’ll leave you with this video of the bridesmaids and page boys scattering flower petals after the ceremony.

LINKAGE:

  • The Daily Mail’s fashion story on what the guests wore is here; The Daily Mail’s news story is here; another Daily Mail photo-laden story is here; The Daily Mail story primarily focused on Kate’s dress is here;
  • The Telegraph’s story about Pippa’s dress is here; The Telegraph’s gallery of 50+ photos is here; for a chronological timeline, The Mirror’s live coverage is here
  • The Sun’s story with loads of photos of the flower girls and page boys is here; The Mirror’s photo gallery of the day’s events is here
  • The Standard’s story and gallery is here;
  • The Hello! piece on the wedding gown & gallery is here; People’s slide show on Pippa’s gown is here; The Guardian’s story about the dress is here
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truds

Sunday 9th of July 2017

Pippa looks so lush! She suits the high neck and plain lace dress perfectly!!! That is so sweet that she wore the earrings from kates wedding! Her makeup is well done as well! Kate on the other hand.....it's not what we expected at all!! I thought she would wear a nice long prom dress, maybe a few sparkles??? But it does go well with the vintagy theme of the kids clothes!! Her hat is amazing!!!!! Sophie Carters outfit is very random and I would never have picked it but she looks sooooo good in it....with the hat and all!!

Lynsey220514

Friday 2nd of June 2017

I *personally* think this colour does NOTHING for Kate and actually makes her look older! I would have liked to have seen her in a brighter colour maybe a darker pink or blue? Nice hat though but the dress - awful in my opinion!

Kim

Monday 29th of May 2017

"Mr. Meade was Prince William’s best man." Prince Harry was William's best man. Maybe you meant that William was Mr. Meade's best man.

admin

Monday 29th of May 2017

Yike's, that's precisely what I meant. Thank you. :)

Kimberly

Tuesday 23rd of May 2017

Pippa looked incredible.

Kate, on the other hand, looked dowdy. The color of her dress, while not the most flattering for her, matches the little girls' dresses, so I assume it was chosen for her. The absolute worst part is the shape of the dress. The billowing sleeves and droopy bust...shudder. I know many people think that she chose (or maybe Pippa chose?) such a plain dress to avoid drawing too much attention. It seems that she *did* get a lot of attention anyway - for dressing so terribly. What a shame, considering Pippa looked so lovely at Kate's wedding.

Also, is she wearing a hairnet again? Between the billowing sleeves, droopy bust, and hairnet, this look is a total mess.

Maryam

Tuesday 23rd of May 2017

Pippa looks absolutely amazing!!! Not a fan at all of Kate's look here, really matronly and frumpy, but I expect she absolutely did not want to steal the spotlight from her sister and I think the dress was appropriate for that. Love the hat and the color though!

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