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.

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. 

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.

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.

Here is a snippet of the fabric.

Roger Federer and his wife, Mirka.

Princess Eugenie with her boyfriend, Jack Brooksbank.

The bride’s brother, James, escorting Carole Middleton into St. Mark’s. Mrs. Middleton was in a bespoke Catherine Walker design.

Prince Harry, Prince William, and Spencer Matthews, the groom’s brother.

Pippa’s new in-laws, David and Jane Matthews.

The Duchess corralling the page boys and flower girls when they arrived.

The bride arriving in a bespoke Giles Deacon gown.

With her father, Michael Middleton.

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.

“Remember, shhh.”

Kate and Charlotte on the left, and a very excited flower girl on the right.

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.”

The Duchess arranging her sister’s dress.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The bride’s bouquet included astilbe, sweet pea, peony, freesia, and waxflower.

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

The service lasted about an hour.

The newlyweds looked very happy.

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.”

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

George and Charlotte looked just precious.

Mother and daughter.

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.

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.

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.

Kate’s hat was by Jane Taylor.

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

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

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.

The first kiss! Pippa Middleton and James Matthews share their first kiss after the wedding ceremony #PippasWedding pic.twitter.com/kJgqymmUzt

— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) May 20, 2017

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