The Royal Wedding Weekend, Part 1

Readers, I have a confession. My tardiness is not due to an overwhelming amount of pictures to sort through (I wish) or a supremely busy five days. I'm late because I'm still processing. We attended what felt like a world-wide celebration and I am still letting that experience soak in deep under my skin. After watching the wedding highlights for what feels like the 20th time on BBC's iPlayer (ok, so it was only 3 times) I finally feel ready to put words to paper. Screen. Same thing. So where to begin? How about where I stiff armed by husband and friend into following me to London. Every great adventure starts with one adventurer forcing the other adventurers to follow, right? Humor me.

We must begin this story on Thursday night, or, as it shall henceforth be called, Royal Wedding Eve. Mark your calendars. With weather forecasts threatening our plans Will, Louise and I paced our tiny living room debating to go or not to go (maybe the pacing was just me). Will and Louise were indifferent, with Will leaning more towards staying home than indifferent, but both assured me that they would accompany me in my Royal Wedding Fever. Apparently my super expressive excitement is entertaining to watch, even more so than said historic occasion. I fought the feelings of guilt (What if it rains? What if we don't see anything? What if everyone is miserable and it's all my fault because I made them?) and said "weather be damned"! The longer I stay in England the more British my expressions become.

Friday morning came early (too early!) and gray (too gray!) but we were resolved to see this adventure through, so we hastily showered and hoofed it down to the central bus station. We had intended to claim the Will and Kate bus ride deal--all Wills and Kates (or in my case, Cait) were told they could ride the bus to London for a mere £1! However, in typical British fashion, we were NOT informed that in order to receive said discount you must first go to Debenhams and obtain a voucher. Is Debenhams open at 7 am in the morning? No. Will the bus driver look at our IDs and sell us the tickets for £1 pound a piece? Negative. It was too early and I was too excited to be too put out. Will felt much better after the bus driver gave us both student discounts. After being gypped out of our Will and Cait bargain our consciences made nary a protest to this mistake. I keep waiting for the Holy Spirit to convict me on that one but so far so good.

Louise hopped on the bus a few stops down the road and we were off! The drive flew by as Louise educated me on the Princess Diana conspiracy theories (I'm totally a believer now) and Will tried to ignore us and save his tolerance for extremely girlie situations for the wedding itself by reading Greek. The traffic was surprisingly non-existent and we made it to London in record time.

Armed with Starbucks. Let's do this thing!

They seem more optimistic now that they have been properly caffeinated, don't they?

Our bus dropped us off just a few blocks away from the hotel where Kate and Co. were getting ready for the wedding. We briefly contemplated joining the crowd and waiting for the future Mrs. Prince William to emerge but decided against it as we would miss seeing the ceremony. So we took a quick photo and followed the crowds of flag-waving, costume-wearing enthusiasts to Hyde Park, where the wedding would be broadcasted on giant screens.

The crowd waiting in front of Kate's hotel!

One of the many many reasons we were not interviewed for television. With folks like this who wants to talk to us?

Following the masses and the signs...

Having lived through Superbowl and Mardi Gras excitement I thought I would be prepared for what came next. Sorry, New Orleans, but London takes the cake on this one! We joined a crowd of 300, 000 (according to BBC) people on the grounds of Hyde Park to watch the event. 300,000 flag waving, costume wearing, cheering people all crammed into a few acres. There were little girls in princess costumes, big girls in wedding dresses, men in top hats, women in party dresses, and all kinds of ways you can (or maybe can't) imagine that a flag can be turned into clothing.

Why do I even bother bringing a camera when Google images takes better pictures than I do?

We were HERE!!

And so close to the screens (all things considered)!

My enthusiasm is contagious!

It was amazing! I felt like I was attending the world's largest wedding--the crowd jumped to their feet, cheering and waving the Union Jack when the princes, the queen, and finally Kate appeared on screen. They remained standing with the congregation of Westminster Abbey while Kate walked that magnificent aisle. Many of them sang the first hymn from the online programs they had printed the night before. They popped bottles of champagne when Will and Kate were pronounced husband and wife. But my all time favorite memory (and it still gives me chills when I think about it) was when 300,000 people got to their feet and sang "God Save the Queen." That's the kind of stuff I'll tell my grandkids someday.

To Be Continued...