10 things you may not know about Kate Middleton's Wedding

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10 things you may not know about Kate Middleton's Wedding

1. Kate's bouquet featured lily of the valley, hyacinth, ivy and Sweet William. In keeping with royal tradition, she also opted to include a sprig of myrtle clipped from a tree that still grows in a garden belonging to Queen Victoria. Widely considered to be the herb of love, the plant represents a long and happy marriage, and after the ceremony, the sprig is planted in the bride's gardens by her maids. We wonder if Pippa got planting...?

2. Kate married at the age of 29 - not exactly 'old', but it makes her the oldest UK royal bride to date. The youngest was Isabella of Valois, who married Richard II at the age of 6 in 1396. After her mother-in-law, Princess Diana, Kate was the second royal bride to omit the vow to obey her husband.

3. Kate and William asked Fiona Cairns to make one of their wedding cakes, based on one of the prince's favourite recipes. The sweet creation contained over 17,000 chocolate biscuits.

4. Kate's sister, Pippa, was her Maid Of Honour, and she had four bridesmaids, including three-year-old Grace Van Cutsem (right), the adorable goddaughter of Prince William who was snapped covering her ears as the crowds whooped down below. The bridesamaids wore dresses designed by Nicki Macfarlane - read her top tips for styling young bridesmaids here.

5. Retail experts have estimated that around 1,000 miles of bunting was sold in the run-up to the wedding day - most of which was used, no doubt, to decorate the numerous street parties taking place across the UK.

6. Instead of wedding gifts, William and Catherine asked guests to make donations to charity instead, which raised over £1million for 26 causes. However, Mayor of London Boris Johnson gave the city-dwelling couple a rather unlikely wedding gift - a tandem.

7. Now, let's talk about that dress. Wasn't it just stunning? The work of McQueen designer Sarah Burton, the wedding gown - worth an estimated £250,000 - was handstitched by dozens of seamstresses from the Royal School of Needlework. The bodice was designed in the 19th-century Carrickmacross design, and featured the national flowers of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, whilst the embroidered train was over 8-feet long. In honour of the 'something blue' tradition, a blue ribbon was sewn inside the gown, and the Carrickmacross bodice was the 'something old'.

8. William Hill offered odds of 8/1 that Prince Philip would fall asleep during the wedding service. It became one of the most popular bets that the firm have ever offered!

9. Following the wedding service, the bells of Westminster Abbey were rung 'full peal' (where the bells chime in no particular sequence) for over three hours.

10. The couple jetted off to the Seychelles for their honeymoon, and spent 10 days holidaying on the paradise-like island, where they stayed in a £4,000-a-night bungalow.


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