Royal Wedding Mania: Kate Middleton and Prince William vs. Chelsea Clinton and Marc Mezvinsky

With Prince William and Kate Middleton’s nuptials this week, we couldn’t help but compare the royal wedding to our own famous newlyweds

Weddings are always a pop-cultural touchstone. Every summer, movie studios slap together a female-targeted, wedding-related romantic comedy as counter-programming for all the superheroes and robot movies in multiplexes. (Usually, these movies are bad. Real bad.) This year, there are two: Something Borrowed and Bridesmaids. (Bridesmaids might actually have a shot at being funny, too.)

But that’s not enough. It seems each year the culture-at-large has to anoint one real-life wedding as the One to Watch. (And by “watch,” we mean, “can’t avoid because it’s in the news for 16 hours out of every 24-hour cycle.”) The honor normally falls to people that don’t attract much notice outside of their weddings. This year, of course, it’s the royal wedding between Price William and Kate Middleton. Though normally Americans have no interest in royal goings-on, ABC news estimates that 600,000 tourists will travel to England this week for the nuptials.

Last year, we covered Chelsea Clinton and Marc Mezvinsky’s wedding in Rhinebeck — hands down the wedding of the year. How does theirs compare to the across-the-pond royal extravaganza going down this Friday? (See next page for the breakdown.)

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» Read about the Chelsea Clinton-Marc Mezvinsky wedding in Rhinebeck

 
kate middleton ring

The Ring
Clinton wore an emerald-cut diamond engagement ring, while Middleton wears an oval sapphire surrounded by 14 diamonds. It might seem that Middleton is breaking from tradition with the sapphire, but the ring is actually the one William’s mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, wore in 1981.

The Dress
Clinton was decked head-to-hem in Vera Wang, with an ivory, strapless wedding dress, embellished belt, and tulle veil. Kate Middleton — after causing a run on sapphire-blue Issa dress she wore to announce her engagement — is keeping details of her wedding dress close to the chest. But rumor has it that Middleton worked with Sophie Cranston of the Libelula label to design her own dress, though Cranston has denied it.

westminster abbeyWestminster Abbey

The Place
Both the ceremony and reception for the Clinton-Mezvinsky wedding took place at Astor Courts, a Hudson-side Beaux Arts building designed by Stanford White and built between 1902 and 1904. Prince William is set to marry Kate Middleton at Westminster Abbey in front of 1,800 people — 600 of whom will head to Buckingham Palace afterward for lunch, and only 300 of whom will stay for a later reception. Westminster Abbey has, oh, a couple centuries of history over on Astor Courts, being founded by Benedictine monks sometime in the tenth century.

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The Flowers
Here, the two weddings may have some overlap. Clinton carried a bouquet of white gardenias designed by florist Jeff Leatham. Middleton is also said to be carrying an all-white bouquet, with roses and lilies being the top contenders.

The Food
The Clinton-Mezvinsky wedding offered choices from Blue Ribbon Restaurants, St. Regis Hotels and Resorts, and Olivier Cheng Catering and Events — but, going a little bit out of the box, offered a vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free menu. After Kate and Wills say “I do,” the Queen will host a luncheon where 21 chefs furiously work on nearly 10,000 two-bite canapés — 10 or 12 savory varieties and five or six sweet ones. The menu will be traditionally British.

The Most Important Part: The Cake
The Clinton-Mezvinskys proved they had exquisite taste when they served their (gluten-free) vanilla and dark chocolate mousse cake, embellished with 1,000 edible sugar flowers, from La Tulipe Desserts in Mount Kisco. The Prince and future princess are opting for a multi-tiered fruitcake. While every couple is different and not one wedding is better than another, vanilla and chocolate mousse is an obvious winner here.

Royal nuptials: glued to the TV, or couldn’t care less? Let me know in the comments.

» Read about the Chelsea Clinton-Marc Mezvinsky wedding in Rhinebeck

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