英文阅读：西方皇室婚礼习俗掠影

对于西方的婚礼我们或许都有所了解，那么西方皇室的婚礼呢?下面，我们一起去看看吧。

and you think your wedding is complicated? try being a member of the british royal family. from the centuries-old rules and regulations to the pint-sized "bridesmaids" and post-wedding "breakfast" served at noon, we dissect the pomp and circumstance of a traditional royal wedding.

the proposal

订婚须经女王批准、王室成员不准与天主教徒结婚

the royal marriages act of 1772 requires all royal descendants to seek the sovereign's approval for marriage. but the requirements don't stop there—the 1701 act of settlement prohibits royals from marrying catholics. to wed the queen's eldest grandchild peter phillips in 2008, autumn kelly converted from roman catholicism to anglicanism so her husband would keep his place as 11th in line for the throne. soon after will and kate's engagement was announced, officials from buckingham palace said the queen was "absolutely delighted" for the couple, which can only mean she approved of will's choice.

stag and hen parties

举办婚前单身派对

what began as a dinner party in ancient sparta has evolved into a party thrown in honor of a bachelor's soon-to-be-lost single status. but in the uk, groomsmen have taken the tradition even farther, now celebrating over an entire weekend's worth of festivities known as a stag weekend. while details are scarce, will's office confirmed that the prince's party took place in late march (about a month before the wedding). hosted by his brother, prince harry, at a country estate, the party included will's close friends james meade, thomas van straubenzee, and guy pelly. with the dawn of the sexual revolution in the 1960s, women claimed their own night of "farewell-to-singlehood" revelry. kate's "hen night" (we call it a bachelorette party around here) was even more hush-hush than will's. her sister pippa reportedly booked four different hotel locations to throw off paparazzi.

location

新人将在威斯敏斯特教堂举行英式婚礼

the most traditional site for a royal ceremony is the chapel royal at st. james palace, which housed the weddings of queen anne (1683), george iii (1761), george iv (1795), queen victoria (1840), and george v (1893). more recent royal couples have since outgrown the small chapel, which seats 100, as the ceremonies have become more of a public spectacle. for her 1919 ceremony, princess patricia of connaught brought westminster abbey back into vogue for royal weddings for the first time in 605 years. westminster was then chosen for king george v's daughter mary in 1922, queen elizabeth's parents in 1923, and the queen's own wedding in 1947. kate and will are westminster-bound, as well, but two alternatives would have been the much larger st. paul's cathedral where charles and diana wed or the much smaller st. george's chapel in windsor castle where prince charles and camilla parker bowles's wedding was dedicated following a civil ceremony at windsor's guildhall in 2005.

guests

邀请嘉宾：男士需着军装、常礼服、或者西服;女士须戴帽子

at an event as exclusive as a royal wedding, the guest list is everything. fellow royals, foreign leaders, church officials, and diplomats dot the list along with the couple's own friends and family. the royal family sits on the right-side of the church, unless the groom is not royal, in which case they sit on the left. by the queen's command, 1,900 invitations went out to will and kate's wedding guests—including to their friends from st. andrews university, but notably excluding sarah ferguson, the duchess of york. male attendees are expected to wear military uniforms, morning dress (single-breasted coats with tails) or lounge suits (what we consider a business suit). female attire is less specifically outlined, though hats are a must.