If you’ve been hankering for another royal wedding since May, you’re in luck – Princess Eugenie’s wedding to Jack Brooksbank is just under a month away.
But don’t hold your breath for it to be Prince Harry and Meghan Markle redux. This upcoming wedding has a few significant differences from this year’s Royal Wedding and 2011’s wedding between Prince William and Kate Middleton.
The most noticeable difference may be the sheer scope of the event. In addition to an evening reception after their ceremony, Princess Eugenie and Brooksbank are also planning an enviably lavish after-party, held the day after the wedding. According to the Sunday Times, this party is planned by Peregrine Armstrong Jones, who orchestrated David and Victoria Beckham’s 1999 wedding. That wedding, according to Metro, had a 437-person staff, cost £500,000, and included a moment in which the Beckhams cut their wedding cake with a sword – so, chances are, Princess Eugenie and Brookbank’s party will not have much in the way of restraint.
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A source told the Times that the day-after party, which has a “festival and funfair” theme, will be more relaxed than the formal events of the day before. It will include festival rides, food stalls, “loads” of cocktails, and “bloody marys for the hangovers.”
Before the party, guests will attend Princess Eugenie and Brooksbanks’ wedding ceremony in St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle, which is also where Markle and Prince Harry had their ceremony. But this wedding will be significantly larger than Prince Harry and Markle’s. Princess Eugenie and Brooksbank have invited about 850 people to the wedding, according to the Daily Mail, while Prince Harry and Markle invited about 600.
Another significant difference, according to Marie Claire, is the male dress code. The invitation to Princess Eugenie’s and Brooksbank’s wedding states that women can wear day dresses and hats, but men can only wear morning suits, which is the most formal option for a suit. (Think a vest, handkerchief in the pocket, and an extra-long suit tails.) Prince Harry and Markle followed a similar dress code for the women invited to their wedding, but the men were permitted to wear slightly less formal military uniforms or lounge suits.
This means that there will also be a pretty big change in the groom’s attire. Both Prince William and Prince Harry served in the British military, so they wore military uniforms during their respective wedding ceremonies. Brooksbank has no ties to the military, so he will likely be wearing a morning suit like his guests.
Basically? No two weddings are the same, even if they do share a royal title – which is all the more reason to pay attention when Princess Eugenie and Brookbank’s wedding happens on 12th October.