Tule Royal Wedding, PLANNING A ROYAL WEDDING 4: THE BEST MAN AND BRIDESMAIDS

GIVEAWAY: We will be giving away a print copy of Anne McAllister’s The Best Man’s Bride. Comment in our post with what you’re looking forward to in Harry and Meghan’s upcoming wedding!
We will announce the winners in our weekly newsletter, so make sure to subscribe if you haven’t already!

 

PLANNING A ROYAL WEDDING 4: THE BEST MAN AND BRIDESMAIDS
Jessica Hart and Anne McAllister

 

There are so many big decisions to be made about a wedding: there’s the where and the when and the what sort of wedding it will be, but deciding who will be most closely involved in the bridal party is also crucial.

Bride, groom, bridesmaids and page boys (and grandparents!) On the balcony at Buckingham Palace, April 2011.

So, hands up those who thought that Prince Harry would ask his brother, Prince William, to be his best man at his wedding …  Think again! It appears that at British royal weddings, the guy responsible for holding the rings and calming the groom’s nerves is called a supporter rather than a best man (who knew?)  Still, Harry and William are known to be very close – and Harry did his bit at William’s wedding to Kate Middleton in 2011 – so it’s a good bet that Harry will have his brother at his side after all on 19 May.

Who’s in charge of the rings?

Fortunately, Prince Jonas is constrained by no such protocol for his marriage to Hope Kennard in the Royal Wedding Invitations series.  He asks his old pal, Jack Masterson to be his best man. As it turns out, Jack has even more star power than the Prince himself: Jack is a rock star whose sex appeal, charm and killer looks sweep women everywhere off their feet … all except Celina, the one woman who got away.

Blue-eyed, stubble-jawed … only Celina could resist Jack (courtesy of depositphotos.com)
As if those killer looks aren’t enough, Jack is a rock star!

Celina now works for Prince Jonas’s grandmother, the autocratic Serene Dowager Princess, and she is horrified when she hears that Jack will be at Jonas’s wedding. But no one can refuse an invitation to a royal wedding, and in the close confines of Westonbury Court, where the royal party are staying before the wedding, Celina is going to find it hard to avoid the best man …

Westonbury Court … awfully like the Manor House Hotel at Castle Combe

Traditionally, most of the bridesmaids at a British royal wedding are children, although Kate Middleton had her sister, Pippa, to support her when she married Prince William in 2011.  The identity of Meghan Markle’s bridesmaids is still a secret, but I think little Princess Charlotte is probably a shoe-in for a bridesmaid, don’t you? Meghan will doubtless have been told about the differences between American and British weddings. Royal or not,

bridesmaids follow the bride up the aisle in the UK, rather than precede her as they do in North America, so Meghan may well need an older friend to keep all those little bridesmaids and pageboys in order behind her!

Bridesmaids or not, it seems that Meghan has close friends just like Hope does

Hope Kennard hasn’t had any hesitation in choosing bridesmaids for her wedding to Prince Jonas.  Jonas’s niece, Princess Katja, will be adorable and her own niece, Holly, enchanting, while the young princes will doubtless make dutiful pageboys – unlike Hope’s nephew, Ben, who flat out refused to dress up (so like his father).

But the two people she really wants with her on her special day are her closest friends, Ally and Flora, who have both worked so hard to make Hope’s wedding everything she wants. They’ll make sure she has the perfect ‘hen do’ (bridal shower for those of you in North America), help her into her dress, steady her nerves and generally be there on the day. And most importantly, be happy for her.  The one thing they won’t be doing is catching the bouquet: they may not be marrying princes, but they both have their own happy-after-ever to plan.

 

The Prince’s Bride, Sophie Weston
The Baronet’s Wedding Engagement, Jessica Hart (available for FREE via BookBub for a limited time)
The Bridesmaid’s Royal Bodyguard, Liz Fielding
The Best Man’s Bride, Anne McAllister

We had such fun writing the series and thinking about everything that’s involved in a royal wedding that it’s even more interesting now to compare Hope and Jonas’s wedding with a real one.  We wish Harry and Meghan a wonderful day, and – of course – a long and happy marriage with their own happy-ever-after on 19 May.

 

Sophie, Jessica, Liz and Anne

 

Photos with permission from Bigstock, DepositPhotos or authors’ own

Years ago someone told Anne McAllister that the recipe for happiness was a good man, a big old house, a bunch of kids and dogs, and a job you loved that allows you to read. And write. She totally agrees.

Now, one good man, one big old house (since traded for a slightly smaller house. Look, no attic!) a bunch of kids (and even more grandkids) and dogs (and one bionic cat) and seventy books, she’s still reading. And writing. And happier than ever.

Over thirty plus years Anne has written long and short contemporary romances, single titles and series, novellas and a time-travel for Harlequin Mills & Boon and for Tule Publishing. She’s had two RITA winning books and nine more RITA finalists as well as awards from Romantic Times and Midwest Fiction Writers. One of the joys of writing is that sometimes, when she can’t go back in person, she can go back in her mind and her heart and her books.

15 Comments

  1. I love Royals Wedding, I watched when Princess Diana got married & when Prince William married Kate & now I’m excited to see prince Harry & Meagan get marroed. Thanks for this amazing giveaway.

  2. I’m excited to see all the royalty attending, especially William & Kate’s chidren. Also all the hat styles they seem to wear at Royal weddings.

  3. I am very excited to see the dress! And for Harry to run out realizing he was mine first.

  4. I’m looking forward to seeing the wedding dress, the royal family, the carriages, William and Kate’s children and Queen Elizabeth.

  5. I am excited about the wedding tomorrow. I hope I can wake up early enough to see it live. But if not, I have my dvr set to record Hoda and Kathie Lee’s show that starts at 3:30 my time. I want to see the dress, flowers and what everyone else will be wearing. I think Meghan and Harry will do great things for our world.

  6. I look forward to seeing her dress and those of her bridesmaids! I also look forward to hearing the music they select for their ceremony, as well as hearing them say their vows! Love everything about the day!

  7. Well i am looking forward to see the wedding arrangements and traditions of the British royal family that they have in wedding . Although i got to know few protocols and traditional things are changed this tym like cake, and decor for the wedding

  8. It was as wonderful as we all knew it would be. Her Mom was beautiful and so serene. Megan’s dress was simple and very elegant. It was just a wonderful ceremony.

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