A Royal Weekend

As you all know, England has been the center of attention throughout the world over the past few days.  We have felt so lucky to be here to witness first-hand what a Royal Wedding in England truly looks like.  Boy, do the English sure know how to put on a show!  After a lot of discussion we decided not to make the trip into the city to join the madness.  The experience of watching everything from home and joining in the local festivities with the residents of our town made it a more intimate but equally authentic experience.  

My attempt at Royal Wedding cupcakes

Watching the actual Royal Wedding live on BBC from start to finish was something we will not forget.  We obviously shared this experience as there were over 3 billion people watching!  I decided to take full advantage of having the day off for the wedding by making Royal cupcakes, hanging Union Jack bunting and drinking lots of tea.  We spent the morning in front of the television just taking it all in.

As the pomp and pageantry of the wedding was amazing to witness, John and I both believe the best part of the Royal Wedding was the buzz and energy leading up to the big day.  There was so much talk and speculation leading up to Friday’s events so the discussions with our friends and colleagues at work provided us with a unique perspective.  Some people were incredibly excited and talked about parties they were attending and special outfits they were wearing.  Others talked about deciding to spend the day low-key at home in their pj’s enjoying some time off.  Surprisingly, there were a lot of people who thought the whole idea of the wedding and the massive amount of money spent on it was ridiculous and were not going to watch at all.  Overall, the opinions and ways of spending the day varied greatly from the people John and I had talked to.

One of many Truro storefront windows

There were numerous TV specials leading up to the big day that recounted all of the royal weddings in history and all of the traditions that are involved.  It was so interesting to learn about all of the little details that you would never know about otherwise.  The attention to detail has always been top priority and as we all witnessed, this wedding was no different. 

Celebratory drinks in Truro

But for the massive amounts of people in the UK that did decide to embrace the day, it was spectacular.  After the wedding, John and I walked through Truro and could feel the energy of it all.   The atmosphere was definitely palpable as most people enjoyed the day off and appreciated the opportunity to celebrate as a nation.  All of the shops’ windows were adorned with flags and pictures of William and Kate.  People’s houses were decorated with bunting and flags streaming from their windows and planted in their flowerpots.  Most restaurants and pubs had Royal Wedding festivities planned and some people got dressed up and began celebrating early in the morning.  It really was spectacular to see and be a part of.

As we both had off work, we decided to go out for dinner and drinks last night.  Our night of English celebration ended in a pub with a Beatles cover band playing while patriotic partygoers draped with Union Jack flags danced around.  Definitely entertaining.  It was a perfect British end to a perfect British day!