Princess Charlene of Monaco famously stepped out in a number of bold bridal outfits for her royal wedding with Prince Albert, but her bridesmaid dresses are not as well remembered.
A lot of thought went into designing the patriotic gowns for her seven bridesmaids – none of which she knew personally! The bride chose girls to represent different areas of Monaco, and they all wore traditional Monegasque-inspired outfits.
© GettyDesigned by her sister-in-law Princess Caroline and Jean-Christophe Maillot, director of the Ballets de Monte-Carlo, the bridesmaid outfits included lace-up white tops with lace-frill sleeves, full A-line skirts in a red striped colourway and white aprons, which were personalised with the couple's monogram and each girl's area of Monaco.
In true dancer style, they paired the dresses with white tights and black ballet pumps, alongside straw hats and colourful pink and purple bouquets. They also wore their hair up, displaying gold crosses on black velvet ribbons around their neck, which were reportedly a gift from the groom Prince Albert. So we can understand why it's believed that the outfits took over 120 hours to create!
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Charlene and Albert were legally married in a civil ceremony on 1 July 2011 inside the Prince's Palace's Throne Room. Charlene wore a classic Armani Privé silk white gown with off-the-shoulder straps, before changing into a sleeveless second wedding dress with a tiered, embellished skirt.
However, the South African swimmer and Grace Kelly's son had also enjoyed a concert by classic rockers the Eagles the night before they exchanged vows. At the time, Charlene stepped out in an unexpected pale blue jumpsuit with a matching jacket designed by Karl Lagerfeld.
Speaking about her "overwhelming" wedding day, which saw her shed a few tears, she told The Times: "Everything was just so overwhelming and there were all the mixed emotions because of the rumours, and obviously the tension built up and I burst into tears [immediately after the ceremony].
"And then I burst into tears some more because I was thinking "Oh no, now the whole world has seen me cry"'.
She went on to add: "It was such a wonderful three days. Even months afterwards I would get flashbacks and think, 'Oh, my goodness, did I really have the Eagles playing at my wedding?' I think back and wonder how we managed to pull it off."
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