Bride vs. Bride

Kate Middleton

Date: April 29, 2011

Nickname: Waity Katie

Groom: Prince William

Dress: The latest speculation holds that the dress will be McQueen

Location: Westminster Abbey

Cake: A fruitcake by Fiona Cairns and a chocolate biscuit cake by McVitie’s

Audience: 2 billion (TV, est.)

Ring: Princess Diana’s ring

Splurge: The couple will travel in the 1902 state landau built for King Edward VII

Mishap: Looking at you, Harry and Pippa

Personal Touch: Will and Kate will have their first public kiss on a Buckingham Palace balcony

Honeymoon: The couple is rumored to have plans for Corfu and Mustique

Happily Ever After? Here’s hoping

Diana Spencer

Date: July 29, 1981

Nickname: The People’s Princess

Groom: Prince Charles

Dress: Designed by Emanuel, ivory silk with a 25-foot train and 10,000 pearls

Location: St. Paul’s Cathedral

Cake: Five-tier fruitcake, five feet tall, took 14 weeks to make

Audience: 750 million (TV)

Ring: Made by Garrard, 14 diamonds around a sapphire

Splurge: Diana arrived in a 70-year-old glass-top coach

Mishap: During her vows, Diana called Charles by his father’s name

Personal Touch: Diana broke tradition, declining to say she would “obey” Charles in her vows

Honeymoon: 11 days cruising on the royal yacht

Happily Ever After? Divorced in 1996

Chelsea Clinton

Date: July 31, 2010

Nickname: Secret Service: “Energy”

Groom: Marc Mezvinsky

Dress: Strapless ivory silk organza by Vera Wang, plus $250,000 in jewelry

Location: Rhinebeck, N.Y.

Cake: Nine-tier vegan cake, four feet tall, weighed 500 lbs.

Audience: Not broadcast

Ring: Emerald-cut diamond, rumored to cost $1 million

Splurge: Reportedly spent $15,000 on Porta-Potties

Mishap: Locals were incensed by the circus. The couple apologized with bottles of wine.

Personal Touch: The couple’s first dance was a well-choreographed tango

Honeymoon: Safari in Africa

Happily Ever After? So far, so good

Grace Kelly

Date: April 18-19, 1956

Nickname: Gracie

Groom: Prince Rainier III

Dress: Dress designed by MGM’s Helen Rose, took six weeks and 36 seamstresses

Location: St. Nicholas Cathedral, Monaco

Cake: Six-tier cake, cut diamond

Audience: 30 million (TV)

Ring: Cartier 12-carat emerald-cut diamond

Splurge: Kelly’s parents paid a $2 million dowry

Mishap: MGM taped the ceremony, and Kelly hated the bright lights

Personal Touch: Kelly gave her bridesmaids jewelry given to her by the shah of Iran, a former suitor

Honeymoon: A cruise aboard Deo Juvante II, the prince’s wedding gift to Kelly

Happily Ever After? Very much so

Jacqueline Bouvier

Date: Sept. 12, 1953

Nickname: Jackie

Groom: John F. Kennedy

Dress: Made of Battenberg lace, created by Ann Lowe

Location: Newport, R.I.

Cake: Five tiers. Jackie chose flowers to top the cake.

Audience: Not broadcast

Ring: From Van Cleef & Arpels. She put it on JFK’s finger at his funeral.

Splurge: Tenor Luigi Vena sang Gounod’s “Ave Maria”

Mishap: Jackie’s father, Jack Bouvier, got drunk in his hotel and missed the wedding entirely

Personal Touch: A special blessing from Pope Pius XII was read before the wedding mass

Honeymoon: Acapulco, then up the California coast to San Ysidro Ranch

Happily Ever After? Widowed in 1963

Princess Elizabeth

Date: Nov. 20, 1947

Nickname: Her Majesty

Groom: Lt. Philip Mountbatten

Dress: Designed by Norman Hartnell. Elizabeth paid for the material with ration coupons.

Location: Westminster Abbey

Cake: Four tiers, nine feet tall, 500 lbs. Depicted scenes from their lives.

Audience: 20 million (radio)

Ring: Made from nuggets of Welsh gold from Clogau St. David’s mine

Splurge: The two royal kneelers wore rose-pink silk

Mishap: On the morning of the wedding, Princess Elizabeth’s tiara snapped

Personal Touch: The couple received 2,500 wedding presents and 10,000 telegrams

Honeymoon: At Broadlands in Hampshire; the princess brought her corgi

Happily Ever After? Still going strong

Sarah Ferguson

Date: July 23, 1986

Nickname: Fergie

Groom: Prince Andrew

Dress: Ivory silk, by Lindka Cierarch, with a 17-foot train. Emblazoned with an A for Andrew.

Location: Westminster Abbey

Cake: Six feet tall, adorned with pastel flowers

Audience: 500 million (TV)

Ring: A Burmese ruby, chosen to match Fergie’s hair

Splurge: They filled the Abbey with 30,000 flowers

Mishap: Fergie repeated Andrew’s middle name twice while saying her vows

Personal Touch: The queen lent Fergie a diamond tiara for the ceremony

Honeymoon: The Azores

Happily Ever After? Divorced in 1996

Tricia Nixon

Date: June 12, 1971

Nickname: The Cover-Girl Bride

Groom: Ed Cox

Dress: The dress flew first class to the White House with designer Priscilla Kidder

Location: White House Rose Garden

Cake: White House pastry chef Heinz Bender made a 350-lb. lemon cake

Audience: Not broadcast

Ring: A sapphire-and-diamond ring worn by Cox’s grandmother

Splurge: Planned an entire second wedding in case of rain

Mishap: It rained all day leading up to the wedding, but stopped just in time for the ceremony

Personal Touch: The Marine Band played “Lara’s Theme” from Dr. Zhivago at the party

Honeymoon: Camp David

Happily Ever After? Live quietly in N.Y.C.