Princess EugenieandJack Brooksbank’s wedding took place at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle on Oct. 12, 2018, and came just a few short months afterPrince HarryandMeghan Markletied the knot at thesame venue.
800 guests attended thestar-studded ceremony, including the bride’s royal grandparents —Queen ElizabethandPrince Philip— as well as several of the couple’s celebrity friends. Taking another cue from Harry and Meghan’s nuptials, the couple also invited 1,200 members of the public from across the U.K. to view their wedding up close.
The royal family announced thecouple’s engagementalmost a year before their autumn wedding on Jan. 22, 2018. Eugenie and Brooksbank dated for seven years before getting engaged while on vacation in Nicaragua. In an interview with BBC 1’s Matt Baker on theOne Show,Brooksbank sharedthat he proposed to Eugenie without a ring because he “didn’t want to do anything until Eugenie had signed off on it.” However, he had picked out apadparadscha sapphire stonebefore the proposal, and when the couple returned from their trip, they designed the ring together.
“The lake was so beautiful. The light was just a special light I had never seen. I actually said, ‘This is an incredible moment,’ and then he popped the question, which was really surprising even though we have been together seven years,” Eugenie told Baker. “I was over the moon. [It was a] complete surprise. But it was the perfect moment, we couldn’t be happier.”
The couple needed more than one day to celebrate their nearly decade-long love story, so they hosted a lavish two-day wedding event that included a festival-themed bash.
While Eugenie and Jack’s historic wedding surely required extensive planning, it seems that the mother of the bride,Sarah Ferguson, would have liked to be more involved in the process. During a March 2023 event in New York City, Ferguson said the massive event “was a little difficult” because “that was all sort of taken out of my hands.” She added, “But I did the dress with Eugenie, all the personal bits, which was lovely.
In honor of the couple’s fifth wedding anniversary in October 2023, Eugenie shared anever-before-seen videofrom the two-day royal event. The clip showed a closer look at the smaller wedding details — the disco ball decorations, Brooksbank’s boutonniere and the Rolls-Royce that carried the bride to the church.
From a custom Peter Pilotto wedding dress to a gourmet pizza truck, here are all the details aboutPrincess Eugenieand Jack Brooksbank’s wedding.
Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank’s Wedding Rehearsal
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One week before her nuptials, Eugenie arrived at Buckingham Palace for a pre-wedding meeting to finalize last-minute details. Despite the wedding being a large-scale royal event, a palace source toldPEOPLEat the time, “It is very muchPrincess Eugenieand Jack’s day, and they are leading the planning.”
The night before the wedding, Eugenie, Brooksbank and her family – fatherPrince Andrew, motherSarah Fergusonand sisterPrincess Beatrice– werespotted arrivingat St. George’s Chapel for the wedding rehearsal. Adhering to tradition, the couple went theirseparate waysafter the rehearsal: the bride stayed at Royal Lodge, the royal residence of her parents, while the groom stayed locally in Windsor.
Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank’s Wedding Venue
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Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank’s Wedding Guest List
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Eugenie and Brooksbank’s wedding was astar-studded event. Among the 800 guests were plenty of royal family members, including the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh,Prince William,Kate Middleton, the Duke of Sussex and the Dutchess of Sussex.
Also in attendance were celebrity friends of the couple likeNaomi Campell,Demi Moore,Ellie Goulding,Ricky Martin,Cara DelevigneandKate Moss.
“Eugenie has been a friend of mine since I was a kid, and I’ve always wanted to wear tails,” she toldGraziamagazine, perMarie Claire. “I texted her, as I wasn’t sure about it, and she was like, ‘Of course, I expected nothing else from you!’ "
Princess Eugenie’s Wedding Dress
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“As soon as we announced the wedding, I knew the designer, and the look, straight away,” she toldBritishVogue. “I never thought I’d be the one who knew exactly what I like, but I’ve been pretty on top of it.”
Eugenie’slong-sleeve gownfeatured a neckline that folded around the shoulders, a low V-shaped back and a ground-sweeping train. The low-back design was a special request from Eugenie to honor her scar from the surgery she had at 12 years old to correct her scoliosis.
“I had always wanted a low back — part of it was showing my scar and I believe scars tell a story about your past and your future, and it’s a way of getting rid of a taboo,” she said in anaudio guidefor the exhibit “A Royal Wedding: HRHPrincess Eugenieand Mr. Jack Brooksbank” at Windsor Castle. “For me, it’s a way of communicating with people who are going through either similar situations with scoliosis or having a scar of their own that they are trying to deal with.”
Pilotto and Vos alsodesignedthe fabric to include several symbols that were meaningful to Eugenie, such as a thistle for Scotland to acknowledge the couple’s fondness for Balmoral, a shamrock for Ireland as a reflection of the bride’s maternal family, and the York Rose and ivy to represent the couple’s home.
Princess Eugenie’s Wedding Tiara
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“I’ve never worn a tiara before in my life,” she said in theaudio guidefor her wedding exhibit. “It was the most incredible thing to wear such a piece of history that my grandmother had lent me, very proud moment and the beautiful earrings were a gift from my husband.”
Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank’s Wedding Ceremony
“It’s important,” a source at the wedding toldPEOPLEabout the bride’s decision to display her scar. “If she hadn’t had that operation, she wouldn’t be able to walk — and here she was, walking down the aisle, so it was a seismic moment.”
The bridal party included royal family members: Eugenie’s sister Beatrice was her maid of honor;Princess Charlotte, Savannah Philips, Isla Phillips and Mia Tindal were a few of thebridesmaids; andPrince Georgewas a pageboy.
Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank’s Wedding Reception
Both Eugenie’s father and Brooksbank gave speeches during the reception, with Andrew poking fun at his new son-in-law in his speech.
“The Duke told a story about their dog Jack [a Norfolk terrier],” a source at the wedding toldPEOPLE. “One day, I think it was early in the relationship, he shouted ‘Jack, get off the chair!’ And the dog didn’t move. But Jack did!”
The celebrations didn’t stop there, following the luncheon, the couple made the three-mile drive to their black-tieevening receptionat Royal Lodge in anAston Martin DB10. Guests were treated to a gourmet pizza truck and Casamigos margaritas.
A source toldPEOPLEat the time that Robbie Williams sang his hit song “Angels” for guests at the reception, as well as some classic pop numbers “from different artists that the crowd sang along to.”
Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank’s Wedding Cake
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The centerpiece of the reception was the couple’sfive-tier wedding cake. The red velvet and chocolate confection was decorated with leaves in deep shades of orange, red, yellow and green to fit the autumn theme. The bottom layer was also embossed with the letters E and J in gold.
Princess Eugenie’s Wedding Reception Dress
Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank’s Second Day Festival-Themed Party
The couple continued the festivities the day after their wedding with a festival-themed bash. Theafternoon eventwas held at Windsor Park and included everything from food stalls to a performance from Goulding, the couple’s close friend. The fun-filled party was complete with various carnival rides, including a traditional Ferris wheel and a carousel that was filled with personalized horses for each guest to ride.
source: people.com
