Meghan Markle’s days of kissing frogs have come to an end. In March, the royal wedding invitations were released –officially signaling her parlay into palaces forever more.
Produced by Barnard and Westwood, the royal printing and bookbinding company has been producing royal paper goods and printed materials since 1985 when appointed by the Queen.
The Harry and Meghan invitations don’t stray too far from the winning formula: regal card stock emblazoned with the gold Queen stamp as well as flowery font. While many American invitations include the bride as the first acknowledged party, often paying homage to the bride’s family with some language like ‘at the marriage of their daughter’–Harry and Meghan’s invitations echoing those of William and Catherine include the royal participant name first as is protocol. Thus, the invitation reads:
“at the marriage of His Royal Highness Prince Henry of Wales with Ms. Meghan Markle at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle on Saturday 19th of May, 2018”
The wedding invitations also noted Meghan’s previous divorce, calling the bride ‘Ms. Markle’ rather than Miss.
The penmanship for each invited guest’s name would be familiar fare for Markle’s as she previously worked as a calligrapher and was even responsible for penning the wedding invitations for pop singer Robin Thicke.
Approximately 600 guests will receive the traditional wedding invitations via post while 1200 guests will be invited as spectators to watch the carriage procession and be a part of the day’s festivities. The public invitees include: pupils from local schools, members of the royal household, youth leaders and charity workers.
The the couple are set to marry on Saturday, May 19th at 12pm GMT and later in the day, the Queen will host a lunchtime reception for all the guests at St. George’s Hall.
Only 200 of the total guests will join the newlyweds for a private and more intimate reception hosted by Prince Charles at Frogmore House, which is a mile south of Windsor Castle. The 17th century English country house should work perfectly for the setting to a celebratory occasion as the extensive grounds are home to more than 4,000 trees, flowers and shrubs. Plus, the location has meaning for the couple as their romantic engagement photo call took place in the same spot in November.
