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Wedding Inspirations Diana’s dress Atlanta exhibit provides look at royal wedding fashion By ANGELA McRAE For the Times-Herald On Wednesday, July 29, 1981, some 800 million people worldwide watched Lady Diana Spencer glide down the aisle of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London to marry Prince Charles and become the Princess of Wales. Perhaps no bride’s gown had ever been more eagerly awaited than that one, designed by the young husband and wife team of David and Elizabeth Emanuel. Trimmed in antique lace and featuring a 25-foot train, the ivory silk taffeta gown was a hit with the public — and more importantly, Diana herself. Public displays of the gown have attracted legions of viewers ever since. The gown is currently on display at the Atlanta Civic Center as part of the “Diana: A Celebration” exhibition which runs through June 13. Today’s brides may find it hard to believe the gown for Diana’s July 1981 wedding was not commissioned until March of that year, just months before the royal wedding. Editors at British Vogue had borrowed an Emanuelsdesigned pale pink blouse as one of the possibilities for Diana to wear during a photo shoot. The newly-engaged Lady Diana loved the romantic blouse so much she wore it for her official engagement photograph. Then, she made an appointment to see the Emanuels in their studio and ordered a black evening gown to wear for her first public engagement with Prince Charles after the announcement they would wed. Soon she called up and asked Elizabeth, “Liz, would you and David do me the honour of making my wedding dress?” The story of the gown’s creation is beautifully told and illustrated in the Emanuels’ 2006 book “A Dress for Diana,” released on the 25th anniversary of the royal wedding and the gown’s creation. While at the Atlanta Civic Center, the gown is displayed in an enormous glass case which encloses the gown and its fully extended 25foot train. According to the Emanuels, their research into royal wedding gowns indicated the longest royal wedding gown train at that time had been 23 feet long, so they suggested Diana’s be even longer and she happily agreed. The Emanuels tried to use as many British materials as possible in the gown’s creation, yet they were surprised to learn there was actually a silk farm in England, Lullingstone Silk Farm in Dorset. Unfortunately there simply weren’t enough British silkworms to create all the fabric required, but the silk farm did produce silk that was used in Diana’s veil.
Photos by Angela McRae
See DIANA, page 2B
The Royal Wedding gown is on display in Atlanta with the bridal earrings, a parasol, and the bridesmaid’s dress of young Clementine Hambro. Diana wore her family’s tiara for the ceremony.
Newnan residents have wedding with classic, Southern flair By NICHOLE GOLDEN nichole@newnan.com For all those guys trying to plan the perfect proposal, take note of Christopher Herdener’s 2008 proposal to Ragan Ellen. Herdener popped the question to his girlfriend during a candlelight picnic in a Montgomery, Ala. park. Candles, good food, a nice September evening. How could you go wrong? “It was very romantic,” said Ragan, now Mrs. Herdener. The Newnan couple tied the knot July 11, 2009. Chris works for Grant Financial Group, LLC and New York Life. Ragan is employed at The Heritage School. Chris, a University of Georgia graduate, was introduced to Ragan by his sister, Jessica. Ragan was attending Auburn University when they met. “We had ten months and a few days to plan for the wedding which was, in my opinion, just the right amount of time,” said Ragan. “Planning takes a while, so ten months gave us plenty of time to get everything done. The Herdeners’ wedding ceremony was at First Baptist Church on the Square in LaGrange. Because Ragan attended that church while growing up, it was a “special” place for the couple to be married. The wedding included nuptial music with a vocalist, and instrumentalists playing violin, cello, organ, piano and the viola. “We wanted something very classic with a touch of Southern flair. We also wanted to do traditional but with our own originality,” said Ragan about their wedding’s style. The wedding reception was held Hills This wedding day photo uses color and black and white for a unique look. Ragan’s bridal bouquet fea- and Dales Estate, also in LaGrange. tured garden roses and hydrangea, perfect for any summer wedding. Ragan’s wedding dress was a white strapless taffeta and organza gown that featured Photos courtesy of Steve Mason Photography, LaGrange
asymmetrical ruching on the bodice and a crystal beaded taffeta overlay along the dropped waist. “I loved it because it was both traditional and modern. The lace and the buttons running down the back were very traditional, but I loved the strapless look and the asymmetrical ruching,” said Ragan. She wore a single chapel-length veil with crystal beading. Ragan was able to purchase her gown as well as order all of the bridesmaids’ dresses at An Affair to Remember in LaGrange. The bridesmaids’ dresses were a sage green and they were strapless. They also had ruching at the waist with a lighter green sash. The attendants carried pink garden roses and green hydrangea for the summer wedding. What was the hardest part of planning? “For us, the hardest part of planning was the guest list. We were so excited about our reception site, but it could only hold a certain amount of people, so we really had to narrow our list down and decided how many each family could invite,” said Ragan. While Chris left a lot of the planning details to Ragan, they picked out the reception site together as well as all of the music for both ceremony, and reception. “He was really good about handling everything with his groomsmen,” added Ragan. The bride and groom were able to incorporate several special touches that were meaningful to them. Ragan had two broaches that belonged to her grandmothers pinned on her bouquet. One pin was her “something old” and one was her “something new.” The bridal bouquet consisted of pink and white garden roses and green hydrangeas tied with ivory satin ribbon and accented with pearls.
See HERDENERS, page 3B
Sunday, February 7, 2010