Ten years ago today, Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie of Luxembourg were married in a grand ceremony. Today, we’re celebrating the anniversary by looking back at the jewels worn by Stéphanie throughout the couple’s wedding celebrations.
Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume announced his engagement to Countess Stéphanie de Lannoy, a Belgian aristocrat, on April 27, 2012. Guillaume had proposed with a diamond ring featuring a double halo design and pavé-set diamonds throughout the ring. The couple appeared with their families before the press at the Grand Ducal Palace in Luxembourg to announce their upcoming nuptials. Stéphanie wore her engagement ring and a pair of colorful pendant earrings for the occasion.
On October 19, 2012, the wedding festivities began with a day of civil wedding celebrations. First up was a state reception at the Grand Theatre de la Ville de Luxembourg, held prior to the couple’s civil wedding ceremony. Stéphanie wore autumnal shades of wine and burgundy for the event.
She accessorized with a pair of diamond and amethyst earrings, plus a gold chain that dipped below the neckline of her jacket. (You’ll note that she wore various chains, with any pendants hidden away, throughout the wedding celebrations.)
The couple changed clothes and headed to Luxembourg’s city hall for the civil wedding ceremony following the state reception.
Stéphanie wore a cream-colored suit with silver detailing and accessories for the civil ceremony, plus diamond and pearl jewels. You’ll note in various photographs from the two-day festivities that she wore her engagement ring on her right hand and another diamond ring on the middle finger of her left hand. That second diamond ring is her late mother’s engagement ring. Sadly, Countess Alix de Lannoy passed away in August 2012, in the midst of her daughter’s wedding preparations.
Stéphanie’s jewelry for the civil ceremony also included a pair of modern diamond and pearl drop earrings.
That evening, royals from across Europe and around the world gathered at the Grand Ducal Palace in Luxembourg for a dazzling pre-wedding gala dinner.
For the dinner, Stéphanie wore an elegant gown made for her by Elie Saab. She accessorized with diamonds from the Luxembourgish royal collection: the Diamond Vine Leaves Tiara and a pair of diamond earrings loaned to her by her mother-in-law-to-be, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa. The earrings had been Maria Teresa’s wedding gift from her parents in 1981.
Here’s another view of Stéphanie’s jewels from the gala dinner. She again wore a delicate chain necklace that was partially hidden under her dress, plus her own engagement ring and her late mother’s engagement ring.
On October 20, 2012, Stéphanie arrived at the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Luxembourg for the religious wedding ceremony that would make her a Hereditary Grand Duchess.
She wore another Elie Saab creation for the wedding. The gown featured heavy embroidery and beading, plus a cathedral-length train.
Stéphanie’s wedding veil matched the length of the gown’s train as well.
The grandeur of the wedding dress is very apparent in this official photograph of Guillaume and Stéphanie on their wedding day.
Stéphanie again wore diamonds for her religious wedding ceremony. She wore her mother-in-law’s diamond wedding earrings for a second time, but this time around, she paired them with a tiara from her own family’s collection.
This is the Lannoy Tiara, a petite diamond sparkler made by Altenloh in Brussels. It has been worn by several Lannoy family brides on their wedding days.
Here’s a view of the tiara and veil from the back as Stéphanie arrived at the cathedral for the wedding.
Unfortunately, this was a royal wedding day that included a mild tiara mishap. Though the small tiara had been adequately anchored on the sides of the frame, it had not been secured at the center, and at one point, it flipped backward. The problem was quickly remedied.
Stéphanie’s diamond engagement ring was visible as she blew kisses to the crowd from the palace balcony after the wedding ceremony.
We also got a lovely close-up view of the gold wedding rings exchanged by the couple during the wedding mass.
On the evening following the ceremony, Guillaume and Stéphanie changed out of their wedding clothes to walk through the streets of the city, joining in the revelry all around them. Their new wedding rings gleamed on their left hands.
Stéphanie wore her civil wedding suit a second time for this post-wedding walkabout, though this time she also added a shawl for warmth.
The wedding day came to a close with a dramatic fireworks display over the city of Luxembourg, equaling the diamond sparkle that the bride and her guests had provided for the day. Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie are still married today, with one young son, Prince Charles, and a second child expected next year. They will one day sit on the grand ducal throne in Luxembourg.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.