Timeless Royal Wedding Dresses to be inspired by

For inspiration only here are the royal wedding dresses i love for brides who want to look and feel like a princess or a queen on their wedding day. 

This selection of royal wedding dresses are the most iconic and the best-remembered bridal gowns of all times in the 21st century. But please remember George Santayana’s quote, "Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it”, while you reflect on my personal collection of exemplary fashionable royal wedding gowns.

Victoria’s ivory silk, off-the-shoulder fit and flare royal wedding dress was plain simple but some may find it fitting and elegant.

The bride's five-metre train, attached at the waist of her dress, trailed out from behind and perfectly matched the shape of the princess' veil, which was held in place by the Swedish cameo tiara (the same diadem that her mother, Queen Silvia wore to her wedding in 1976).

It took 25 of Valentino’s seamstresses to make this fairytale writer and children’s wear designer’s $225,000 ivory silk royal wedding gown, studded with rose appliqués and finished with a lace bodice and floral decorated sleeves.

Though this wedding dress seemed perfectly Grace Kelly-esque, princessy and prim, in its use of 12 kinds of lace and a 4.5 m train, the high-collared long-sleeved gown has almost swallowed up the petite bride. On the other hand, the tight wide lace corset-like bodice artfully pushes her feminine assets up to the centre of attention and shows off her tiny waist line. 

Crown Prince William Alexander and soon-to-be King did uncover a precious jewel from South America who charmed the Dutch nation not only with her beauty and warm latin character but also with her classic fashion sense.

For her big wedding day, Máxima wore a royal wedding gown  designed by Valentino with a modest high cowl neck with ¾ sleeves dress and flared skirt designed. 

The fabric was silk mikada, a heavier silk that kept Máxima warm and gave a wrinkle-free quality for the multi location wedding venue.

Her long princess silk veil covered in magnificent floral hand embroidery rested over the 5 m train.

The 28-year-old Belgian duchess wore an A-line ivory royal gown as she wed Guillaume, Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg.

Her historical royal wedding dress, was made of a masterful mix of different fabrics: Chantilly lace, Calais lace, satin organza, tulle and silk crepe for the lining and silk tulle for the veil.

Princess Charlene’s royal bridal gown featuring a light slightly off the shoulder top and a grand 6 yard long train put this beautiful shy bride on the map.  Giorgio Armani designed a dress that showcased Princes Charlene’s exquisite fit and swimmer body shape with her shoulders exposed.

This dress offered Charlene the flexibility to remove the larger train of her dress that extended from the back of the crossed shoulder detail, while the slim skirt had a smaller train of its own underneath.

This fanciful and modest princess chose not to wear a royal tiara but instead a tremblant diamond in floral pieces dating from the 19th century in her pulled back hair. This ornamented piece belonged to Albert’s grandmother Princess Charlotte and was her something borrowed from Princess Caroline for the occasion.

After dazzling everyone in an Giorgio Armani royal bridal gown, Charlene, 33, changed into an Armani Prive sheer top cocktail dress for the official reception and ball.

A contrast to her grand and ornate princess wedding gown, the evening dress was a more lightweight affair which cut up her long and slim body with a four tiered skirt.

She added the glam to this not so Royal dress with her white peep-toe heels and a tiny clutch bag.

Cristóbal Balenciaga dressed this 32-year-old former nurse, Doña Fabiola de Mora y Aragón, queen-to-be on her wedding day to King Baudouin I of Belgium and lit the fireworks.

The royal wedding dress was not only designed by Balenciaga, but also executed by his own hand in the utmost secrecy in the designer’s Madrid apartment. Balenciaga created a royal style for a queen in Fabiola’s sophisticated, chic and yet edgy and fabulous wedding dress. 

Under his personal workmanship, the mink-trimmed, ivory silk gown that emerged, captured a style that was timeless and modern, sumptuous and understated, even with a 20-foot train.

This commoner-turned-princess dazzled the world with her Alexander McQueen royal wedding dress when she married Prince William, Duke of Cambridge. Together with the artistic vision of the legendary Alexander McQueen’s sensational designs, Middleton combined English Royal traditions and modernity in the design of her wedding dress.

I love the open V-neck ivory satin appliqué bodice elegantly narrowed at the waist that was inspired by the Victorian tradition of corsetry and is a particular Alexander McQueen hallmark. It is as if Grace Kelly’s buttoned down lace top is reborn into a sexier and mature modern era with a subtle exposure of the skin.

I bet if the late Alexander McQueen, the legend himself would have designed Princess Kate's royal wedding dress, it would be something like what he designed for his friend, Plum Sykes, for her July 3, 2005 wedding.

This unforgettable white taffeta wedding gown included hand-sewn flowers and an 8-foot train.

This modern and highly admired glamorous royal wedding dress consisted of 37 yards of silver lame with 20,000 marabou stork feathers and 6,000 diamond pieces sewn on. 

I have to say here that the cropped collar jacket Soraya wore on her dress has a striking resemblance to the long sleeved V-neck design of British fashionista and "party girl" Princess Margaret (Queen Elizabeth's sister) designed by the house of Norman Hartnell. 

On top of this mini jacket the Shah draped a beautiful Dior mink jacket around Soraya’s shoulders, which added to her difficulty in walking under such heavy load of the jacket and the full bodied dress with the long train.

Jackie won her spot in my favorite royal wedding dresses picks not because she was Royal or married royalty but because she rose her status to ‘Royalty’ in the fashion world as an icon and trend setter.

In her first world renowned wedding to John F. Kennedy, the 24-year-old Jacqueline Lee Bouvier was the picture of perfection on the day of her wedding. The portrait or boat necklined ball gown dress was the creation of designer Anne Lowe made from ivory silk taffeta. Interwoven tucking bands and mini wax flowers decorated the full round bouffant skirt. 

The veil, made of lace, was the one worn by her grandmother in her wedding. A tiara made of lace, decorated with orange blossoms in the traditional form, was used to tie the veil to her hair. The jewelry, which complimented the wedding dress, were very few but what she wore were of significance.

For her second wedding to Aristotle Onassis, five years after the death of her first husband, Jackie wore a long sleeved, long necked, lace-covered beige dress by Italian couturier Valentino.

This dress not only became the fashion house's most successful couture piece ever but also set yet again a fashion trend for nontraditional unique wedding dresses with a color other than the common white or ivory colors. 

Lucky x-hollywood star, Grace Kelly, received her wedding gown as a gift from the MGM film studios. Helen Rose designed Kelly's wedding dress and worked on it for six weeks with three dozen seamstresses. The bodice of this iconic wedding dress and most cited wedding dress was made of reassembled rose point lace over silk net which had been embroidered by two seamstresses. Thousands of seed pearls were added to accentuate the patterns in the lace. For the headpiece, Grace decided against the customary royal tiaras and instead opted for a Shakespearean Juliet cap decorated with orange blossoms and a very feminine veil. 

The circular veil was edged with lace motifs, but the majority was left sheer, so that the princess’s beautiful face would be visible through it.

According to historian Stephen Englund, who had access to MGM’s archives, the dress cost a wopping £4,500 (£36,000 today) in materials and manufacture, not including Helen Rose’s salary.  MGM stated that 23 metres of heavy taffeta, 23 metres of silk taffeta, 91 metres of silk net and 274 metres of lace were used, but the finished dress used only about a quarter of these amounts.

...and did you know that what Grace was carrying in her hand during her wedding to Prince Rainier was not a purse but a Bride’s Manual? 

Yes, a Manual of Catholic Devotion with Mass for the Marriage Ceremony and the Nuptial Blessing. This book was a gift from family friend and was gracefully decorated to match Grace’s lace and embroidered dress.

Royal wedding dresses are all one-of-a-kind creations ranged from classic to over-the-top, tasteful to fanciful. As befitting a royal wedding, rarely are these royal wedding dresses strapless or low-cut. In fact, most have high necklines, long sleeves and are so austere that they looked somewhat nun-like attire- if it weren't for the dazzling jeweled tiaras which crowned the ensembles.