Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding day—all the highlights from the iconic event as they celebrate 11 years of marriage

Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding took place more than a decade ago in April 2011. 

As the couple celebrates their 11-year anniversary, we take a look back at their stunning wedding and their most memorable moments.

When and where was Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding?

The wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton took place at Westminster Abbey on Friday, April 29, 2011. The wedding was celebrated with a nationwide bank holiday which was met with delight. 

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge joined a long line of royals who chose to be married at this historic church. In July 1986 Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson were married in Westminster Abbey, as was the Princess Royal in 1973 when she married Captain Mark Phillips.

In 1947 the Queen herself married the Duke of Edinburgh at this London church. Her Majesty the Queen and Prince Philip were married for more than 70 years before the Duke died in April 2021.

Who was on the guest list for the royal wedding?

Reportedly the Duke and his bride invited nearly 2,000 people to the wedding ceremony at the abbey. 

Around 600 people were then invited to the reception at Buckingham Palace that was hosted by the Queen, and 300 people were invited to the evening meal hosted by Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales.

Included in the A-list guestlist were a number of celebrities including, David and Victoria Beckham, Joss Stone, Sir Elton John and David Furnish, Rowan Atkinson, and Tara Palmer-Tomkinson.

Who designed Kate Middleton's wedding dress and how much did it cost?

Sarah Burton at Alexander McQueen designed Kate Middleton’s wedding dress. The designer also created Pippa Middleton's maid of honor dress for the wedding.

Buckingham Palace confirmed at the time of the wedding, "Miss Middleton worked closely with Sarah Burton in formulating the design of her dress."

The Palace continued, "Miss Middleton chose British brand Alexander McQueen for the beauty of its craftsmanship and its respect for traditional workmanship and the technical construction of clothing."

"Miss Middleton wished for her dress to combine tradition and modernity with the artistic vision that characterizes Alexander McQueen’s work."

It's estimated the dress cost around a quarter of a million pounds, £250k ($312k) to make.

What was Kate Middleton's wedding bouquet?

Kate Middleton's wedding bouquet was made by Shane Connolly who arranged the small bouquet with British green and white flowers. The bouquet included lily of the valley, sweet William, hyacinth, myrtle, and ivy. 

Reportedly, Shane used sprigs of myrtle from the same plant that provided stems for the Queen's wedding back in 1947.

Which wedding tiara did Kate Middleton wear?

For the wedding, Kate wore a tiara from the Royal Family's crown jewels collection. The stunning piece is known as the Cartier Halo tiara, and is reportedly made up of nearly one thousand diamonds, 739-brilliant cut diamonds, and 149 baguette diamonds.

It's owned by the Queen but was leant to the Duchess for her wedding day. The tiara was made in 1936 when George VI commissioned Cartier to make something for his wife, the Queen mother.

Who were Kate Middleton's bridesmaids?

At the wedding, Prince William and Kate were supported by four bridesmaids and two page boys, plus Prince Harry as the best man and Pippa Middleton as the maid of honor.

The bridesmaids included Lady Louise Windsor, one of Prince William's youngest cousins who was 7-years-old at the time, Margarita Armstrong-Jones who is the granddaughter of Princess Margaret and the daughter of the Viscount and Viscountess Linley and was 8-years-old at the time of the wedding.

Three-year-old Grace van Cutsem, the daughter of the couple's friend Hugh van Custem was also a bridesmaid and caught the attention of the press when she was photographed on the balcony of Buckingham Palace with her hands covering her ears as she looked frustrated by the noise around her. Camilla Parker Bowles' three-year-old granddaughter Eliza Lopes was another bridesmaid at the wedding. 

10-year-old William Lowther-Pinkerton, the son of William's private secretary was a page boy, as was eight-year-old Tom Pettifer, the son of Prince William and Prince Harry's former nanny.

What did Harry say to William when he saw Kate walking down the aisle?

As Kate began her walk down the aisle, Prince Harry and Prince William were by the alter and Harry appeared to turn to his brother and whisper something. 

A 2013 novel from Marcia Moody, Kate: A Biography, revealed that Prince Harry turned to Prince William and said, "Right, she is here now," he then added, "Well, she looks beautiful, I can tell you that." Adorable!

Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding cake

William and Kate's cake was made by chef Fiona Cairns who worked closely with Kate to design the eight-tiered, three-foot-tall, 220-pound fruitcake.

Fiona told Town & Country, "In many ways, I would say that Kate designed her wedding cake because she knew very clearly what she wanted and did not want,” 

She continued, “The ideas came from her, we had meetings, and the brief was from Kate."

Fiona explained that the Duchess was far from a difficult bride, "She put us absolutely at ease, she's as natural and as lovely as we all see her in the media."

The cake actually wasn't eaten during the wedding. Fiona revealed, "the actual cake itself, which went on display, was not served at the wedding." 

Instead, it was put on display in Buckingham Palace and then later stored so that it could be re-presented and eaten at the christenings of all three of the Duke and Duchess's children. 

What did Prince William and Kate Middleton do for their evening reception?

The wedding celebrations for Kate and William's wedding started in the morning and continued long into the evening. 

It was thought that the party at the palace lasted until the small hours as Pippa Middleton and other guests who were staying at the Goring hotel in London were seen returning to their hotel around 3am.

For the evening portion of their wedding day, William and Kate enjoyed an evening reception hosted by Prince Charles in one the ballrooms at Buckingham Palace.

Popstar Ellie Goulding was asked to sing at the event as the royal couple loved listening to her album during the early days of their courtship. 

Kate Middleton's wedding evening dress

Kate changed into a second strapless white gown with a bolero for the evening reception. The dress was also designed by Sarah Burton at Alexander McQueen.

The dress featured a shorter train than the dress Kate wore at the church ceremony, which made it easier for the Duchess to dance at the evening reception. The Duchess also let her hair down and removed her veil and tiara for the reception event.