Happy Tuesday everyone! I promised opinions on the weekend’s Big Wedding, and of course I have them (if I can remember what they are, after spending the weekend wearing tiaras, drinking tea, eating cake, and critiquing hats with like-minded friends! Why don’t we wear more hats over here anyway???). But here is basic outline of what I thought:

1) Kate looked like absolute perfection for the event. Regal, elegant, and classic. (I doubt anyone will look at these images in 20 or 30 years and say “what was she thinking??” like with Diana), but also young and beautiful. Just like a royal bride should look.

2) I seriously, seriously covet Pippa Middleton’s bridesmaid dress (which also comes in red!). If you have an extra one of these just lying around the atelier, House of McQueen, send it my way pretty please?

3) And those children are the absolute definition of total adorable-ness. Makes me want to get married just to have a passel of attendants just like them. Plus a dress like Pippa’s. And a carriage to ride around in. And a chance to make all my friends wear hats.

4) Amid all this elegant appropriateness, someone needs to bring the Crazy. So thank you, princesses of York! We can always count on you.

And thank you, Victoria Beckham, for showing us the latest in maternity wear–8 inch heels for the 7 months pregnant lady. (She looks fab as always, though. Definitely the most glamorous one there next to the bridal party…)

And can I just say how disappointed I was in the American news coverage?? I don’t get BBC America on my TV or I would have watched them. I did get to watch ITV until they got cut off, and I loved their snarky comments on all the arrivals. The American newscasters didn’t even know or care who anyone was, and had no snark in them at all. Ah well. I still had fun.

Speaking of dating and romance and all those fun things–I thought I would turn to the Arbiter of All Things, Jane Austen herself, to see what her view of these events would be. If I lived in JA’s time, of course, I would be firmly on the shelf and gathering dust, no wedding in my future, but honestly I think I would have quite liked that. Better than having 20 kids and a passel of unruly servants to oversee. Now–well, who knows? Let’s ask Aunt Jane.

“This sensation of listlessness, weariness, stupidity, this disinclination to sit down and employ myself, this feeling of everything’s being dull and insipid about the house! I must be in love” –Emma

“I am always in love with every handsome man in the world” –Juvenilia

“There was a scarcity of men in general, and a still greater scarcity of any that were good for much” –Letter to Cassandra

“The more I know of the world, the more I am convinced that I shall never see a man whom can I really love. I require so much!” –Sense and Sensibility

“I think I could like any good-humored man with a comfortable income” –The Watsons”

“But there are certainly not so many men of large fortune in the world as there are pretty women to deserve them” –Mansfield Park

“Is not general incivility the very essence of love?” –Pride and Prejudice

Also, this weekend I will be headed to Kansas City to see the Princess Diana exhibit (which includes her wedding gown! Wish they could fly in Kate’s to display right next to it)–more info and pics to come next week. And my novella, “Snowbound & Seduced” in Regency Christmas Proposals is nominated for a Readers Crown award! Let me know if you’re planning to be at RomCon in Denver this August and look for me there.

What is your own favorite Austen quote on love and marriage? What did you like best (and least) about the royal wedding? And what kind of hat would you wear to my wedding???