Say 'I do' locally to the royal wedding
With just one week to go until the highly anticipated wedding of Britain's Prince William to Catherine Middleton, royal watchers around the world are working themselves into a frenzy of excitement.
Though we Americans shook off British rule after the Revolutionary War, many U.S. citizens are obsessed by the ongoing soap opera that is the United Kingdom's royal family.
So if you are still waiting for your “fashionably late” royal wedding invitation to make its way to your mailbox, don't despair. There are plenty of ways to celebrate the April 29 nuptials — and feel British for a day — here in the suburbs.
Here is a sampling of ideas.
Rise for the occasion
Just like the nuptials of Prince Charles and the late Lady Diana Spencer 30 years ago, Americans will have to get up early if they want to tune in live to see the wedding of their eldest son to his longtime girlfriend (no longer to be known in Britain's tabloid press as “Wait-y Katie”). There is a six-hour time difference between London and Chicago, so local viewers need to be awake by 5 a.m. to catch the 11 a.m. wedding from Westminster Abbey.
The proliferation of broadcast media on multiple platforms means you'll be able to watch the wedding not only on TV, but also streaming live online through a number of websites. The royal wedding website at officialroyalwedding2011.org is a good place to start.
To watch like most Britons, tune into the cable channel BBC America. It is set to air commercial-free coverage directly from the U.K.'s flagship channel BBC ONE.
But if you want a more Americanized take on the day's events, pick any of the major U.S. broadcast or cable news networks (for example, CNN begins its pregame, er, pre-wedding coverage at 3 a.m.)
But perhaps the most fun way to watch the royal wedding locally will be the “It's All About the Hat: A Royal Wedding Breakfast and Viewing Party” in Naperville.
Five DuPage County-area businesswomen with Champagne!, MJ Interiors, True Cuisine, Imagination Print & Design and Aliciasphotography have banded together to sponsor the party, which features a light English breakfast, wedding cake and a toast to the happy couple.
“Our main goal is to bring together royal watchers and people who are brave enough to get up that early so that we can all have more fun together watching it and critiquing it,” said Champagne! owner Kay C. Kendall.
Due to the early start, guests are invited to show up in pajamas, casual clothing or work attire if they have to head into the office post-party. But since it is a royal wedding, Kendall and her cohorts are encouraging guests to wear fancy hats suitable for a queen (there's even going to be a chapeau competition to win prizes).
“It is a tradition in England,” Kendall said regarding elegant hats for special occasions. “It was our way of connecting the party to a more British feel.”
“It's All About the Hat: A Royal Wedding Breakfast and Viewing Party” runs from 5 to 8 a.m. Friday, April 29, at MJ Interiors (inside 5th Avenue Station), 200 E. 5th Ave., Naperville. Admission is $25 per person and limited to 200 guests (reservations must be made by Monday, April 25). Call Champagne! at (630) 747-7173 or e-mail kay@champagne-event.com.
Uncommonly quirky
Already exhausted by all the royal wedding publicity? Or is it that you can't get enough? You can make light of the hyperbolically labeled #8220;wedding of the century#8221; in a multitude of ways.
Die-hard hobbyists can create their own miniature royal family #8212; complete with yapping corgis #8212; thanks to author Fiona Goble's new instructional book #8220;Knit Your Own Royal Wedding.#8221; It retails for $17.99 (yarn and knitting needles not included).
Or if you know women who feel that they're more suitably common than the #8220;commoner#8221; bride-to-be, then make it a date to attend the #8220;But I Was Supposed to Marry Prince William!#8221; party from 7:30 to 9 p.m. Thursday, April 28, at Jack's Bar Grill, 2856 N. Southport Ave., Chicago. There are drink specials, hors d'oeuvres and free tiaras for the first 50 women in attendance. A special #8220;Princess Package#8221; including Cubs baseball tickets and seats to Porchlight Music Theatre's #8220;The King and I#8221; will also be raffled off. Call (773) 404-8400 for reservations or visit jackschicago.com.
If verbal mockery is more your style, then be sure to catch Oak Park-native and notorious celebrity cutdown comedian Kathy Griffin pick apart the day's events and media coverage in her TV Guide Network program #8220;Kathy Griffin's Insightful and Hilarious Take on the Royal Wedding.#8221; It's set to air at 7 p.m. Friday, April 29 (check your local listings and watch out for bleeped expletives).
Royal Rolls?
You might get a dirty look from people if you boast that you saw the late Princess Diana's car at the Volo Auto Museum. So reassure them that the car is actually the Rolls-Royce that chauffeured Diana around during her June 1996 visit to Chicago.
The Princess Diana Rolls-Royce is usually only viewable for an extra fee as part of the museum's Historic Bus Tour. But in honor of the royal wedding, the Volo Auto Museum is putting the Rolls-Royce on general display through the weekend.
The Princess Diana Rolls-Royce can be seen from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday through Sunday, April 29-May 1, at the Volo Auto Museum, 27582 Volo Village Road, Volo. Tickets cost $9.95; $7.95 for seniors and $5.95 for kids ages 5-12. Call (815) 385-3644 or visit volocars.com.
Other ways to feel British for a day
A spot of tea
Tea time in England has a long history, going back hundreds of years. The Calla Lily Victorian Tea Room in Aurora is one place where guests can sample house, organic and flowering teas, while #8220;tucking into#8221; pastries, scones and savories (tiny sandwiches or appetizers). A lunch menu is also offered.
The cozy room can accommodate about 35 people.
#8220;We have a very relaxed atmosphere in our tea room,#8221; said Calla Lily chef and manger Peggy Dye. #8220;Some people will come and sit over a pot of tea for four hours and chat.#8221;
Guests can choose to dress up or be more casual.
#8220;We run the whole gamut. We have people in jeans and tennis shoes and others dress up with fancy hats and gloves,#8221; Dye said.
The Calla Lily offers its guests a choice of a High Tea, an Afternoon Tea, a Little Princess Tea and a London Tea. Reservations are required 24 hours in advance for all tea settings.
The Calla Lily Victorian Tea room is at 1033 S. Lincoln Ave., Aurora. Hours are 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. Before 3 p.m., call (630) 340-5375. After 3 p.m., call (630) 892-8100. Visit callalilyvictoriantearoom.com.
English Walled Garden
Wander though an authentic English garden year-round at the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe.
The garden, designed by famed English landscape designer John Brookes, was dedicated in 1991 by Queen Elizabeth II's late sister, Princess Margaret.
Six English gardening styles are on display throughout the walled garden: the Vista Garden, the Formal Garden, the Courtyard Garden, the Cottage Garden, the Checkerboard Garden and the Pergola Garden.
More than 50,000 woody and herbaceous plants are placed among urns, fountains and columns. As in England, the wall surrounding the garden is set to protect the plants from the elements and animals.
The Chicago Botanic Garden is at 1000 Lake-Cook Road, Glencoe. The garden is open from 8 a.m. to sunset 365 days a year with extended summer and winter holiday hours. Admission to the garden is free. Parking is $20 per car. (847) 835-5440 or chicago-botanic.org.
Eat like a royal
You can slather on the same savory sauce that Queen Elizabeth II uses on her own steaks by visiting the British Accents shop in historic downtown Long Grove. The shop supplies teas, cookies, jams, biscuits and other foods from the British Isles.
A number of items on the store's shelves #8212; including the aforementioned HP #8220;brown sauce#8221; #8212; are used by Britain's royal family and bear on their labels the official Royal Warrant seal: #8220;By Appointment to Her Majesty The Queen.#8221;
#8220;If it's got her seal on it, the Queen uses it,#8221; said British Accents owner David Pelling.
McVities Digestives, cookies in graham cracker and milk chocolate varieties, are one of the most popular items in the store, along with boxes of PG Tips tea bags #8212; England's No. 1 brand of tea, Pelling said. The shop's Cadbury's chocolates are also #8220;a favorite of the royal family,#8221; Pelling added.
The shop is expecting commemorative royal wedding plates, towels and pill boxes to arrive any day.
Pelling said a number of British Accents customers are planning to watch the royal wedding festivities live.
#8220;A lot of people have told me that they'll get up early, fix some scones, put on a pot of tea and turn on the TV,#8221; Pelling said. #8220;It's going to be a day when everyone can take part in the celebration and feel a bit #8216;royal' themselves.#8221;
British Accents is at 116 Old McHenry Road in Long Grove. Hours are 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Closed Monday. Call (847) 913-0855 or visit british-accents.com.