Madeleine & Chris Celebrate Marriage Banns

Ahead of their June 8 nuptials, Princess Madeleine and Christopher O’Neill have celebrated their marriage banns in a service at the Royal Chapel of the Royal Palace of Stockholm.

The service was led by Chaplain Lars-Göran Lönnermark, the Pastor of the Royal Court Parish Michael Bjerkhagen, and Chaplain Staffan Eklund. Among the guests were the immediate families of the bridal couple, the Swedish Prime Minister and Speaker of Parliament, and close friends including Louise Gottlieb and Emma Pernald.

Princess Madeleine wore a mint coloured off-the-shoulder dress designed by Pär Engsheden, who was the man behind her sister’s wedding gown in 2010.

King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia hosted a private reception after banns, with Madeleine and Chris accepting wedding gifts from the Swedish parliament – four candlesticks worth around 20,000SEK – and other guests. The bridal couple posed for photos with their families during the reception.

Marriage banns are a centuries-old tradition in which a church announces that two individuals intend to marry, in order to allow the congregation to provide valid reasons as to why the marriage should not take place (in previous centuries, the main reason was to avoid polygamy and sibling/cousin marriages). In Sweden, these banns were a legal requirement until 1973. The purpose of banns these days is to allow the couple to receive prayer before their wedding.

Stay up-to-date with all news about the upcoming Swedish wedding by visiting the dedicated wedding forum, found here.

Filed under Sweden
Tagged Christopher O'Neill, Princess Madeleine of Sweden, Swedish Royal Wedding 2013.

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