Harry and Meghan: Wedding Suggestions and Musings

[Countessmeout]

Not sure that having the wedding on the same day as the football cup final - the biggest domestic game of the season - will go down well with members of the public. Plus William usually attends and presents the trophy in his official position as president of the FA. The press are talking about a morning wedding and a late afternoon kick off but it does seem, as one paper has put it, as an unnecessary own goal. It has also been suggested that a Saturday wedding has been chosen to avoid the need for a national holiday.

You make it sound like William is a star player missing the game. If he misses the BAFTA awards and it doesn't matter, what does it matter if he misses this game? At least he has a valid excuse.

What does the public have to complain about? Are they worried the football game wont be aired on tv because of the wedding? The wedding reception is never filmed, only the ceremony. There is no reason the public wont be able to watch both of them.

Its not a state occasion. And because of his position, it has been decided to not declare a bank holiday. Which means that they need to choose a weekend or they face backlash of disrupting business doing it mid week. There is no other valid weekend in May and June is filled with major events for the royals.

 

[Denville]

Look lots of the public wont be watching anyway. If they prefer to watch the football, they will do so...

 

[Countessmeout]

Look lots of the public wont be watching anyway. If they prefer to watch the football, they will do so...

Point being they can do both. Not at the same time of day. They can watch both, can watch neither, can watch one or the other. Only ones affected in ability to watch are the guests of the wedding.

 

[ACO]

Not sure that having the wedding on the same day as the football cup final - the biggest domestic game of the season - will go down well with members of the public. Plus William usually attends and presents the trophy in his official position as president of the FA. The press are talking about a morning wedding and a late afternoon kick off but it does seem, as one paper has put it, as an unnecessary own goal. It has also been suggested that a Saturday wedding has been chosen to avoid the need for a national holiday.

Aren't they hours apart? What is the issue? They won't overlap. Just seem like it will be an unforgettable day. One party to the next.

 

[Cocoasneeze]

Not sure that having the wedding on the same day as the football cup final - the biggest domestic game of the season - will go down well with members of the public. Plus William usually attends and presents the trophy in his official position as president of the FA. The press are talking about a morning wedding and a late afternoon kick off but it does seem, as one paper has put it, as an unnecessary own goal. It has also been suggested that a Saturday wedding has been chosen to avoid the need for a national holiday.

Its pretty obvious, that there weren't other possible dates to consider. April and beginning of May were ruled out because of Kate and her pregnancy. The 6 month engagement visa rule makes June impossible. Meghan's friends coming from Canada have a public holiday on the weekend of 19th, so they can attend. The football fans just need to deal with the wedding happening in the earlier part of the day, and the football match the latter part of the day. I honestly don't see the issue here at all.

 

[jacqui24]

Its pretty obvious, that there weren't other possible dates to consider. April and beginning of May were ruled out because of Kate and her pregnancy. The 6 month engagement visa rule makes June impossible. Meghan's friends coming from Canada have a public holiday on the weekend of 19th, so they can attend. The football fans just need to deal with the wedding happening in the earlier part of the day, and the football match the latter part of the day. I honestly don't see the issue here at all.

It’s not even just that Canada has a long weekend, but the next Saturday and the Saturday are just impossible due to the horse show and Trooping rehearsal.

 

[Cocoasneeze]

It’s not even just that Canada has a long weekend, but the next Saturday and the Saturday are just impossible due to the horse show and Trooping rehearsal.

Even if it came down to May 19 being the only time Meghan's friends could come to the wedding vs a football match, be it a FA cup final, I fail to see how the pride would have to sacrifice her friends being part of her wedding day. A bit of perspective is needed, I think.

 

[PetticoatLane]

I'm a fan of this couple but it's a real error in having the wedding on the day of the FA Cup Final.

This wedding did not have to be in May, it could've been literally any Saturday apart from the Easter weekend, Trooping the Colour and the Windsor Horse Show.

The FA Cup Final is the one football match that even fans of teams not involved watch. It is the oldest cup competition in world football. It has a global audience in the hundreds of millions. A great many people, across the UK who aren't all that into football will watch some or all of it.

My main issue though is that this is now a security headache of enormous proportions. Football matches have already been targeted by terrorists as have the royals. The security services must be dreading it. The British taxpayer will be out millions as police are drafted in to work overtime to be able to cover all of this properly. Additionally, it'll cost the BBC a ton of money to cover both events.

This simply did not have to happen. Any other Saturday would have done, in just about any other month. Whoever is in charge of coordinating this is clearly incompetent.

 

[royal rob]

I'm a fan of this couple but it's a real error in having the wedding on the day of the FA Cup Final.

This wedding did not have to be in May, it could've been literally any Saturday apart from the Easter weekend, Trooping the Colour and the Windsor Horse Show.

The FA Cup Final is the one football match that even fans of teams not involved watch. It is the oldest cup competition in world football. It has a global audience in the hundreds of millions. A great many people, across the UK who aren't all that into football will watch some or all of it.

My main issue though is that this is now a security headache of enormous proportions. Football matches have already been targeted by terrorists as have the royals. The security services must be dreading it. The British taxpayer will be out millions as police are drafted in to work overtime to be able to cover all of this properly. Additionally, it'll cost the BBC a ton of money to cover both events.

This simply did not have to happen. Any other Saturday would have done, in just about any other month. Whoever is in charge of coordinating this is clearly incompetent.

It’s the security that worries me too. It’s a big job for either event but both on same day I pray nothing goes wrong

 

[Curryong]

Well, perhaps the couple could have married in April. I'm sure they would have liked to. After all, pregnant women do attend weddings. Princess Madelaine was there for her brother Carl Philip's nuptials two days before she gave birth.

Or perhaps Meghan and Harry could have put it off for yet another month, two months? Till the Queen and Prince Philip's holidays were over perhaps? After all it's only their wedding day. How could they be so selfish as to not consider a football match when it came to Meghan's friends from her TV show being able to attend instead of work on the 19th!

Presumably the members of the BRF were consulted, as were the security services. If the Royals, security and the police had any problem with the date then they would have said so. Heaven forbid that the BBC should be put out in any way either. The royal wedding and the FA cup are hours apart and the reality is, nobody is being inconvenienced.

 

[M. Payton]

How dare they get married on a day of the most important in the world to fans of *football*............????? Yes, Curryong, you are so correct, how dare they.......we must make Harry and Meghan change the date now for if not, no one is going to be at the wedding.....????

 

[Cocoasneeze]

I'm a fan of this couple but it's a real error in having the wedding on the day of the FA Cup Final.

This wedding did not have to be in May, it could've been literally any Saturday apart from the Easter weekend, Trooping the Colour and the Windsor Horse Show.

The FA Cup Final is the one football match that even fans of teams not involved watch. It is the oldest cup competition in world football. It has a global audience in the hundreds of millions. A great many people, across the UK who aren't all that into football will watch some or all of it.

My main issue though is that this is now a security headache of enormous proportions. Football matches have already been targeted by terrorists as have the royals. The security services must be dreading it. The British taxpayer will be out millions as police are drafted in to work overtime to be able to cover all of this properly. Additionally, it'll cost the BBC a ton of money to cover both events.

This simply did not have to happen. Any other Saturday would have done, in just about any other month. Whoever is in charge of coordinating this is clearly incompetent.

Perhaps the 19th was the only date Meghan's friends/family from Canada could attend. It's been explained here, that this weekend lands on a public holiday, and a long weekend. Seeing, as she's the pride who's getting married, I think football fans take the second seat in having an opinion on that. Also, these two events won't overlap. The televised wedding will be over way before the match even starts.

What Saturday would you suggest would've been more preferred option?

 

[Osipi]

Personally, when it comes to football (American or soccer), I prefer to sleep through the games. Now ice hockey is a different ball of wax.

Its great to be retired. I can sleep when I want to. I will probably go to sleep around 6pm the night before the wedding and surface all bright eyed and bushy tailed to tune into all the pre-wedding stuff that's happening on the TV, the internet and here on TRF at around 3am. Like a lot of people here on this thread, May 19th will be totally dedicated to royal wedding watching. Its "the" big event for any dedicated royal watcher no matter where they are.

When selecting the date for their wedding, I'm also sure that assuring that it was convenient for the general public was not a consideration. Its Harry and Meghan's day and those close to Harry and Meghan would be the people most considered. That date happened to work for them, for those that they wanted to be there to celebrate the wedding, it works for security and for the town of Windsor. It was decided on those factors. The FA football final just happens to be on that day also but no one is holding a knife to anyone's throat to not prefer to watch the game. I think its very inconsiderate of anyone to even suggest that William would be "shirking his duty" if he didn't hand out medals at the game. Everyone in the general public has the right to request time off to attend a family wedding from their jobs and a lot of people do just that. Why wouldn't the same consideration be given to William? I don't see the Fail dumping on William should he have to cancel an engagement to be at his wife's side when their third child is born. Contrary to the Fail's opinion, working royals are not puppets on a string to push wherever they want them to go.

 

[Osipi]

Traditions around rings have really changed. For example, the Irish claddagh ring now is popular as actual wedding rings. Until recently, the claddagh ring was traditionally given from a mother to her daughter. Men didn't start wearing them at all until the 20th century. I had a friend from Belfast that wore one and also still see "Archie Bunker" Carroll O'Connor wearing his in reruns.

Its a matter of personal choice whether to wear a wedding ring or not. Some men just do not like wearing rings. My husband won't be without wearing his. He had eye surgery in October and the last thing he did before the surgery is take it off and hand it to me and it was the first thing he requested after the surgery. Its a matter of personal taste. Should Harry not wear a wedding ring, is there anyone really in the world that isn't going to know he's married?

 

[Somebody]

They clearly want to get married, so why push the wedding to a later date?

To me it sounds as if they did their homework well. Taking into account that Meghan had work obligations until mid November, being realistic in that Meghan needs at least several months to be further introduced into royal life, probably considerin Lent as inappropriate (at least by the Queen) and taking into account the expected birth of Harry's niece or nephew, they landed on Mau as their wedding month, Saturday as the day of the week that would be most convenient for guests and the general public, and the 19th as the date that would work for the town of Windsor and the royal household.

 

[O-H Anglophile]

I'm a fan of this couple but it's a real error in having the wedding on the day of the FA Cup Final.

This wedding did not have to be in May, it could've been literally any Saturday apart from the Easter weekend, Trooping the Colour and the Windsor Horse Show.

The FA Cup Final is the one football match that even fans of teams not involved watch. It is the oldest cup competition in world football. It has a global audience in the hundreds of millions. A great many people, across the UK who aren't all that into football will watch some or all of it.

My main issue though is that this is now a security headache of enormous proportions. Football matches have already been targeted by terrorists as have the royals. The security services must be dreading it. The British taxpayer will be out millions as police are drafted in to work overtime to be able to cover all of this properly. Additionally, it'll cost the BBC a ton of money to cover both events.

This simply did not have to happen. Any other Saturday would have done, in just about any other month. Whoever is in charge of coordinating this is clearly incompetent.

May was about the earliest the wedding could be held given a number of factors we've covered here over and over. It seems this date was chosen after some consideration given the length of time it took after the engagement announcement to the wedding date announcement.
It is simply ridiculous to be this worked up over a football game and state any other Saturday on any date would have worked better when that is simply not true.
Surely most all the police in all of Britain don't congregate in and around Wembley for the game? And given the wedding is at Windsor, there are some security arrangements and protocols already in place to follow. They're not doing this in a vacuum. I'm sure security was one of many of the considerations.

 

[Denville]

I it isn't ideal from a security point of view, IMO. Of course the police and security forces will have been consulted but they will problably have done their best to accommodate the wedding, knowng that there is a limited time that the RF could fit in.. The RF and court need time to organise it, usualy a few months, and Meghan is a newcomer to the UK. And they want nice weather and sunshine if possible.. so it wasn't going to be until at least April which might clash with K's baby.
Then its Trooping the Colour time and a little later it will be "holdays" time...

 

[iisuzieii]

I ending up figuring it would be the 18th or 19th...it gives them time to go on a 10 day honeymoon like will and kate and recover from jet leg in time for trooping...

i dont think william is bothered by the day...the vp of the fa will prob hand out the trophies...and he'll host the winners at a reception at kensington..no biggie..dont no why people are mad about the day...still inconvenient for americans no matter what...have to wake up early if you wanna see any of it..

 

[ACO]

Should Harry not wear a wedding ring, is there anyone really in the world that isn't going to know he's married?

Of course not. I do think it is more of the feeling though. He probably won't wear it but I am sure it will be an adjustment for Meghan since she likely grow up surrounded by the notion that married people wear rings.

There will be hours in between the events. I just liken this to security having to deal with massive crowds everywhere like for New Year or when protests happen. They will be fine and people groaning over the match will be too.

 

[Madame Verseau]

May 26 would not have been good because that is Memorial Day weekend in the US. Memorial Day is not just barbeques and the start of the summer season, it's honoring America's war dead. It would not have gone over well in certain quarters in the US, and there was the danger of having the wedding politicized.

 

[O-H Anglophile]

May 26 would not have been good because that is Memorial Day weekend in the US. Memorial Day is not just barbeques and the start of the summer season, it's honoring America's war dead. It would not have gone over well in certain quarters in the US, and there was the danger of having the wedding politicized.

Yeah, not really an issue. They're getting married in England. And even if it were a consideration (which IMO it is not) Memorial Day observations do not go on the whole weekend-just Monday.

 

[PetticoatLane]

People accuse me of getting 'worked up' over a football game and so clearly chose to misread my post. Some fellow fans of this couple need to grow a thicker skin.

The football is not really my issue. Choosing this date makes the security task of police and the security services unnecessarily more difficult and complicated. It could've been held on just about any other Saturday in March or July or August! It will be much more expensive for the taxpayer also because police will have to be drafted in, many of whom probably on their days off, to ensure the right level of protection. As an example, unlike in most other countries, only a tiny % of English police officers are armed. There will need to be armed officers at both these major events which is likely to mean having to pay these officers overtime to get them in on their days off.

This was so easily avoided as to be startling in its sheer stupidity! The RF pay people to be smarter than this surely!

Also, as an aside the FA Cup Final is not just any football game, it is the centrepiece event in the most popular (by far) sport in the country, the one described as 'the national sport'. It holds a place in the psyche of millions of British people that is quite unlike any other sporting event. It is as British as Trooping the Colour. There is a reason Prince William pretty much never misses the final - it is a hugely symbolic national event, many times more important to the British people that the BAFTA awards for example.

 

[Dman]

Lord, I never seen so much fuss over a wedding date.

 

[Cocoasneeze]

March would've been 3-4 months from the announcement, and really tough on the timeline to plan a wedding.

July and August are out of the 6 month time limit of Meghan's fiancé visa.

And telling 'fans of this couple to get a thicker skin', when we have all been just having a discussion is pretty OTT, imho. Some posters just don't agree with your post, and are expressing that opinion.

 

[Pranter]

Lord, I never seen so much fuss over a wedding date.

No kidding, it's ridiculous.


LaRae

 

[Osipi]

OK. Question here. Just how many of the police force that will be required to provide security for this royal wedding would actually have been stationed to the FA cup final? Is the security force in the UK and the London/Windsor are so small that they couldn't cover both events?

It was mentioned that the troops that would be participating in the royal wedding would also be involved in the practice and the actual Trooping of the Color, are these the same members of the police force that would provide the security for a football game? Just doing a quick search, it came up that there are 33,367 police officers working for the Metropolitan Police in the London area alone. I think those numbers are adequate to provide security for just about anything that happens.

No matter what month, what day or even what year Harry and Meghan decided to marry, unless they planned it for 2020 to assure that everyone and anyone could clear that date and have nothing else planned for that date (even football games), there are going to be conflicts of interests that arise among the general public. In reality though, the general public doesn't matter. We are cordially invited to watch and enjoy this royal wedding but if there is something else that strikes our fancy whether it be a football game, a Memorial Day BBQ or Aunt Prudence's cat's surgery, its no skin off their backs. We accept their choice and do with it as we please. Personally, I'm going to be glued to each and every detail as it happens. Because I can.

 

[Pranter]

I think he'll wear one based on his behavior and what we know about him. I don't think it makes any difference though, it's up to the person.

My husband wore one for years (taking it off every day for work due to his job) then later we got a replacement ring (first one lost) and it had a reaction to his skin so he's stopped wearing one. I never even think about it unless something like this comes up in a discussion! He's mentioned getting another one but we've just never done it.


LaRae

 

[O-H Anglophile]

It could've been held on just about any other Saturday in March or July or August!

The wedding could not have been held in March, period. Lent runs from Feb 14 until March 31. A fullblown royal wedding could not be held during this time.

Maybe Meghan and Harry are eager to get started in their lives together and building a family and didn't want to wait until July to get married. Or maybe something else that we don't know about was involved.

And August is out because the Queen has gone to Balmoral.

So yes, May seems to be the best choice.

 

[Skippy]

I'm a fan of this couple but it's a real error in having the wedding on the day of the FA Cup Final.

This wedding did not have to be in May, it could've been literally any Saturday apart from the Easter weekend, Trooping the Colour and the Windsor Horse Show.

The FA Cup Final is the one football match that even fans of teams not involved watch. It is the oldest cup competition in world football. It has a global audience in the hundreds of millions. A great many people, across the UK who aren't all that into football will watch some or all of it.

My main issue though is that this is now a security headache of enormous proportions. Football matches have already been targeted by terrorists as have the royals. The security services must be dreading it. The British taxpayer will be out millions as police are drafted in to work overtime to be able to cover all of this properly. Additionally, it'll cost the BBC a ton of money to cover both events.

This simply did not have to happen. Any other Saturday would have done, in just about any other month. Whoever is in charge of coordinating this is clearly incompetent.

First bolded part: it's not a fact that this date is an error. You think that the date is an error. Fact vs. opinion > different.
Second bolded part: incompetent because you disagree with the chosen date? I understand the reasoning you give, but to say incompetent is a bold thing to say.

I'm sure all options have been weighed - including what you mention - and this date came out. It's not like they picked the calendar and pinpointed May 19th out of the blue.

And not everybody watches the FA Cup Final, a many lot of people do (like soccer here in the Netherlands so I do understand the importance of such an event for those who care about it) - but there are also plenty of folks who don't care and are happy with something else instead.

Alas, you can never win over everybody. Nor do they have to.

 

[Skippy]

OK. Question here. Just how many of the police force that will be required to provide security for this royal wedding would actually have been stationed to the FA cup final? Is the security force in the UK and the London/Windsor are so small that they couldn't cover both events?

It was mentioned that the troops that would be participating in the royal wedding would also be involved in the practice and the actual Trooping of the Color, are these the same members of the police force that would provide the security for a football game? Just doing a quick search, it came up that there are 33,367 police officers working for the Metropolitan Police in the London area alone. I think those numbers are adequate to provide security for just about anything that happens.

No matter what month, what day or even what year Harry and Meghan decided to marry, unless they planned it for 2020 to assure that everyone and anyone could clear that date and have nothing else planned for that date (even football games), there are going to be conflicts of interests that arise among the general public. In reality though, the general public doesn't matter. We are cordially invited to watch and enjoy this royal wedding but if there is something else that strikes our fancy whether it be a football game, a Memorial Day BBQ or Aunt Prudence's cat's surgery, its no skin off their backs. We accept their choice and do with it as we please. Personally, I'm going to be glued to each and every detail as it happens. Because I can.

Well, that does kind of depend on the time of the wedding

Seriously though, I am now used to the times of Swedish weddings and they were always (ridiculously) late in the afternoon.
If I remember correctly William and Catherine were married late morning/early afternoon? Someone has to refresh my memory here.