The first half of a Royal Wedding took place this weekend in Monaco as Pierre Casiraghi, youngest son of Princess Caroline, wed his girlfriend of seven years, Beatrice Borromeo in a civil ceremony.
It was a fairly intimate occasion, as 70 of the couple’s closest friends and family gathered to watch as they said ‘oui’, promising themselves to each other. The brief ceremony took place on Saturday, 25th July, shortly before 11:30am, at Grimaldi Palace. Beatrice and Pierre had been engaged since 2008.
The 29-year-old bride wore a bespoke pink, lace gown by Valentino, with a simple floral headband, while Pierre, seventh in line to the Monegasque throne, looked dapper by her side in a simple grey suit. The pair seemed happy and relaxed as they made an appearance on the palace balcony.
Following the ceremony, the Mr and Mrs Casiraghi celebrated with over 500 guests at an informal garden party hosted by the groom’s uncle, Prince Albert, in the gardens of the Prince’s Palace of Monaco.
The event had a Carnival theme, entertaining guests with local folklore dancing and music, while they dined on a buffet of finger foods and drinks. The event was an extremely private affair and as such no further details have been released, with photographers only able to capture the newlyweds as they left their cars.
The day was rounded out by a lavish party at the Hôtel de Paris. Guests had changed into evening gowns and tuxedos to enjoy an extravagant dinner. The bride, Italian heiress Beatrice, had also changed, arriving in a stunning white backless Valentino gown, with her blond hair transformed into a chic bun.
Prince Albert and his wife, Charlene, had to skip the final event of the day in order to attend another glamorous event, The Red Cross Charity Ball. The event is held yearly and is usually one of highlights of Monaco social calendar but for obvious reasons, much of the extended family were absent this year.
The religious ceremony is expected to follow next weekend, on the 1st August and will take place in Italy, on Isola Bella, an island owned by the Beatrice’s family.
– On the evening of July 22, 2015, Prince Albert attended the 2nd Annual St. Tropez Gala, hosted by The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation and co-sponsored by Chopard and Giorgio Armani, in St. Tropez, France.
– On the afternoon of Friday, July 24, 2015, Members of the Danish Royal Family witnessedthe changing of the guard at Gråsten Slot in southern Denmark.
On Friday, July 24, 2015,Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit along with their children, Princess Ingrid Alexandra and Prince Sverre Magnus attended the Saint Olav Festival 2015in Stiklestad, Norway.
On Saturday, July 25 , 2015, Members of the Danish Royal Family posed for the media at Graasten Castle in Southern Denmark .
The groom’s uncle Prince Albert of Monaco has given away some exciting details about the big day. The first service may be a smaller affair, but according to reports, some 700 guests have been invited to the palace.
Prince Albert, who recently celebrated his ten-year reign, has played a part in the wedding preparations and is planning a “cavagnëtu”, or in other words, a garden party, as wished for by the bride and groom.
“The wedding service will be in the palace’s salons, then a garden party – because Pierre and Beatrice want it that way,” Albert, 57, told People. “It’s going to be a summer garden party. A finger-foods-for-lunch thing, with buffet tables and drinks. There’ll be places for guests to sit, but it’s going to be mostly informal.”
Joking that hot dogs may be on the menu, the Prince also opened up about the entertainment.
“There’ll be some local folklore dancers and music,” said Albert. “And, we’ll play some pétanque. It’s a light fete and I will give a toast. I’ll try and keep it short and not bore everybody, have them feel I ran on and on, which will be hard because I really like both Pierre and Beatrice.”
Sources added that Pierre wanted to hold a picnic-style celebration to reflect his upbringing in Provence. When his father Stefano Casiraghi died when Pierre was three, Caroline raised her children in the French countryside.
“Pierre had this [country-style] upbringing, which he loved,” said an insider. “He wanted to have a wedding reminiscent of his childhood and to share that with his bride.”
The garden party will be held in a section of the palace that is rarely photographed – a sheltered terrace – which was designed by Albert’s late mother Grace Kelly. The actress-turned-princess wanted to reflect American homes with outdoor space and also had a 1960s style swimming pool built for her children to play and swim in.
Given that the Princess Caroline’s son is Monegasque and the bride-to-be is Italian, the couple have made two wedding registries, one in Monte Carlo and another in Milan.
The couple gave, as an option, the account number of the AMADE foundation children’s charity.
The organisation was created by Princess Grace of Monaco in 1963 and Pierre’s mother Princess Caroline is currently president. The couple would like the proceeds from this “wedding gift” to help a project that supports disadvantaged children in Sicily.
After saying “I do” in a civil ceremony in Monaco, Pierre Casiraghi and his new wife Beatrice Borromeo will head to the bride’s family-owned Borromean Islands for a second religious service and another round of more intimate celebrations.
According to Italian publication Dagospia the couple will marry on the Isola Bella, located in the isolated Lake Maggiore in Northern Italy.
Maggiore, meaning the “greatest, or superior”, is Italy’s second largest lake and the longest. With breathtaking views, hills in the south, mountains in the north, it is one of the country’s best treasures.
The couple will mark their marriage on one of the lake’s many beautiful islands and islets, which was a tiny fishing village until 1632, when Charles of the wealthy Borromeo family began the construction of a palace dedicated to his wife, Isabella D’Adda, from whom the island takes its name.
Isola Bella, which is a popular tourist attraction, is home to a palace, an Italianate garden and a small fishing village. It is also the same location where Beatrice’s older half-sister Matilde Borromeo married Prince Antonius von Fürstenberg in June 2011 and where Beatrice’s sister Lavinia married John Elkann in 2004.
Other islands include the mother of the Borromean islands, Isola Madre, which is home to a botanical garden which displays Europe’s largest example of a Kashmir Cypress tree, as well as Peacocks and rare species of birds.
Isola Superiore dei Pescatori (Fishermen’s Island) boasts beautiful countryside surrounding the lake and Isola San Giovanni the down-to-earth yet equally enchanting sister of the islands.
The evening reception will reportedly see the guests visit the Rocca di Angera, also called Borromeo Castle, which stands on a lakeside hilltop in the outskirts of the town of Angera on the lake’s southern shores.
The palace, with its sumptuous rooms filled with paintings and ornate furniture and spectacular gardens set on ten terraces that include an open air theatre with statues depicting the four elements, will make the perfect backdrop for the elegant proceedings.
– On the wednesday of July 22, 2015,Crown Princess Mette-Marit attended 
