The marriage of Princess Alix de Ligne and Count Guillaume de Dampierre took place on Saturday in the Beloeil municipality of Belgium. After the ceremony at St. Peter’s church in the village of Beloeil, an outdoor afternoon reception and evening banquet were held at Château de Belœil, the thirteenth century home of the bride’s paternal family. Princess Alix’s mother was born Princess Eleonora of Orléans-Braganza of the Brazilian royal family and her father is Prince Michel of Ligne (the House of Ligne is one of Belgium’s oldest noble families, dating back to the eleventh century) whose mother was born Princess Alix of Luxembourg (youngest sister of Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg). This post over at the Royalement Blog gives a great introduction to the couple.
Designed by Belgian designer Gérald Wathelet, Princess Alix’s ivory silk gown featured a square neckline, embroidered cumberbund at the waist, and softly draped skirt that flowed into a short train. What made the dress stand out among all other royal wedding dresses in recent memory, however, was its fringe trim on the sleeves and around the waist. I thought the pairing of this fringe with Belgian lace was completely unexpected and that it worked, thanks to the otherwise clean lines of the dress.
Princess Alix topped the dress with a Belgian lace veil circa 1810, anchored with the de Ligne family diamond tiara.
The bride’s mother, Princess Eleanora, topped her pink lace dress with a pleated straw headpiece from Fabienne Delvigne. The hat is entitled “Poppies” and is described by the designer as “made of pale pink banana fiber with matching clutch bag also in banana fiber.”
The groom’s mother, Roseline Alvare de Biaudos de Casteja, stood out in a fuchsia silk and lace pant suit topped with Fabienne Delvigne’s “Agatha” hat in fuchsia banana fiber. The hat’s main feature is its soaring, upswept brim. On its own, the bold hat would make quite a statement…. as part of this fuchsia brim-to-hem look, it’s a little lost in the shouting.
There were more than 800 guests at the wedding, including members of numerous royal houses. Jump over to this post to see hats worn by members of the Grand Ducal Family of Luxembourg and this post for hats worn by other royal guests.
Photos from Valentin Dupont, author of Royalement Blog and Rex/Shutterstock
Royal Hats 
Beautiful photos, thank you HatQueen! Fabienne Delvigne was at the wedding, see photo below:-
The first 2 minutes of the video show guests arriving and the hats in the church at 1.24 minutes are wonderful:-
http://www.rtl.be/rtltvi/video/585915.aspx
Great find- thanks for sharing! And there’s no doubt from the video that the bride’s mother, Princess Eleanore, was definitely in a Fabienne Delvigne hat!
Princess Eleanora looked very pretty, and I don’t even find her head-to-toe dusty rose ensemble annoying! I agree her headpiece looks like Fabienne Delvigne. I like Roseline’s hat and the color is gorgeous for her. I don’t like her trousers; a skirt would’ve been much better, with her legs breaking up all the fuschia. And yes, the groom’s father looked very smart in his grey top hat and great-looking morning suit.
I believe this is the groom’s sister, Comtesse Géraldine de Dampierre. It looks like she’s wearing the same Philip Treacy hat that Crown Princess Victoria wore last month for Prince Oscar’s christening. This photos is again, from Valentin Dupont, author of Royalement Blog
Sometimes, the Grooms mother is somewhat of a forgotten entity. At this wedding it is clear that the Groom’s mom had no intention of being overlooked. Brava for her! (I say that as the mother of marriageable boys) Also, frequently on the other side of the pond, the ‘groom family’ and the ‘bride family’ will adopt seperate color schemes so as to be distinguished from ‘the other side of the aisle.’ Seems the grooms sister might have been showing a little “new world” panache.
WOW! What a good looking wedding couple! Oh, to be young again!
The two mothers looked great, except for the wide pants.
HQ, you need to catch your breath . . . I know – Royal life DOES move on!
And a shout out to who I assume is the groom’s father – the man in the morning attire with the gray topper!
CC, great topper, I agree, but don’t you think the mens’ trousers have too much break in them? Those beautiful striped pants will get frayed in the back, like my hack-about khakis.
Hard to tell about the length of the trousers actually. If you look at the photo of the groom with his mother his pants are not too long at all. And I do like a nice full break so who am I to comment? LOL!
Everything is so nice. The trim on the gown is different and although a surprise it works…the square neckline is also a bit unique. I like it and the bride is pretty.
Love the pink outfit completely. The pantsuit may appear differently in person and not look so bold. Excellent hat. The pant legs seem too wide.
Wondering if the Belgium royals were there and if there are pictures.
Queen Mathilde was there, as were Prince Amadeo, Princess Elisabetta and Princess Maria Laura but none wore hats. Prince Laurent and Princess Claire also attended with their family but I have not been able to locate any photographs.
Valentin Dupont, author of Royalement Blog, has posted a gallery with 81 pictures of royal and noble guests, all who are identified. It’s worth a scroll through.
The bride’s mother’s hat is a treat! Beautiful with the dress, though the shawl in the last photo is a little overpowering. Lovely.