British Prince Wedding - Assignment Example

British Prince Wedding Customer’s Name Course Name University Name Professor’s Name 5th May, 2011 Outline: Introduction Discussion Planning of the Event Management of the Event Conclusion Reference List Introduction Over the years, man has organized events to celebrate or remember different aspects of occurrences in political, religious, environmental, economic, and social fronts. Religious events have been and continue to be organized world over to commemorate different aspects of religious occurrences such as asking for rain and giving thanks to the creator for a good harvest. Different events also continue to be held world over to celebrate different political times and holidays. In such cases, the events have played significant role in creating a sense of belonging among citizens of a given country. The events also provide platforms for building national identity and where states and governments gain legitimacy, draw attention to their accomplishments, demonstrate their modernity and economic dynamism. The United Kingdom just like any other state is popular for holding several events to celebrate different aspects of her achievements (Brown 2001, p. 253). One example of these events is the British Prince Wedding that is celebrated occasionally. The purpose of this report is to give an analytical account of the wedding event. Discussion The British prince wedding is seen as one of the ways of ensuring the continuity of the royal family which in many cases defined as a group of relatives of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Members of the royal family belong to the House of Windsor, either through birth or marriage. The British royal family marks different traditional events at different times of the years to mark different aspects of royalty. Some of these events include but not limited to: Trooping the Colour, Golden Jubilee, Ceremonials, State Funerals and the Prince Wedding. Several prince weddings have been performed within the royal family with the latest being the royal wedding of Prince William. This report therefore attempts to examine Prince William’s royal wedding that occurred on Friday, the 29th day of 2001. In so doing, the report focuses on two critical areas of this event namely: Designing and management of the event. In performing a critical analysis of this event, the report uses available event design and management theories as well as other approved event management knowledge (Walker 2009). The royal wedding involving Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine Middleton occurred on Friday, 29th 2011 at Westminster Abbey, in London. The wedding drew much attention a cross the world with a number of comparisons and contrasts being drawn between William’s wedding and that of his father, Prince Charles in 1981. It is estimated that the event was watched by about two billion people across the world and that about 24.5 million people had a chance to watch the event live in London. The wedding was attended by a total of 1,900 guests including royal family, foreign royals, diplomats and other invited guests. It was graced by different state activities such as: the use of state carriages, Food Guards and Household Cavalry. The day was also declared a public holiday in the United Kingdom. The approach adopted by this report is to that of examining the how the event was planned and how it was celebrated while subjecting it to analysis based on the set standards (Q++ 2011). In this wedding event, planning, design and programming were carried out in a more effective manner. Communications on different aspects of the event such as the event date, venue, number and type of guests as well as the programme for the day were made in a timelier manner. The successful completion of the event can therefore largely be attributed to this effective planning of the event. Planning of the Event The announcement for this wedding was made on 23rd November 2010 at Clarence House. According to the announcement, the event would take place on 29th April 2011, and the venue would be Westminster Abbey. The commencement time for the event was set at 11:00 local time. This important announcement came from St. James’ Palace on 5th January 2011 (BBC 2010). The means of transport that the bride was to use to travel, to Abbey-the venue for the event was also provided together with the itinerary. The prior arrangement is in keeping with the requirements of effective event planning. Such preparations provided the bride together with her assistants with ample time to familiarize with different aspects of the event. Concerning the cost of the wedding, the royal family and the Middleton’s would take care of event’s cost. The British treasury was only expected to take care of the cost of transport and ensure that security was adequately provided. On estimate, the cost of the wedding was put at ₤20 million with a bigger fraction of this amount being used for security (Prime Minister’s Office 2010). In economic terms, the event was considered boosts to the Britain’s economy in terms of tourism boom since close to 4 million people were expected to visit Britain in relation to the wedding. This aspect of planning for the event was important since it gave clarification on who was to sponsor what aspect of the event. From this arrangement, it was clear that the royal family together with the Middleton family would take care of the wedding while the Government would sponsor the needed security and facilitate the provision of transport services. This enhanced the successful completion of the event as was witnessed (Clarence House 201). Financial planning is considered one of the basic components of a successful event. It is paramount that event organizers take into account the expected sources of finances that are needed for the successful completion of the event being planned. Another planning aspect of this event was the identification of the guests who were expected to attend. Being a royal function, many dignitaries were expected. However, this function did not warrant the application protocol for inviting guests as been used before in similar occasions since Prince William is not the heir apparent. One notable observation made on the three set of guest lists sent on the 16th and 17th of February 2011 is that the lists were not published but only bore the name of the queen (Bates 2010). Below is a sample of the invitation card to the royal wedding that was sent to the invited guests. Source: http://www.theweddingreport.com Among the guests that were invited were most, families and friends of William and Catherine. There were also a number of representatives of the Queen, Commonwealth ministers, members of the diplomatic cops, heads of governments within the Commonwealth realms and religious leaders. In the breakdown that was given by St James’s Palace, there was no mention of any head of state that had been invited to the event. The guest list was designed such that three categories of guest were identified. The first category of the invited guests comprised a total of 1,900 people that would attend the wedding ceremony at Abbey. The second category was that of about 600 guests expected at the luncheon reception at Buckingham Palace. The third and the last category was a total of 300 guests that were expected at the evening dinner that was hosted by the Prince of Wales (Clarence House 2010). The setting out of the list of guest is important for a function of this caliber as it helps in the planning for the sitting arrangements, catering services and other necessary arrangements. The point of concern for this event is perhaps the timing for the invitations. The setting out of the list was done on 16th and 17th February 20011 and the event was expected to take place on 29th April the same year. Whether this gives the invited time to prepare for the events is subject to debate. However, reports covering the event indicate that the turn out was unprecedented. Other factors that were also taken into consideration in the planning of this event were the route and timing of different aspects of the event. For an event of this nature, the route to be used is of greater importance for its success. Timing on the other hand has been considered one of the fundamental aspects of any successful event. Good time keeping enables the successful completion of events within the set out time lines. For this event, the route that was to be used by the bride and the groom stretched between Buckingham Palace and the south side of Parliament Square. The timing was such that the roads leading to the proposed procession stretch were closed at 6.00 am and only opened after the ceremony was over. The time when the main congregation was to arrive at Abbey was also indicated in the programme. Other aspects of timing were; when the function was to start and end and when the newly weds were to travel back to the reception (The Daily Telegraph 2011). It can therefore be said that the planning aspect adopted for this event attempted to address entirely most of the areas of concern and contributed immensely to the success and admirations from thousands who attended the ceremony and millions who watched the event across the world. Management of the Event The management of this event was characterized by the manner in which the ceremony was conducted. The management of the event was crucial as it was the sole way of actualizing the various components of the planning aspect. The management aspect of this event was described by venue of the event, the celebrations that followed the wedding and the consequences as well as how such consequences were handled. For this event, the preferred venue was the Abbey. Commonly known as the Royal Peculiar, Abbey has been the church where most of the royal functions such as coronations and royal weddings have been conducted. Besides the normal decorative of the church, additional decorations were made to mark this event in a more special way. Some of these additional decorations included an avenue of 20-foot tall trees, a six-field maple and hornbeams that were beautifully arranged on either sides of the isle (Clarence House 2010). To help oversee the effective management of the bridal party, the groom was grated the opportunity to identify his brother-Prince Harry as the best man. This was different from previous royal weddings where supporters have been used to provide such services. For the sake of the groom, the maid of honor was her sister-Pippa. In total, four bridesmaids and two page boys participated in the ceremony (Clarence House 2011). Another management aspect of this event was the design of the bridal dress. It was no doubt the dress was excellently designed with a combination of designs from Ireland and the impressive needlework done by the Royal School of Needlework (Sky News 2011). To be in keeping with the demands of tradition that characterizes royal weddings, the customary bridal themes expected to dominate the bridal attire were upheld. And as tradition demands that a bridal dress ought to have ‘’something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue’’ this event was no exception. The dress worn by the bride of the day took into consideration all these aspects. With traditional lace appointments, diamond earrings, the Queen’s tiara and a blue ribbon sewn into the bodice, Middleton’s attire was indeed in keeping with the traditional requirements. The groom on the other hand wore an Irish Guard mounted officer’s uniform in Guard of Honor Order with a forage cap, instead of the bearskin hat (Clarence House 2010). The management of the choice of attire to be worn by the bride and the groom was done in a manner to enable the event remain within the dictates of a royal wedding. The wedding service was yet another aspect of management in this event. The order of service that was selected by the couples is that that s described as Series One form akin to that that appeared in the Prayer Book of the 1928. The service was presiding over by a total of three bishops including the Dean of Westminster, John Hall. The service was characterized by prayers, summonses, exchange of vows, passing through a self-styled guard of honor and a cheering crowd. After the service, the couple rode in the 1902 State Landau to the reception amid cheers from the crowd (Clarence House 2011). The State Landau used by the couples to travel to the reception after the service is shown below. The newly weds-Prince William and Lady Middleton ride on the 1902 State Landau after the service Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/file The service was also characterized by different sets of music performed by two chairs and a fan fare. After the service, the couples appeared at a balcony in Buckingham Palace where a wedding ring was represented to them. Earlier on the couples had been given titles which have a lot of social significance within the Commonwealth realm. After the service and the subsequent balcony appearance, the celebrations began. The celebrations were characterized by the performance of a flypast and a luncheon hosted by the Queen at Buckingham for the 600 selected guests. A cake bearing strong British themes was presented to the couples. Public celebrations also formed part of the event with souvenirs being sold to the public. The event was also celebrated outside the UK and broadcasted in televisions, radios and internet (Ryner 2011). Conclusion A critical analysis of the event therefore indicate that its planning and management was effective and factored in most of the established norms and standards as well as established theories that guide the planning and management of such events. The publicity of the event was also above board. It is on this platform that many believe it was a successful one. 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UK. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-424446/Kate-coal-miners-girl.html. Retrieved 28 November 2010  Read More