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