Edmontonians of all ages and backgrounds woke up bright and early Saturday morning to mark the royal wedding.
WATCH LIVE: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s royal wedding
The Fairmont Hotel Macdonald held a special viewing party, complete with a breakfast buffet, where guests started arriving at 4:30 a.m.
Sona and Jamina Kotak’s family is born and raised in London, England; the sisters, who both wore fascinators and brought their mother, wanted to celebrate the special occasion.
“We just wanted to go for the experience and get dressed up and wear the hats,” Sona said with a laugh.
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“We love the royal family and we wanted to get a glimpse of Meghan to see how beautiful she looks on her wedding day.”
Guests nibbled on scones with jam and cream along with traditional breakfast options such as eggs, bacon and sausage. They were split between three banquet rooms that played royal wedding coverage on projectors.
Anne Bordeleau, 98, who was accompanied by her niece Holly, said she has always been interested in the royal family.
“I like to listen to them, the way they speak, just what’s going on in their lives. They’re so different in a way,” she said.
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Bordeleau has seen many royal weddings in her day, including Prince Charles’ wedding to Princess Diana, but was still excited to start her day early with Prince Harry’s wedding.
“Coming here today is really a thrill,” she said.
“It’s the culmination of how the world comes together – her culture, where she comes from, he was a soldier, royalty. I don’t know, I think it’s wonderful.”
The royal watcher also has a special tie to the British monarchy – she once received a piece of wedding cake from the Duke of Windsor’s wedding to American Wallis Simpson.
“I was only about 14 years old, I can’t remember exactly. I wrote over to the royalty in England. I asked if they would send me a piece of the wedding cake,” she said with a smile.
Bordeleau said she would not let anyone touch the cake for years; she admits it got old and stale eventually and lost track of what happened to it over the years.
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As the royal fans watched the ceremony and as Meghan Markle walked down the aisle, some people got teary-eyed, including Sarah Jones.
Jones, who is originally from England, said she did not expect to get emotional.
“It’s just – she looked so beautiful,” she said afterward.
Jones said she feels she has a connection to the royals because she lived in a village close to the Sandringham Estate and would often see members of the royal family, including the Queen, Prince Phillip and Prince Charles.
That link fueled her interest in attending the early morning viewing party.
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“I thought where else would be better to watch the royal wedding, than with my daughter, who came with me, and a couple other royal fans, friends of mine. We just thought, let’s do it.”
Elsewhere in Edmonton, a separate viewing party was held at the Art of Cake by Milena Santoro.
This event was smaller and more intimate than one Santoro organized for Prince William’s wedding to Kate Middleton, which Santoro said was deliberate.
“Harry and Meghan are… more relaxed,” she said.
“Today is a smaller event, boutique style. We really wanted to create an ambiance where everybody was dressed to the nines but still had that comfortable feel.”
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The event featured high tea and attendees were expected to dress in formal attire – Santoro said men had to wear suits, ascots and vests while women wore day dresses and hats or fascinators.
“We really wanted the guests to really step into the royal-ness in dressing the way they’re dressed today in the U.K. and of course the protocol and the pomp and circumstance,” she said.
“It’s a little difference. It’s not normal. It’s actually outstanding these people would actually wake up at a God-awful hour to come in and do what we’re doing.”
Attendee Michelle Leavitt-Djonlic, who admits to coming from a family of royalists, said it was important for her to watch the event as it happened live.
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“It’s the shared energy of everyone around you. We all have a collective interest in coming out, enjoying the festivities. To me, it’s a wedding, it should be celebrated,” she said.
Leavitt-Djonlic is also a milliner and created a hat for herself and her daughter for the viewing party; she studied under Rose Cory, who was a milliner for the late Queen Mother.
“I had the opportunity to see a lot of interesting techniques and perhaps just to learn a couple little tidbits about the royal family and just insight,” she said.
That connection makes the occasion even more special for her.
“Everybody is having to wear a hat or fascinator and over there, it’s just so predominant in so many things, in their festivities. It’ just that complete tie-in for me.”
Check out this interactive family tree to learn more about the royal family:
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