A look at royal wedding flowers and royal wedding cakes -

They’re no longer simply Prince William and Kate Middleton — they are now officially the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. I just know that if my mom had been alive today, I’d be at her house, going through YouTube clips with her of today’s wedding, or giving her a manicure as we watched wall-to-wall coverage.

Flickr photo by The British Monarchy

Overall, the royal wedding looked to be an elaborate affair that was carried off without a hitch, and in spite of the pressure and all the press, both William and Kate looked to be truly happy on their wedding day. As we all know from today’s coverage, there even appeared to be joking at the altar. I also love how Prince Harry looked to be genuinely happy for his big brother.

Ah, but the flowers. First, let’s address the bridal bouquet and other flowers worn by the bridal party. Princess Catherine’s bridal bouquet was miniscule compared to Princess Diana’s back in 1981, but you know what? That’s OK. Princess Catherine wore a slim, modern wedding gown, so flowers bigger than what she carried would have looked off balance. In addition, there were apparently no imported flowers for this wedding — everything was English grown. Facts about her bouquet:

The bouquet is a shield-shaped wired bouquet of myrtle, lily-of-the-valley, sweet William and hyacinth. The bouquet was designed by Shane Connolly and draws on the traditions of flowers of significance for the Royal Family, the Middleton family and on the Language of Flowers.

The lily-of-the-valley, of course, was a staple of Princess Diana’s bouquet in 1981.

Princess Catherine’s bridal party was made up of her sister, Pippa, who wore flowers in her hair, but carried no bouquet and four young bridesmaids who wore floral wreaths and carried small flower balls and bouquets. These bridal flowers were designed by Shane Connolly. The bridesmaids wore ivy and lily-of-the valley wreaths, while their flower balls and bouquets were made up of lily-of-the-valley, sweet William and hyacinth.

The video of Pippa, the bridesmaids and the pages walking into Westminster Abbey gives everyone a pretty good view of their flowers, especially if you view it in 720px:

As for ceremony, remember how I wondered how one decorates an architectural treasure like Westminster Abbey? Well, if you’re Princess Catherine, you do what you can to bring the outdoors in. Turns out her family loves the outdoors, so with the help of their floral designer Shane Connolly, Princess Catherine spent the equivalent of $83,505 in ordering four tons of foliage to create a “living avenue,” according to the Daily Mail. You could say the theme was English garden, with 15-year-old maples lining the aisles, plus azaleas, rhododendron, euphorbias, beech, wisteria and lilac, all in planters so that they could be replanted, a nod to more environmentally friendly wedding decorations.

To get a look at the “living avenue,” check out this video of Princess Catherine walking down the aisle: