Grace Kelly’s gown is considered one of the most iconic wedding dresses of all time. The Hollywood star wore a beautiful dress designed by her friend and Academy Award-winning costume designer Helen Rose.
The gown was made with 400 yards of fabric, 25 yards of silk and 100 yards of tulle. The Princess combined it with a long veil and a chic embellished Juliet cap.
Grace Kelly chose not to carry a bouquet of flowers on her wedding day, but instead, she carried a little Bible, which was decorated with lace and pearls.
Brides would sometimes carry a white Bible instead of the traditional wedding bouquet as a way “for a bride to honour her family,” a tradition that originated in Northern Ireland.
Experts at Southernweddings explained: “For Christian brides, the white Bible is also an outward representation of their faith. Bibles and small white prayer books can be weaved into your bouquet, or can be embellished with ribbons or cascading flowers.”
Grace Kelly was born in Philadelphia, the United States, but her grandfather, John Kelly, was from Newport, County Mayo, Ireland.
Grace Kelly’s family left Ireland and moved to the US in 1887, when her grandfather founded a construction company and made his family’s fortune.
The prayer booked was titled “Bride’s Manual: A Manual of Catholic Devotion With Mass for the Marriage Ceremony and the Nuptial Blessing” and was the “bride’s manual that was given to her by a family friend from the Philadelphia area,” said author and costume curator H. Kristina Haugland.
She added: “It was personal and something that meant a lot to her at the time”. Grace Kelly also had a “lucky penny in her [right] shoe, which is an old tradition”.
Brides explained that the dress has become “arguably one of the most iconic wedding dresses of all time” and was estimated to be worth around $60,000 (£48,216) back in 1956.
Fashion author Lorenzo Marquez commented: “The reason Princess Grace’s wedding gown still resonates today with so many brides has at least as much to do with who wore it, as the dress itself.
“The design is lovely and timeless, but the way the dress sits at an intersection of Hollywood and royalty makes it particularly evocative and very much an aspirational fantasy piece for many brides.”
Wedding stylist Micaela Erlanger added: “It is probably one of the most timeless and iconic wedding gowns in history.
“Not just because it was worn by Grace Kelly [as she became the] Princess of Monaco, but because it really was just the most understated, yet elegant and unexpected gown choice that has really stood the test of time.”
The Princess wore a second outfit at her wedding, which lasted three days. For the civil ceremony held at Prince’s Palace of Monaco the day before the religious ceremony, she donned a pastel pink taffeta dress and matching gloves.