Moments You Didn't See At Pippa Middleton's Wedding

Pippa Middleton's May 20, 2017 wedding to former race car driver and multi-millionaire James Matthews was the social event of the year. And though it was reportedly "planned with military-like precision and executed under heavy security and secrecy," according to ABC News, the details on the lavish affair have been steadily leaking out. From the "glass palace" where the reception took place to Prince Harry's 100-mile-trip to fetch his date for the evening, we've got the insider details of the nearly royal wedding right here. These are the moments you didn't see at Pippa Middleton's wedding. 

Despite a strict "no social media policy," Pippa and James did not require guests to hand over their cell phones for the big day. Amazingly, this only resulted in one guest violating the couple's wishes: Pippa's uncle, Gary Goldsmith. First, he tweeted several photos of himself getting ready with his daughter, Tullulah.

Okay, so that was technically before the wedding, but he also retweeted a photo from Sunday Times journalist Roya Nikkhah that showed the newlyweds leaving the ceremony in a vintage Jaguar. Whoops. Not surprisingly, Uncle Gary was only invited to the wedding ceremony, according to The Mirror. But you'll never guess what he did after he left and all the other guests headed to the reception. Yep, he tweeted some more.

A few weeks prior to the wedding, The Daily Mail reported that Pippa and James were going to ask their guests to change clothes for the reception. According to The Daily Telegraph, this was indeed the case, with "black tie" being the dress code for the evening. And while we're not sure how the tuxedos and dresses the guests wore for the ceremony fall outside of the "black tie" dress code, supposedly the guests complied with the request. Well, except for one who according to Hello Magazine, was wearing "tartan trousers" because he was "clearly in the mood for a fun evening." We honestly have no idea what "tartan trousers" are or if normal people are starting to hop on this trend of asking guests to bring a gym bag along with their gift, but apparently rich people have been doing this for years. High society is so weird.  

Since we're on the topic of what a classy affair this wedding was, it's been reported that Prince Harry and Prince William had a ping-pong match against Wimbledon champ Roger Federer at the reception. Because what goes better with champagne, £40,000 worth of caviar, and a reported 20,000 canapes —  which works out to 66.67 for each of their 300 guests — than a game usually found in a frat house or basement rec room? Also, were they permitted to loosen their black ties or roll up the sleeves of their custom-fitted shirts?  

Apparently Pippa's "no ring, no bring" rule was so strictly enforced, it even applied to Prince Harry, who was not allowed to bring his girlfriend, American actress Meghan Markle, to the wedding ceremony. But Harry wasn't going to be left standing along on the dance floor all night, so he reportedly split early from the afternoon champagne reception to drive back to London — which is approximately 50 miles from the Englefield, Berkshire estate where the festivities were being held — to pick up his date for the evening reception. According to Page Six, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were spotted arriving to Pippa Middleton's parents' estate just as the party was getting started. 

As "a token of thanks" to anyone who lives near or works on the Englefield estate, Pippa and James graciously allowed 300 townsfolk to stand in a designated area outside of St. Mark's Church where their wedding ceremony was conducted. According to The Telegraph, the locals were thrilled. A school teacher who was in attendance with her 10-year-old son said, "It's so exciting to have this happening in our village. My son is hoping to see Prince Harry, he's a big Harry fan."

But the press, who were relegated to the same area, were less than thrilled, with some even accusing the generous invite of being nothing but a clever way to "obscure the view of the keen press who have turned up in droves to photograph the event." Oh cool, so they got a human shield and got to look like gracious hosts in the process. Well played. 

Of the many images that have emerged from the elaborate affair, one of the most endearing is Kate Middleton lovingly shushing her tiny army of four pageboys and four bridesmaids as she leads them St. Mark's for the ceremony. Among them were her own children, Prince George, 3, and Princess Charlotte, 2. According to Harper's Bazaar, Kate corralled the kiddos both into and out of the church, managing to keep them all together and relatively well-behaved. But the Duchess of Cambridge is no fool and she did have some help tucked away somewhere, as a guest at the wedding told E! News that at some point a nanny comforted a crying Charlotte during the ceremony. Hey, no judgement here. Getting eight toddlers to do anything at the same time is a herculean task, even with a little assistance. 

With a price tag being reported as anywhere from $700,000 to $1.2 million, the wedding is said to have spared no expense. And that includes the waitstaff who served at the reception. According to The Telegraph, they were hired from "a handful of ­specialist companies that pride themselves on providing impeccably trained models and/or actors to serve food and drinks." It makes sense, because you wouldn't want guests who are waiting their turn to play ping-pong with Roger Federer in their couture clothes to be served their personal plate of 66.67 canapes by a normal-looking, or dare we say — unattractive — waiter. How ghastly!

While it was previously reported that a "glass house" was being constructed on the grounds of Pippa Middleton's parents' estate, that description got a significant upgrade to "glass palace" once people finally got a look at it. According to E! News, the structure was shipped from Belgium and took three days to construct. The palace was then adorned with spring blooms from "top to bottom" by a crew from Lavender Green who used scaffolding to reach the entire height of the support pillars.

The amazing reception hall even had a sexy element of danger to it, as guests were reportedly asked to step outside during a flyover show by a vintage WWII Royal Air Force plane. According to The Telegraph, the roof of the structure "was considered too hazardous should anything go wrong." Wow, they just don't build one-time-use crystal palaces like they used to, huh?

If crashing Pippa Middleton's wedding was on anyone's agenda, they probably did not succeed. For as lavish as the amenities were at the grand affair, security was just as tight. E! News reported that guests were driven in a special convoy to the reception, but only after producing photo ID and a unique password that was given to each guest three months before the big day. And even though guests were reportedly allowed to hang onto their phones, Big Brother was still watching thanks to the vigilant efforts of the "phone police," according to The Mirror. This was apparently to ensure that guests were not posting photos of the shindig to social media, and it apparently worked, since there have been no leaks of photos from inside the reception.

James Matthews' best man reportedly made the classic blunder of attempting some "blue" humor in his toast to the bride and groom. According to the full transcript of his speech that was somehow obtained by The Daily Mail, Justin Johannsen, a long time buddy of Matthews, delivered his 10-minute-long remarks to the crowd who at times responded with "little more than polite titters." And he even started out okay, with a nice nod to how beautiful the ceremony was, and an acknowledgment of the well-behaved children in the wedding party. 

But things took a turn when Johannsen attempted a joke that included a reference to Pippa's "world-famous bottom." Johannsen allegedly said, "Now to the love of James' life: beautiful, energetic, loyal, soft-mouthed, comes on command, great behind. But that is enough about James's spaniel, Rafa, I'm here to talk about James' love, Pippa." Yikes. It's no wonder that did not go over well. We imagine even the model/waiters paused for a moment and covered their beautiful symmetrical mouths with their hands in that awkward moment.