Lincoln Park Church Hosts Wedding Viewing Party
CHICAGO (WBBM/CBS) -- Many people in Chicago have been having fun with the royal wedding.
In fact, a wedding watching party was held Friday morning at an Episcopal church in the Lincoln Park neighborhood.
As WBBM Newsradio 780's Bernie Tafoya reports, a viewing party was held 30 years ago for the wedding of Princes Charles and Princess Diana at the Church of our Saviour, 530 W. Fullerton Pkwy.
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But at that time, the televisions involved were much smaller. This time, it was big-screen TV and lots of British-type food, from scones and all the jams and toppings to go with them, to a container of Twinings Royal Wedding Commemorative Blend Tea.
"I'm wearing a Burberry hat and a Burberry shirt. I don't have a fancy hat, so I just had to be Burberry and be terribly British," said wedding watcher Ruth Seiler.
For Chris Gleason, it has been a six degrees of separation kind of day. Her eldest daughter attended classes at St. Andrew's University in Scotland with both William and Kate, but alas, she was not close enough to them to be invited to the wedding.
Marilyn Harvey wore a tiara along with her long, black dress and pearls.
"I had to get in the spirit of the day," she said. "It's just wonderful; I'm sitting here remembering Princess Diana's wedding 30 years ago, and it's just wonderful. It's just so magical and magnificent."
The champagne cork was popped after the vows were exchanged, and after everyone stood to sing the United Kingdom's national anthem, "God Save the Queen," which Janice O'Neill of Britain sang with fervor.
"I think it's wonderful – the pageantry is great. I mean, this is what England can do like no one else can do," she said.
The group applauded when the couple was in a horse-drawn carriage, and when they had their first kiss.
Several other venues also held royal wedding viewing parties Friday morning, including the Globe Pub, 1934 W. Irving Park Rd., which is hosting a daylong reception afterward, and the Four seasons Hotel, which is hosting an afternoon tea with British cuisine from Chef Mark Payne during a recorded broadcast.
The Park Hyatt Hotel offered a royal wedding package, which included a horse-drawn carriage ride, two special blue sapphire martinis called "Kiss-Me-Kate-inis," a "No More Waity, Katie" nail lacquer, and two tickets to the "Kings, Queens and Courtiers at the Art Institute of Chicago. Guests also got an English breakfast and bed to accompany their viewing of the ceremony at 4:30 a.m.
