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Like most other wedding in history, all British royal weddings begin with: the engagement.
与历史上大多数其他婚礼一样，所有英国皇室的婚礼都以订婚开场。
But unlike regular weddings, these ones involve an elaborately choreographed event that will be watched by an audience of millions.
然而，与普通婚礼不同，英国皇室的婚礼会举行精心安排的活动并会得到数百万观众的一致见证。
One of the first decisions a couple makes is deciding where to actually do the thing.
新人们首先要做的决定就是确定婚礼举办的地点。
If they’re really into history and tradition, there’s really only one choice: “From the solemnity of the abbey”
如果他们钟爱历史和传统，那他们手里的选择其实只有一个：“庄严肃穆的修道院”
But not this time.
但这一次例外。
The big change is this wedding between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle,
哈里王子和梅根·马克尔之间的这场婚礼发生了巨大的变化，
You don't have all the ambassadors from all the different countries, you don't have heads of state coming to this wedding.
这次参加婚礼的嘉宾中没有来自各国的大使，也没有国家元首。
One reason is because the Chapel Windsor can only take 600 people and therefore there simply isn't space.
一个原因是因为温莎教堂只能容纳600人，因此没有足够的空间。
But it's also clearly the desire of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to have a more informal wedding.
但这显然恰好符合哈里王子和梅根·马克尔举办非正式婚礼的愿望。
At around two months before the big day, the Lord Chamberlain’s office sends out individually handcrafted invitations.
在大日子即将到来的两个月前，张伯伦勋爵的办公室发出了定制的手工邀请函。
There’s flowers and fittings and the entirety of the city to prepare.
鲜花、设备乃至整个城市都在为婚礼准备着。
While the bride and groom head to sleep in different homes, spectators who want a decent view of the public processions will be sleeping outside.
期间，新郎和新娘都要在各自的家中休息，而那些想近距离地观看婚礼队伍的观众就要在大街上露宿了。
And just a few hours later...
几个小时后……
Some have traveled hundreds or even thousands of miles and they camped out overnight to get a prime position along that procession route.
为了在游行路线中站个好位置上，一些人不辞辛劳地跋涉数百甚至上千英里还在帐篷里过夜。
The general rule of royal weddings is the the less important you are, the earlier you arrive, and the farther back you sit.
皇室婚礼的一般规则是越不重要的嘉宾到得越早，坐得也越远。
If you’re there representing a charity, if a member of the armed forces, or a celebrity,
如果你是慈善机构的代表，或者武装部队的嘉宾又或者是大咖，
you’re relegated to the nave of the church, which means you might not even get to see the actual ceremony.
那你会被划分到教堂中殿的位置，这就意味着到时候婚礼的仪式你可能看都看不到。
Close friends of the bride and groom and other guests will head in at least an hour and a half before.
新郎和新娘的密友之类的嘉宾需要在婚礼前至少一个半小时出席。
Most of the time it is: groom up at the front.
大部分时间是：新郎坐在最前面。
The royal procession comes in order of precedence, which means the more junior royals come first and last comes the Queen and her husband Prince Philip.
皇室会按照顺序出席，年龄较小的王室首先到场，女王和他的丈夫菲利普亲王最后才会现身。
Lots of fanfare as they come and then the bride turns up.
他们到来时会演奏热闹的音乐，之后新娘才会登场。
When the bride arrives, the details of the dress are finally revealed after months of top secrecy.
新娘到达时，高度保密了几个月的婚纱细节才会揭晓。
I am beside myself. This is such a fashion moment, I can't tell you.
我激动地都要晕过去了，这是时尚界的伟大时刻，但我不能向你透露更多。
And regardless of who the designer is, she’ll be wearing white and will carry a sprig of myrtle in her bouquet, which symbolizes love and marriage —
无论设计师是谁，婚纱都必须是白色，新娘的捧花中也必须有一枝象征爱情和婚姻的桃金娘 -
both of which are trends started by Queen Victoria.
而这两个传统都是维多利亚女王开创的。
The bride’s tiara is almost always the “something borrowed,” likely from one of the family’s collections of jewels.
新娘的头饰几乎总是“借来的东西”，而且很可能来自家族收藏的珠宝。
Since 1923, the ring placed on the bride’s finger is always made from Welsh gold — Elizabeth and Diana’s rings even came from the same nugget.
自1923年以来，新娘戴的戒指均由威尔士黄金制成 - 伊丽莎白和戴安娜的戒指甚至来自同一块金石。
The ceremony's performed by the Archbishop of Canterbury and only takes about an hour.
仪式由坎特伯雷大主教执行，只持续一小时左右。
Towards the end, the bride, groom, and their two witnesses go into a private room to sign the registrar.
仪式最后，新娘新郎和他们的两名证人进入私人房间登记。
At that point the wedding is sanctified in law, as it was sanctified by religious service a few minutes previously.
届时，婚礼得到法律的认可，而在几分钟前婚礼已经得到宗教的认可。
Officially married, the bride and groom exit, closely followed by the Procession of the Queen.
正式登记后，新娘和新郎退场，紧随其后的是女王一行人。
If there's any heart that hasn't been run over by her today, it can kindly surrender now.
如果今天还有没被她俘获的心，现在可以爽快地投降了。
There’s a good chance you’ll hear “Pomp and Circumstance” around this time —
这个时候大家很可能会听到《盛夏与环境》
although Americans associate it with high school graduations, it was originally written for the coronation of King Edward VII.
尽管美国人听到这首歌通常会联想到高中毕业，但它最初是为国王爱德华七世加冕创作的。
The bride and groom will likely make their way into the open 1902 State Landau for the official carriage procession around the city —
新郎和新娘可能会乘坐the open 1902 State Landau马车在市里进行正式游行。
that’s when the crowds who have been waiting for hours, or possibly days, will get their first look at the royal couple.
那些守候了几个小时甚至几天的人群这个时候才能一睹皇室夫妇的风采。
This usually concludes with the iconic appearance on the Buckingham Palace balcony — on which Diana and Charles were the first to kiss.
游行通常以新人在白金汉宫阳台上的标志性露面结束 - 戴安娜和查尔斯是第一对在阳台上亲吻的新人。
The kiss is a critical moment in the entire royal wedding ceremony.
这个吻是整个皇室婚礼的关键时刻。
You don't just throw it away in the middle of church.
新人不可以在教堂草草一吻了事。
It has to be seen live by hundreds of thousands of peoples.
这个吻要得到成千上万民众的亲眼见证。
And just in case anyone had missed it, Prince William suggests one more kiss.
以防有人错过了刚才那一吻，威廉王子建议再吻一次。
Because Meghan and Harry’s wedding is 20 miles outside of London,
由于梅根和哈里王子是在距离伦敦20英里（约32km）的郊外举行的婚礼，
their first public kiss as a married couple will have to happen someplace else.
所以两人婚后的第一次公开接吻就要安排在其他地方。
Afterwards, the wedding party takes official photos, and ceremony guests gather for the “wedding breakfast" complete with a traditional fruit cake.
之后，新人同亲友一起拍摄官方照片，仪式上的嘉宾聚集在一起享用“婚礼早餐”，最后分享由传统的水果蛋糕做成的婚礼蛋糕。
Though in the past the bride and groom would change clothes and depart for their honeymoon directly afterwards, current royals have gone for a more modern approach with a real party.
尽管过去新娘和新郎会换上衣服直接出发去蜜月旅行，但现在的皇室成员已经开始采用更加现代化的方式举办真正的派对。
And they won’t be the only ones celebrating.
庆祝这场婚礼的也并非只有他们。
It is generally seen as an excuse to have a good time
人们普遍认为，这是一个放松的好借口，
and somewhat buttoned up Brits who don't really have a good time in public that much, let their hair down and enjoy themselves in the middle of their street.
那些平时在公共场所很少放松的英国人此时此刻可以到大街上享受自己的乐趣了。
At that point it’s a pretty normal wedding reception —
这时，皇室的婚礼宴请也和普通的婚礼宴请相差无几了——
although normal ones don’t generally include (rumoured) performances by Elton John and the Spice Girls.
虽然普通的婚礼宴请一般不会请（传言）艾尔顿·约翰或者辣妹女孩到现场表演。
The royal couple will head off for the honeymoon — which is almost certainly within the British Commonwealth, while the rest of the country nurses a hangover.
之后皇室夫妇会启程度蜜月 - 而这个旅行绝对是在英联邦范围之内，其他人则收拾残局。
As they leave far behind them, an exhilarated, exhausted London, for them, as for any newlyweds, the adventure is just about to begin.
随着他们的出发，欢呼雀跃同时也精疲力尽的伦敦在他们身后远去。同其他新人一样，他们的冒险才刚刚开始。
