Tag Archives: Prince Chalres

The Royal Wedding Workout – guilt free viewing!

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The wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton is less than 24 hours away! My alarm is set for 3 am and the DVR is set to BBC America for commercial free, uninterrupted, live coverage of the events. I have even designed a mini-workout so I won’t be tempted to doze off since 4 am is a little early for me,  I don’t want to miss a thing and I don’t want to turn into a couch potato! My phone will be charged and by my side in case I need to compare notes with a kindred spirit.

I am sharing my workout with you so we can all get our day started shaking things up and not gluing our butts to the sofa for the wedding marathon!

Items you will need:
Water (bottled or otherwise) … LOTS of it!

Sneakers or shoes suitable  for movement!

Lets get started!  When the coverage begins, or when you begin watching, you can start the workout right away. Find a comfy seat with lots of room around you and you are ready!


Every time the host  says ‘Prince William’ you must take a drink of water. It is important to stay hydrated so you can stay focused and not be tempted to curl up and doze off.

Every time they say ‘Catherine Middleton’ (or any variation of her name prior to the nuptials) you must stand up, bend over and touch your toes. This reminds you that you must bow before the queen. They will be saying this a lot BEFORE the wedding but, not much after since she will have been bestowed a title by the time the affair takes place.

Every time they mention the ‘late Princess Diana’, stand up. With your feet planted shoulder width, stretch your arms up into the air five times.

When the Queen arrives, stand up and do ten jumping jacks. If she is wearing purple, do 20 more jumping jacks. I am actually excited to see what she will wear. She is known for her love of weddings and extreme love for her grandchildren, so I would bet this is probably the happiest day of her life, so far. She may be an aging monarch but she is still  a woman so, I would be willing to bet she is pulling out all the stops. Jewelry? Yes, please …..and lots of it!

When the bride’s parents arrive,  stand and bring one knee at a time up to your chest. Do this five times for each leg.

When Prince Charles arrives, do five lunges. First on the left side and then the right.  This is just to remind us all not to rush into anything no matter how good of an idea it seems at the time.

When Camilla arrives, run in place until she is seated.

When Prince Harry is shown,  stand one one foot, balancing for five seconds and then do the same with the other foot. If you can do this without picturing him in that unfortunate NAZI Halloween costume, you get an extra slice of wedding cake.

When Catherine’s car arrives, stand up once again. You are now in the presence of a future queen. Remain standing until she is at the altar.

When William and Catherine emerge from the church, stand up again.  Run in place, stretch, jog or whatever you wish. After the couple enters the carriage and begin their journey to Buckingham Palace, you can sit down.

The wedding day will more than likely begin around 2:30 am Central Standard Time so any time after that when you join, you can start right away. You can also add your own touches. I just wanted a way to get energized that early in the am without killing myself! 

For me – there is really no place I would rather be than watching this lovely couple exchange vows ….. even at that ungodly hour and from thousands of miles away!!

Since television around the world will be fixed on this wedding , so I encourage everyone to raise their glass to toast the happy couple!

Cheers!  Mazel Tov! Slainte! Prost! Salute! Skaal! L’Chaim! Kampai! Sante’!

-Penny Frulla for Bridal Expo Chicago

The Royal Fruitcake with Royal Icing

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Details have been revealed about the Royal Wedding Cake! Or should I say cakes? Cake #1 – (the main cake) is being designed by  Fiona Cairns and it is described as a traditional, multi-layered fruitcake decorated with royal icing in the Joseph Lambeth method using cream and white. Cake #2 was requested by Prince William and is described as a chocolate biscuit cake by McVities, who has been baking for the royal family since 1893.   Two cakes is really not  excessive  considering  William’s mother and Father had 27 cakes at their reception in 1981.

That is a lot of information. To most of us here on the West side of the pond, it doesn’t really make sense. Fruitcake? Chocolate biscuit cake? What is going on? Where’s the fondant? What about buttercream? Forget everything you know about American wedding cakes for now and open your mind to some new, international  possibilities.

Fruitcake – I have to admit I was taken aback when I heard the words Royal wedding and fruitcake in the same sentence.  I remember the fruitcakes my mom used to get as gifts at Christmas and make us  eat a piece to be polite to whomever gave it to us.  No thanks.  Now I did a little research and it seems that the bastardized version of fruitcakes is like that of anything else… inferior. The fruitcake that William and Kate will be sharing with their guests is something we would consider ‘bread’ or, more appropriately,  a muffin.  Imagine a dried cranberry, apricot, almond, raisin muffin! Possibly infused with some kind of alcohol, brandy perhaps? Now, thats more like it! Add frosting? Yes, please!

Royal Icing is a pure white icing that dries to a smooth, hard, matte finish. It colors beautifully and is really the best frosting option when you need intricate piping or ornate scrollwork done. When you see those beautifully decorated, intricate cookies on the covers of magazines, they are decorated with royal icing. The application is similar to spreading room temperature butter over the entire cake.

Joseph Lambeth method- Who is Jospeh Lambeth?  No surprise here, the Lambeth method is very popular in Great Britain and has been around since Joseph introduce his first book in 1934. What makes this method unique is the use of over-piping to create lacy, floral and ornate patterns and is is easy to recognize. Imagine a  cake with piping and scroll-work. Now imagine you added a layer of piping on top of the piping and scrollwork. On top of that piping  and scroll-work you added thinner piping and even more details. The end result is a very 3-dimensional cake that has so much depth you wonder how deep the icing really is and if there is any cake at all. Between the fruitcake and the icing and considering it is multi-layered (probably 6 or 7 layers) I would imagine this cake is going to weigh well over 500 pounds, in weight … not currency.

Chocolate biscuit cake is a no-bake cake that is described as one of his childhood favorites. He shared this cake with his mother and grandmother for afternoon teas throughout his childhood. This is more of a “grooms cake” which, until now has strictly been an American custom, that will be served alongside the main cake. Back to the no-bake part since this is right up  my alley. I won’t go into the recipe details even thought it is so simple I could make a few of these without blinking. Just imagine breaking up a bunch of shortbread cookies and basically gluing them together with melted chocolate in a buttered cake mold. After it is removed from the mold, drizzle it with white, semi or milk chocolate ( or all three) and serve with tea. My only question is : Will they be serving seconds? YUM!

The price tag for both cakes has been reported as $80,000 GBP and is being covered by Prince Charles, personally. If your currency converter is broken, that is roughly $132,000 US for the two cakes. With a guest list for the casual afternoon reception totalling  1,900 guests that is about $70 per slice.

My best guess is that even the cakes will set new trends. American Brides and fruitcake? Anything could happen!

-Penny Frulla for Bridal Expo Chicago