Finally, Kate's royal wedding gown revealed!

By Rina Raphael

There's only been six months of tireless speculation and hundreds of exhausted journalists who (unsuccessfully) tried to unravel the mystery of who would design the princess bride's wedding dress. The day has finally come: Kate Middleton is wearing a long-sleeved, ivory lace and satin gown, designed by Sarah Burton, creative director of Alexander McQueen.

"Miss Middleton wished for her dress to combine tradition and modernity with the artistic vision that characterises Alexander McQueen’s work," Clarence House officials released in a statement. "Miss Middleton worked closely with Sarah Burton in formulating the design of her dress."
As for the honor of designing the historic frock, Burton said she "enjoyed every moment" of creating a dress that represents the best of British craftsmanship.
"Alexander McQueen's designs are all about bringing contrasts together to create startling and beautiful clothes," Burton said in an interview with the Press Association. "I hope that by marrying traditional fabrics and lacework, with a modern structure and design, we have created a beautiful dress for Catherine on her wedding day."
Highlights:

The design: "Individual flowers have been hand-cut from lace and hand-engineered onto ivory silk tulle to create a unique and organic design, which incorporates the rose, thistle, daffodil and shamrock."
The fabrics: "French Chantilly lace was combined with English Cluny lace to be hand-worked in the Irish Carrickmacross needlework tradition."
The veil: "The veil is made of layers of soft, ivory silk tulle with a trim of hand-embroidered flowers... and held in place by a Cartier ‘halo’ tiara, lent to Miss Middleton by The Queen."
The bling: "[The earrings] are diamond-set stylised oak leaves with a pear shaped diamond set drop and a pavé set diamond acorn suspended in the centre.  Inspiration for the design comes from the Middleton family's new coat of arms, which includes acorns and oak leaves."
The shoes: "The wedding shoes have made hand-made by the team at Alexander McQueen and are made of ivory duchesse satin with lace hand-embroidered by the Royal School of Needlework."
The bouquet: "The bouquet is a shield-shaped wired bouquet of myrtle, lily-of-the-valley, sweet William and hyacinth. The bouquet was designed by Shane Connolly and draws on the traditions of flowers of significance for the Royal Family, the Middleton family and on the Language of Flowers."
The hair: The royal bride opted for a natural "demi-chignon," styled by James Pryce from Kate's favorite salon, Richard Ward of Chelsea, London.