Britain’s Prince William, left, and his wife Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, pose for a photograph in the throne room at Buckingham Palace, following their wedding at Westminster Abbey, London, on Friday. (MATT DUNHAM/The Associated Press)
Considering it’s the week before finals, you would be hard pressed to convince students to pull an all-nighter unrelated to completing a 20-page term paper. However, many students sacrificed their much needed, end-of-the-year sleep to watch the Royal Wedding live during the wee hours of Friday morning.
Senior Cathleen Good was so excited about the event she showed up to The Green Elephant, a popular SMU Thursday night hangout, wearing a black satin feathered hat fit for a queen.
“I decided to get into the royal wedding theme, because it’s the first event that our generation has experienced like it,” Good said of her decision to dress-up in a royal wedding appropriate hat the night of the nuptials. “Kate Middleton played a big part in my hat choice, because I wanted to celebrate her classic fashion.”
Junior Carson Eisenhart stayed up late the night of the wedding to do homework, but took some time away from his books to tune in. Like Good, Eisenhart has been following Kate Middleton’s fashion choices.
“I knew I had a lot of work and really should have been focusing solely on homework but I’ve been literally dying and praying that Kate Middleton would take a chance on Sarah Burton for McQueen, because McQueen is the end all be all in my eyes,” Carson said of Kate Middleton’s long-sleeve lace, ivory satin gown with a V-shaped neckline and 8-foot-long train.
Eisenhart said he found out via Twitter that the bride would be wearing one of his favorite designers.
“When she stepped out of the open-air limo in that gown, that moment for me made being awake at 4 a.m. so worth it,” Eisenhart said of Middleton’s walk towards the alter. “I couldn’t help but cry. She was truly timeless and flawless. I was so proud of her.”
Although tweets were banned for those attending the wedding, Westminster Abbey was declared a “tweet-free zone,” many students, like Eisenhart, who watched the event live took to the social network to comment on the ceremony.
After watching an hour and half of the event pre-coverage Senior Courtney Cousins opted to set her TIVO and go to bed.
“This coverage of the #RoyalWedding is addicting. I must get some sleep right?” Cousins tweeted in the early morning hours.
After staying up to watch the entire wedding, SMU student Elizabeth Zamora congratulated the new couple over Twitter.
“I’m beyond excited for #PrinceWilliam and #KateMiddleton to wed! Congrats to both of you and I wish you both the best of luck!”
Other students hosted royal wedding watch parties on campus. The Chi Omega sorority went all out with British food and decorations for their early morning gathering.
“It was all our house mom’s idea, she has a daughter in London so she has a close connection,” Senior Ann Trimble said of Chi-O’s watch party that kicked off at 3 a.m. and lasted until 7:30 a.m. on Friday.
“We had English tea, crumpets and British flags hanging around the room,” Trimble said of the royal-themed event. “Our house mom even ordered cut-outs of William and Kate online, but they came in late on Saturday, so now they are just sitting in our living room starring at us.”
Whether you stayed-up to watch the event live, replayed it the next day on the DVR or caught a quick recap on a news program, the extensively covered event will forever be apart of our generation’s history.
“It was a lot of fun and will forever be a great memory,” Trimble said.
