Royal Wedding Fever

The Big Day is tomorrow, and while it sounds like the Royal Wedding is actually getting more hype back in the US than it is here, there's certainly no lack of celebratory ballyhoo here in London.  Many streets, shops, pubs, and even homes are festooned with bunting and British flags.

Portabello Road

Regent Street

House in Kensington

And many stores have created special window displays capitalizing on the Royal Wedding:

Kipling

Engagement rings at a jewelry store

Bookstore

Cheesy souvenir shop

Accessorize store

It's also popped up in lots of advertising, like this local ad for Merton fitness centers.  (The small print explains that the "Kate" they are referring to is someone named Kate Merrydew, who joined the gym.)

Supermarket ad

Pixar!

Papa John's

I heard that Harrod's had gone all out with their window displays, so I hopped on the tube this afternoon to check it out.  It did not disappoint!

Harrod's

It was hard to get good photos because of the crowds and the glare on the windows, but here are the ones that turned out best.  They had a series of wedding cakes sponsored by various high-end designers, and smaller windows commemorating past royal weddings.  Here are some of the cakes, which were spectacular:

A few other windows had mannequins in wedding gowns, elaborately set tables, huge floral arrangements, and photos of the happy couple:

On the way home, I picked up the Evening Standard at the tube station, which of course had many, many articles related to tomorrow's events:

Front page

Royal Wedding Guide

We haven't decided if we're going to try to attend one of the many big viewing parties around London, watch at the local pub, or just hunker down in our apartment, but we'll definitely be watching, one way or another.  It's kind of like the Super Bowl.  Even if you don't care about the teams playing -- or even about football -- you still HAVE to watch it.