Film actress Grace Kelly, a Philadelphia native, wore this gown for her wedding to Prince Rainier III of Monaco. A gift from her home studio, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the dress was designed by Academy Award–winning costume designer Helen Rose, who had designed Kelly's wardrobe in these four films: Mogambo (1953, MGM), Green Fire (1954, MGM), High Society (1956, MGM) and The Swan (1956, MGM). Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's wardrobe department constructed the gown with meticulous care under strict security.
Then, on April 19, 1956, she married Prince Rainier in two ceremonies—first a civil ceremony and then a religious wedding. The religious ceremony was held at Monaco’s Saint Nicholas Cathedral and had 700 guests, including David Niven, Ava Gardner, Cary Grant, and other famous stars from Kelly’s beloved Hollywood days. The ceremony was watched by over 30 million American viewers on live television, making it one of the biggest television spectacles of all time.
The one thing that stands out in all of the photographs is Grace Kelly's wedding gown, which still looks just as magnificent today as it did 62 years ago. Grace’s wedding gown for the religious ceremony was a gift from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was designed by Helen Rose at her atelier in Hollywood. Helen Rose was the head costume designer at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and was a good personal friend of Kelly.
Many people thought that Edith Head would design the wedding gown since Head had successfully dressed Kelly in three Alfred Hitchcock films. Instead, Kelly asked Helen Rose, a costume designer for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios. Rose earned two Academy Awards (Both were for Black-and-White costume design. That was when Costume Academy Awards were split between black-and-white and color until 1968 when they did away with black-and-white, I'll Cry Tomorrow 1955, MGM and The Bad And The Beautiful 1952) during her career and was well-known for designing gorgeous wedding gowns in the 1950s.
The nearly 320 yards of lace used in the bodice and train was antique, and had been purchased from a museum for an estimated $2,500. In addition, Rose used 25 yards of silk peau de soie, 25 yards of silk taffeta, and approximately 100 yards of silk tulle. The gown she wore to the religious ceremony took 30 seamstresses at the studio six weeks to create. The gown had a high, stiffened lace collar with a close-fitting bodice and arms. Brussels lace was re-embroidered to render the seams invisible and then accented with seed pearls. The circular veil was designed specially so as not to obscure the bride’s famous face. Delicate rose point lace, a type of nineteenth-century Brussels needle lace that features elaborate floral motifs, forms the bodice, which appears seamless because the lace motifs were detached from their original ground and pieced together to follow the shaping of the dress. Touches of the lace, accented with lustrous seed pearls, unify the gown and accessories. The dress itself is constructed in four complex parts: the lace bodice with an attached under bodice, skirt support, and slip; a heavily pleated silk faille skirt that incorporates a smoothing petticoat, ruffled petticoat, and foundation petticoat; a triangular tulle and lace train insert; and a pleated silk faille cummerbund.
Grace Kelly's wedding gown shared several similarities with the bridal gown that Helen Rose designed for the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer melodrama “Invitation” (1952) starring Dorothy McGuire, Van Johnson and Ruth Roman.
The back of the gown was a marvel, the silk skirt dividing in such a way that the antique lace and tulle seemed to flow from the waist into a long, graceful train. The three petticoats beneath were so well made that the designer admitted they could have been worn separately as evening dresses. Each was decorated with tiny blue bows, “something blue”. Ninety yards of tulle tied with bows of taffeta and lace constituted her veil. Instead of a tiara, she wore a beaded floral Juliet cap with a 90-yard veil and carried a pearl-encrusted prayer book and a delicate bouquet of Lilies of the Valley. Kelly's shoe designer David Evins hid a copper penny inside her right shoe for good luck. Rainier wore a dress uniform he had designed himself, which included a black tunic with gold leaves on the cuffs, sky blue trousers with a golden stripe down the side, and a dark blue tricorn hat with a white ostrich plume. The tunic was graced with medals representing the Prince’s links with Italian and French military history, and across his chest hung the red and white sash representing the Order of St. Charles. The bridesmaids wore pale yellow organdy dresses which had been custom-made at Neiman Marcus, with yellow organdy hats and wrist length white gloves. For the civil ceremony, Helen Rose designed for Grace a two-piece dress of light pink taffeta overlaid with champagne lace. She accessorized the dress with matching Cuban heeled shoes, a pleated chiffon turban adorned with flowers, and white gloves. The Prince wore a morning coat, gray trousers, white waistcoat, and gray silk tie. The gentlemen witnesses wore dark suits, and the ladies wore tea-length dresses and hats. And, finally there was the cake and what a cake it was. The wedding cake was a culinary masterpiece. There were six tiers in all, making it taller than both bride and groom. The first level was decorated with three-dimensional replicas of Monaco’s pink palace carved from sugar. Each of the other layers held scenes from Monaco’s history crafted gently into the sides, and between the fourth and fifth layers, the Monegasque crest was duplicated in red and white spun sugar. The top held two cherubs standing upon clouds of filigreed icing, with a replica of the crown of Monaco suspended above their heads. tea length wedding guest dresses
As a Hollywood star, Kelly was renowned for her beauty and talent which had been recognized by Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in The Country Girl (1954, Columbia Pictures). The Grace Kelly look was this understated, tailored, classic in style that inspires the fashion phenomenon known as the Grace Kelly Look. As a royal bride, her magnificent yet simple ensemble incited intense interest and admiration. Shortly after the wedding, the new Princess Grace of Monaco presented the gown to the Philadelphia Museum, where it has become one of the collection’s most popular and beloved objects, and continues to serve as the ultimate exemplar of bridal elegance.
Everybody loved Grace Kelly, she had it all: the beauty, talent, and impeccable charm that has made her a timeless, unforgettable figure.