Royal wedding 2018: Final predictions before ceremony, from Meghan Markle's dress designer to the honeymoon location

Will Meghan Markle wear a tiara as she becomes an official member of the royal family?

Ever since the engagement between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle was announced, Kensington Palace has been slowly releasing details about how the big day will unfold.

Over the past few months we’ve discovered tidbits such as who will bake the cake, who’ll be taking the official photographs and who’s been confirmed to walk the bride down the aisle.

While the royal family has been painting a colourful picture of tomorrow’s nuptials, there are still a variety of elements of the wedding that remain a mystery.

There’s been much debate regarding which designer has been chosen to create Markle’s wedding dress, with frontrunners including Burberry, Erdem and Ralph & Russo.

Furthermore, the question of whether the humanitarian and former actress will wear a tiara as she becomes an official member of the royal family has not yet been answered.

Here are the final predictions for the royal wedding before the ceremony takes place:

Wedding dress

Speculation has been rife about which designer claimed the coveted job of creating Markle’s wedding dress.

Some believe that she’ll wear a Ralph & Russo dress, having worn an opulent gown by the same designer during her official engagement photoshoot.

However, others are of the opinion that she’ll opt for Canadian-born designer Erdem Moralioğlu, considering his previous affiliations with the royal family and the amount of time Markle spent in Toronto when filming Suits.

Also in with a strong chance is British luxury fashion house Burberry.

Markle has been seen wearing clothes designed by Burberry on many an occasion, such as when she ventured to Edinburgh with her beau.

Moreover, the fact that Markle’s mother, Doria Ragland, was spotted recently carrying a Burberry garment bag when leaving her home in Los Angeles to make her way to the UK could also hint that the bride will wear a dress created by the designer, if she is to match her mother.

Tiara

The likelihood that Markle will wear a tiara as part of her wedding ensemble is fairly high, considering the fact that previous royal brides such as the Duchess of Cambridge and Princess Diana also did so.

However, it’s not 100 per cent certain, nor is which tiara she would wear if given the opportunity.

According to royal expert and commentator Richard Fitzwilliams, she may be provided with a tiara for her wedding directly from the monarch herself.

“She might be leant or gifted a tiara for her wedding by the Queen as Kate and Sophie Wessex and Zara Phillips were,” he told The Independent.

The tiaras in contention to be worn by Markle for her wedding include the Spencer Tiara, worn by Princess Diana when she married the Prince of Wales in 1981, the Cartier Halo Tiara, which the Duchess of Cambridge wore on her wedding day in 2011 and the Strathmore Rose Tiara, worn by the Queen Mother when she married the future King George VI.

Wedding speech

It’s common tradition at weddings that the best man, who in this case is the Duke of Cambridge, makes a speech following the ceremony to celebrate the newlywed couple.

Markle is also expected to make her own speech at the wedding, demonstrating her willingness to break away from convention.

Whether Markle will indeed make a speech to mark the special occasion is yet to be confirmed.

However, if her previous speeches are anything to go by, she will undoubtedly have little trouble speaking on such a public platform.

In 2015, Markle gave a highly acclaimed speech at the UN Women’s 2015 conference about gender equality.

First dance

For many couples, choosing the right song for the first dance at their wedding is an extremely important decision.

Recent research conducted by Sonos concluded that “Can’t Help Falling In Love” by Elvis Presley was the most popular song for first dances in the UK.

However, Sky Bet predicts that Prince Harry and Markle may decide to go with a Whitney Houston number.

Houston is currently the 2/5 favourite for the first dance, with Bob Marley being given 10/1 odds and Elton John a likelihood of 2/1.

Honeymoon

One of the most highly discussed aspects of the royal wedding has been where Prince Harry and Markle will choose to venture to for their honeymoon.

The newlyweds won’t be going on their honeymoon straight after the wedding, as they have an official engagement that they’ll be carrying out together the next week.

As for the destination of the honeymoon, there are several locations that have been debated.

An unnamed source informed Travel + Leisure magazine that the couple would be visiting the Hoanib Valley Camp in Namibia, having previously travelled there together.

Some believe that Prince Harry and Markle will imitate the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge by choosing to go to the Seychelles, while others think they’ll opt instead to visit Rwanda, considering the fact that Markle visited the country in 2016 as a World Vision global ambassador.

However, royal expert Omid Scobie thinks that the couple may choose Botswana as their honeymoon destination.

“Given they have already holidayed in Botswana twice, the trip sounds exactly like the kind of thing they would go for,” he told The Independent.