The Royal wedding party on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, as photographed by Becca Brewster.

By BECCA BREWSTER
Brentwood Home Page exclusive
LONDON -- Three a.m., alarms ringing, we roll out of bed helter-skelter and rush out of the house in Oxford to catch our bus to London for the royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. Everyone is feeling a delicate balance of feverish excitement and frumpy grumpiness to be awake at such an hour. Even though we’re excited, we’re also dreading the experience a little; others had been telling us all week how miserable we would be dealing with the pressing crowds, how we’d probably not be able to see anything, how terrible traffic would be while we were on the bus, and to top it all off it was supposed to rain.

From left, Samantha Carnline, Becca Brewster, Julia Carpenter, Sarah Cook enjoy the festivities

On the two-hour bus ride to London, people try to sleep to the rhythmic clapping and cheers of drunken Oxford students who decided to spontaneously catch the bus at 4 a.m,. after a night on the town.

We arrived in London without a hitch at 6 am. We stop by the mall by Victoria Station to grab a bite of breakfast at McDonalds (we’re such Americans), then rush to Buckingham Palace to see the massive crowd before we go to Hyde Park to watch the wedding on the big screens set up there.

Much to our surprise, there is no massive crowd outside of Buckingham Palace. Hardly able to believe our good luck, we ditch the Hyde Park idea and spread out our blankets on the green right in front. The next four hours we spend camped out on our picnic blankets protecting our territory.

At 10:30 a.m. local time, cars begin to pull out of Buckingham Palace. We are able to see Prince Harry and the Queen’s cars pull out, but the most important one did not come until around 10:45. Kate’s car pulled right in front of us as she sped in front of Buckingham Palace and down the avenue to Westminster Abbey. By a stroke of incredible luck, we were able to get a fantastic photo.

After Kate drove by, we settled in for the 1-1/2-hour ceremony. While we weren’t able to actually watch the ceremony, loudspeakers were set up so that everyone could listen to it, and we were able to follow along by reading the program that one of us had purchased. The crowd was so quiet you could hear a pin drop, except for when the “I do’s” were said and everyone erupted into cheers as champagne bottles were popped throughout the crowd.

Afterward, they played “God Save the Queen,” and the entire crowd chanted along and waved their Union Jack flags (and we tried to suppress our instinct to substitute the lyrics with “Our Country ‘tis of Thee”).
Soon after, the carriage with Will and Kate pulled down the circle and passed in front of us. Closely following it were the other carriages, including the one containing Queen Elizabeth II. The crowd waited patiently for another hour, until all of the shuttles containing the guests had been admitted through the front gates and all of the honor guard had dispersed. Then, the newly wedded couple came out onto the balcony to greet the crowd.

Everyone was cheering and waving flags, which escalated when the happy couple finally kissed. The rest of the royal family joined them, including the “gremlin” flower girl, and the Queen. The couple kissed once more, and the entire family lingered on the balcony as the Air Force performed a fly over. Afterward, the royal family trickled off the balcony, the newly wedded couple the last to leave.

After the kiss, the crowd dissipated. By some stroke of luck, we were able to walk straight out the gates and trot down the road to Victoria Station without any fuss. Two hours later, I was back in Oxford.

I still cannot believe the incredible experience we had. Not only did it not rain, but there was no traffic, no claustrophobic crowd (until the couple came out to kiss anyway), and we had a front-row view of Buckingham Palace -- not to mention the incredible memories made with fantastic friends.

This is truly an experience I will treasure for a lifetime.

Brentwood High School graduate Beccas Brewster attends the University of Georgia. She is studying abroad at Oxford University in England this spring.