Swedish Royal Wedding: Prince Carl Philip To Wed Sofia Hellqvist On Saturday, July 13

Sweden is gearing up for Saturday's royal wedding. In the first such event in two years, Prince Carl Philip will marry longtime love and fiancée Sofia Hellqvist. The royals’ wedding is set to be a grand affair, with the Swedish media already whipping up excitement for the event, which will be televised live throughout the Scandinavian nation.

While the ceremony is scheduled for Saturday afternoon in the Royal Chapel at the Royal Palace in Stockholm, a pre-wedding dinner will take place Friday evening, where a select few guests have been invited to toast the nearlyweds. The legally binding church service will be followed by a horse and carriage procession around the capital, where the newlyweds will make their first public appearance as a married couple. Troops from the country’s army, air force and navy will be positioned along the route, according to Hello.

The wedding will be officiated by the king’s chaplain, Lars-Göran Lönnermark, and Pastor Michael Bjerkhagen, who were also present at the wedding of Princess Madeleine and Christopher O’Neill, who married two years ago in the same church. In the evening, Swedish DJ Avicii and duo Icona Pop are set to perform for the wedding guests following a lavish banquet. “I met Carl Philip in Ibiza, where we got to hang out and talk for some time. He is so damn cool and a really good guy, actually. Humble,” Avicii recently told Swedish radio station NRJ.

Sofia will be joined by her parents and two sisters for the nuptials. Royal watchers are keen to see what Hellqvist will wear for her wedding. There is speculation that she will wear a wedding gown by Ida Sjöstedt, the Swedish designer who made her a custom gown for the Nobel dinner. Carl Philip’s older sister, Crown Princess Victoria, chose Swedish designer Pär Engsheden for her wedding, while the prince’s younger sister, Princess Madeleine, opted for a bespoke Valentino gown. It remains to be seen whether she will chose a fashion house from her native country, following in the footsteps of Victoria.

The two little princesses who would be on the spotlight along with the royal bride are her future nieces Princess Estelle and Princess Leonore. While Estelle is Victoria’s daughter, Leonore is Madeleine's daughter. Whether Princess Madeleine will attend the wedding is uncertain, as she is due to give birth to her second baby very soon.