Forget about Kate Middleton and Prince William. The wedding of the century took place in Squamish, Canada, when Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) tied the knot with vampire beau Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson).


As fans of Stephenie Meyer’s novels know, a lot happens in Twilight: Breaking Dawn – Part One, the fourth installment in the blockbuster series. There’s Bella and Edward’s Brazilian honeymoon, Bella’s pregnancy with a half-vampire baby, werewolf Jacob’s (Taylor Lautner) intense bond with the unborn child and a birthing sequence that’s surprisingly visceral.


But before all that melodrama begins, there’s a lavish wedding planned by Alice Cullen (Ashley Greene), that boasts plenty of silk and satin, flowers and flowing gowns. The wedding of Bella and Edward is a dramatic high-point. It’s a moment the film series has been working up to since first taking a bite out of the box-office in 2008.


Not surprisingly, Stewart admits she felt enormous pressure to get the wedding sequence right. She was, she says, “oddly emotional” when she got to the set on the big day. 


“I had a million different things going through my head [as I walked down the aisle] and kind of what I kept telling myself was­… Just do it. Actually have this experience because you’re just about to ruin it if you keep [thinking].’


Oddly enough, the actor playing the priest in the wedding scene was, in fact, a genuine priest. Some bloggers have had a field day with that info, wondering if Pattinson and Stewart (who date in real-life) might actually be married. 


“That’s a funny story to come out of all of this,” says Stewart. “But the priest couldn’t even remember the vows. I think he was kind of nervous. He did great, but he kept saying our names as well [as the characters’ names.]


While Stewart and Pattinson are adamant about not discussing their personal relationship, the actress claims the Twilight movies benefit from the affection she, Pattinson and Lautner feel for each other. 


“I can’t imagine what this movie would’ve been like if I didn’t have really, really, really solid and always growing relationships with [Lautner and Pattinson],” says Stewart, 21. 


Breaking Dawn began shooting on Nov. 7, 2010 under the director of Dreamgirls helmer Bill Condon. For the next six months the production bounced between three locations – Louisiana, Vancouver and Brazil. 


The budget necessitated shooting both sequels at the same time. The downside was that, on any given day, Stewart was asked to play Bella as both an awkward teenager and a very determined Mrs. Cullen. 


“Ultimately, in this movie, Bella does get everything she wants. But she’s sort of feeling bad about things. Basically what I’m saying is that being able to play a vampire, a human, a woman who’s pregnant, a woman who’s about to get married, sometimes within the same day or the same week actually helped remind me [of who she is.]”


After Twilight wrapped, Stewart immediately began work on the fairy tale-driven Snow White and the Huntsman. Although she’s shot a number of indie movies in between the Twilight films, Snow White is the first big-budget picture resting squarely on her shoulders. 


Stewart sees some similarities between Snow White and Bella Swan. “You could draw a million comparisons but the one thing that sticks out in my mind is that these characters are really both, in different ways, matriarchs,” she says. 


Stewart had a successful career before the Twilight movies, with turns in Panic Room, The Messengers and Into the Wild, but once Snow White wraps, she’s planning on taking some time off.


“Right now is the first time in a long time that I haven’t known what I was going to be doing [next], and I don’t want to know,” she explains. “I want time off to see what I’m interested in.” 


It’s been six months since Stewart filmed her last scenes as Bella Swan. Does the actress miss the character who made her a household name?


“I genuinely had to justify every decision that she made the whole way through this series. Sometimes your characters in films do things that you wouldn’t do. You’re not playing yourself all the time but for Bella, somehow, I could not disagree with her. Ever.” 


AMY LONGSDORF is a syndicated film writer based in Pennsylvania. Contact her at movieamy@aol.com.