Scandinavian Standoff

With all eyes on Sweden ahead of the June 19 wedding of Crown Princess Victoria and her former personal trainer, Daniel Westling, the souvenir mugs, chocolates and even dish-washing cloths flooding Stockholm’s boutiques are only the tip of the iceberg.

Some 1,200 dignitaries are expected to attend the three-day extravaganza, and local media have been poring over every detail, from the cost of the ceremony to the pastry chef making the wedding cake.

Who will design the royal wedding gown remains a state secret for the time being. Like Denmark’s fashion-savvy Crown Princess Mary, who wore a gown by Danish designer Uffe Frank, the 32-year-old Victoria would be well-advised to stick to a local designer.

Billed as the biggest royal wedding since the marriage of Britain’s Charles and Diana in 1981, the event will be preceded by a two-week festival dubbed Love Stockholm 2010, featuring concerts, theater, shopping events and children’s activities leading up to the big day (lovestockholm2010.se/EN/Info.aspx).

With all the attention on the Swedish capital, it begs the questions: What can visitors expect to find and how does Stockholm measure up to regional rival Copenhagen in terms of style, food and entertainment?

FAMOUS SIGHTS

Stockholm: Best known as the home of the Nobel Prize, the Swedish capital doesn’t have a single iconic landmark like the Eiffel Tower or Big Ben, but visitors can get an advance glimpse of the wedding preparations by visiting the Royal Palace and witnessing its daily changing of the guard.

Copenhagen: The statue of The Little Mermaid in the Danish capital is one of the world’s most popular tourist attractions, but visitors have to make do with a video image of the sculpture after it was temporarily moved to the Danish pavilion at Shanghai’s Expo 2010.

FASHION & STYLE

Stockholm: Swedish fashion has taken the world by storm, as evidenced by the global success of fast-fashion retailer Hennes & Mauritz, and there is no shortage of cool designer pieces to be found in the Swedish capital. PUB, the city’s oldest department store, offers a discerningly edited selection of local brands, including Whyred, Acne and Tiger of Sweden. A visit to interior design temple Svenskt Tenn could be costly — vintage botanical-print textiles by Josef Frank are hugely tempting but cost upward of $115 a square meter. Web sites: pub.se/; whyred.se/; acne.se/; tigerofsweden.com/; svenskttenn.se/.

Copenhagen: Denmark’s leading style export is arguably model Helena Christensen, but Copenhagen boasts a thriving fashion scene with well-known brands including Day Birger et Mikkelsen, Bruuns Bazaar and By Malene Birger. Also check out the boutiques of local designers like Mads Nørgaard and Heartmade by Julie Fagerholt. The Danish Design Center, meanwhile, is a one-stop shop for fans of Scandinavian interior design, with exhibitions, a store and even a cafe serving the local specialty: open-faced sandwiches known as smorrebrod. Web sites: day.dk; bruunsbazaar.com; bymalenebirger.dk; madsnorgaard.com; heartmade.dk; ddc.dk/.