Prince Harry and Meghan Markle tied the knot on May 19th at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, in quite possibly the most star-studded ceremony in history.
But while the royal wedding guests ranged from Victoria Beckham and Amal Clooney to Serena Williams and Oprah, and the ceremony will go down as one of the most touching of all time, it’s what happened after the wedding that really made news.
The Queen threw the couple a luxury luncheon reception, before the new Duke and Duchess of Sussex changed into their evening attire – a tux for Harry and a Stella McCartney gown for Meghan, and made their way to their exclusive royal wedding party.
But what was involved in the celebrations?
The Queen’s luncheon was attended by a select 600, featuring luxury canapés from Scottish langoustine wrapped in smoked salmon and croquette of confit Windsor lamb to poached free range chicken, with the main event of course being the £50,000 lemon and elderflower wedding cake by East London baker Claire Ptak.
The speeches
The speeches were reportedly a highlight, with Prince William’s best man speech said to have gone down the sentimental route rather than embarrassing. Prince Charles filled in however, reportedly entertaining the audience and leaving them ‘in stitches’ over tales of changing Prince Harry’s nappy, before gushing over how much of a beautiful couple the new Duke and Duchess make.
In the absence of Meghan Markle’s father, Thomas Markle, there was talk as to who would be giving the traditional ‘father of the bride’ speech but according to reports Meghan gave a speech herself.
The entertainment
As predicted, Elton John sang, with Harry introducing the close friend of his late mother by announcing to the crowd, ‘Can anyone here play the piano?’ Elton then reportedly went on to perform a mini concert, singing Tiny Dancer, Your Song and Circle of Life.
The food
Proving themselves to be millennials to the max, Harry and Meghan reportedly forwent a traditional sit-down wedding meal, instead serving their guests on-trend bowled food.
But the best part? For guests who wanted to kick off their heels, slippers were provided by waiters.
Then there was the after party…
Attended by just 200 guests at Frogmore House, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are said to have opted for a Tiki theme for their evening party, with frozen strawberry sparklers, apache shooters, an ice luge and a huge firework display.
And let’s not forget the wedding food, with the couple reported to have served South African wagyu beef and dirty burgers. Food trucks are even said to have turned up later serving up American sliders, ice creams and candy floss into the night. There was also a huge lot of pizza spotted being delivered to the event around 7pm.
And drinks-wise, there were even said to be personalised cocktails, with the ‘When Harry Met Meghan’ cocktail reportedly being a mix of ginger and rum.
While the official guest list for the royal wedding after party still isn’t known and social media was forbidden at the event to protect the privacy of the newlyweds and their guests, many A-listers uploaded snaps of themselves on the way to the event, giving us an idea of the exclusive after party guest list, from Serena Williams to Jessica Mulroney.
Williams even reportedly played a game of beer pong at the party. Naturally, she won. “Serena Williams played beer pong like it was tennis. Everyone had so much fun with it,” a lucky insider told The Sun.
There was also reportedly a dance-off between Prince Harry, Prince William, and Prince Charles (officiated by emcee James Corden). Apparently Meghan and her mum, Doria Ragland, even joined in.
If one thing’s for sure, it looks like it was the party of the year.
This article originally appeared on marie claire UK
