This Is the Official Menu for the Royal Wedding Reception

After Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's nuptials, the guests gathered at Windsor Castle for the reception, and the royal wedding menu did not disappoint.

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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, now known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, tied the knot at Windsor Castle on May 19, 2018. Their wedding made history in so many ways, and the menu for the lunch reception certainly didn’t disappoint. From their canapés (appetizers) down to the wedding cake, the menu has our mouths watering. Here are 11 more ways the royal wedding made history.

Canapés

Kensington Palace released the menu on its website the day of the wedding, stating that Queen Elizabeth II will be giving a reception at Windsor Castle for 600 guests after the ceremony. The menu started with seven different canapés, which are small, decorative hors-d’oeuvres. These seven canapés included:

  • Scottish langoustines wrapped in smoked salmon with citrus crème fraiche
  • Grilled English asparagus wrapped in Cumbrian ham
  • Garden pea panna cotta with quail eggs and lemon verbena
  • Heritage tomato and basil tartare with balsamic pearls
  • Poached free-range chicken bound in a lightly spiced yogurt with roasted apricot
  • Croquette of confit Windsor lamb, roasted vegetables, and shallot jam
  • Warm asparagus spears with mozzarella and sun-blush tomatoes

Bowl foods

After quite the spread of delicious canapés, the guests indulged in a selection of bowl foods. These bowls included:

  • Fricassee of free-range chicken with morel mushrooms and young leeks
  • Pea and mint risotto with pea shoots, truffle oil, and parmesan crisps
  • Ten-hour slow-roasted Windsor pork belly with apple compote and crackling

Sweet canapés

Before diving into that gorgeous wedding cake, the guests were served a selection of sweet canapés. Those canapés included:

  • Champagne and pistachio macaroons
  • Orange crème brûlée tartlets
  • Miniature rhubarb crumble tartlets

Cake

To top off this delicious meal, the guests enjoyed a lemon elderflower cake with buttercream frosting. Unlike other royal wedding cakes, their cake did break royal wedding tradition. Typically, there is only the one type of cake every British royal has served at their wedding. Their actual cake wasn’t piled on tiers, but was elegantly displayed as separate cakes on golden plates.

According to Kensington Royal’s Instagram, the cake was made with 200 Amalfi lemons, 500 organic eggs from Suffolk, 20 kilograms of butter, 20 kilograms of flour, 20 kilograms of sugar, and 10 bottles of Sandringham Elderflower Cordial. It’s a sponge cake filled with Amalfi lemon curd and elderflower buttercream. The cake was designed by Claire Ptak, the baker at London’s famous bakery Violet Cakes. The cake was decorated with white Swiss meringue buttercream and 150 fresh flowers (mainly peonies and roses).

Drinks

Glasses of bubbly were certainly part of the celebration. Guests sipped on Pol Roger Brut Réserve Non Vintage Champagne and a selection of wines. Soft drinks were also served, including an apple elderflower mocktail. The mocktail was made with the same elderflower syrup as the cake, along with Sandringham Cox’s apple juice.

Did you watch the wedding? Here are 17 details you might have missed at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding.

Kiersten Hickman
Kiersten is the Social Media Editor at Reader's Digest and writes for Taste of Home and The Family Handyman. She firmly believes that no matter where you go, picnics are always a good idea. Especially if it’s paired with a good book. She’s an advocate for meal prepping and passionate about living a plastic-free life.