Royal Wedding Receptions: All The Details

Royal Wedding Receptions: All The Details

British newspapers are slowly but surely coming out with details on what happened at the two royal wedding receptions.

First up was Queen Elizabeth's afternoon luncheon for 650 people at Buckingham Palace where canapes and champagne were served. Prince Charles' speech seemingly stole the show. According to the Daily Mail, he emotionally described Kate Middleton as the daughter he never had and got some laughs after mentioning Prince William's hairline. Charles spoke while standing up on some sort of platform and supposedly remarked, "The thing about growing older is that your children get taller than you so they can see your bald spots. Now in my case, I can see his."

A group of 300 returned to the palace in the evening for a second celebration. Take a look at Duchess Catherine's evening look here. An attendee described the scene for the Telegraph:

"It looked absolutely stunning," said one guest. "There must have been at least 30 round tables, with 10 people on each, decorated with beautiful white flowers and candles.

"When we had arrived earlier, we were each given a little envelope with our table name on it, and the tables had a personal touch too - they had clearly been named after places that were special to the couple and their friends."

Table names included "Lewa" -- after Lewa Downs, the family home of Miss Craig, at the foot of Mount Kenya, where Prince William spent several months during his gap year and where he returned several times during his courtship of Miss Middleton.

Another table was "Tetbury" after the town in Gloucestershire which is close to Highgrove, Prince Charles's country home, and several Welsh-themed table names in a nod to their current home in Anglesey where the Prince works as a search and rescue helicopter pilot.

There was also, of course, a "St Andrews" table, after the Scottish university where the couple began their romance.

On the menu: a three-course dinner by chef Anton Mossiman, including terrine of dressed crab and tiger prawns, Aberdeen Angus beef fillet, Welsh lamb from the Highgrove estate, spring vegetables grilled and blanched and a trio of chocolate puddings.

And best man Prince Harry delivered his much-anticipated speech. Some deets from the Mail:

One partygoer leaving Buckingham Palace event in the early hours of Saturday told The Mail on Sunday: 'Harry said William was the perfect brother. It was exactly how you would expect a best man's speech to be. He cracked loads of jokes about William. He called him a "dude" several times. He kept coming back to it, saying "What a dude".'

Harry described his brother's relationship with Kate as 'inspirational' and to much applause added: 'William didn't have a romantic bone in his body before he met Kate, so I knew it was serious when William suddenly started cooing down the phone at Kate.'

Harry, famous for his impersonations, then did a high-pitched impression of Kate calling William 'Billy' and of his brother calling Kate 'baby', to much hilarity from the guests.

Michael Middleton also spoke, remarking, "I knew things were getting serious when I found a helicopter in my garden. I thought, gosh, he must like my daughter."

Eventually, guests were herded into the Throne Room, which was decked out with a dance floor, stage, bar, strobe lights and sofas. The entertainment was provided by English singer-songwriter Ellie Goulding and according to the Daily Mail, Prince William and Kate set their first dance as a married couple to a cover of Elton John's "Your Song." However, according to the Telegraph, it was Goulding's hit "Starry-Eyed." Their last dance of the night: "She Loves You" by The Beatles. Then there were fireworks. Literally.

Around 3:30 a.m., Prince Harry, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, Pippa Middleton and Chelsy Davy headed out to hit various after parties. Prince William and Kate spent the night at Buckingham Palace and stepped out again on Saturday morning, which you can check out here.

***For more royal wedding news, visit our Royal Wedding page.***

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