It's just over a month until Meghan and Harry tie the knot! We caught up with event catering specialists Bovingdons in London to find out their predictions for the royal wedding menu...
What food do you predict that Meghan and Harry will have for their wedding breakfast?
"Although we think that Harry and Meghan will still have a relatively traditional wedding breakfast in format, we are expecting to see a form of fusion menu coming through with the influences of both their cultural backgrounds," predicts Rebecca from the Bovingdons team. "It would be nice to see some elements of Meghan’s American heritage incorporated into the menu."
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We agree that we're expecting something a little different when it comes to Meghan and Harry's menu, especially as Meghan is a self-proclaimed 'foodie' with a love of all things healthy. However, it's unlikely to be too unusual, due to the formal nature of a royal wedding breakfast. Traditionally royal wedding menus have a strong focus on English ingredients and French haute cuisine, but William and Kate broke the mould in 2011 with their simple menu made up of all locally-sourced ingredients. Their menu included a starter of salmon, crab and langoustines over a herb salad, organic lamb with seasonal vegetables, and a trio of honey ice cream, sherry trifle and chocolate parfait for dessert.
How many courses do you think the royal couple will have?
Traditionally, royal wedding breakfasts have consisted of three courses - a seafood starter, a meat-based main course and a dessert, but Bovingdons predict that Harry and Meghan might break with tradition and add a course. "We think the royal couple will change things up and choose a four-course menu plus their wedding cake," says Rebecca. "We predict that they may have a cheese course before their dessert or perhaps a sorbet in between!"
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What time of day do you think they will decide to eat?
"Given the ceremony is said to be taking place at 12 pm we don’t expect the couple to sit down to eat the wedding breakfast until 4 pm," say Bovingdons. "There will be lots of official photos in between, the procession through Windsor at 1 pm, and of course the champagne and canapé reception hosted by the Queen will follow the formal dinner."
600 guests will be attending the luncheon hosted by the Queen, which typically tends to be a champagne and canapés affair. For William and Kate's wedding, it was reported that 10,000 canapés were served to 650 guests, and the menu included bubble and squeak with confit shoulder of lamb, quail eggs with celery salt, Yorkshire pudding with roast beef, Scottish smoked salmon on beetroot blini, and smoked haddock fishcake.
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Do you think Meghan and Harry will have silver service?
"We believe they will have silver service at the wedding breakfast, as befitting a royal event, but we also think that the evening reception will have quite a relaxed atmosphere," say Bovingdons. "Both Harry and Meghan will want to keep the day focused on family, friends and having fun!"
We definitely agree that the evening reception will be where the couple let loose when it comes to their wedding catering. Back in 2011, Prince William requested a chocolate biscuit wedding cake based on tiffin to be served up at the evening reception, so we're expecting something similar in May.
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