There was reportedly a very personal touch on Kate and Prince William's wedding tables that you might want to consider copying if you’re planning your big day.
The Prince and Princess of Wales’s magnificent royal wedding might have been watched by millions of people across the world but their receptions went on very much behind closed palace doors. The couple are still the last to receive the Buckingham Palace privilege of having their reception at this iconic residence and after the late Queen Elizabeth hosted a lunch reception for them, King Charles hosted their evening meal and party. Prince William and Kate were pictured excitedly leaving Clarence House to head back to Buckingham Palace for their evening do.
This had plenty of sweet details but we couldn’t help being especially moved by the couple’s decision for their wedding tables. According to The Telegraph reporting the day after in 2011, an unnamed guest claimed each of the reception tables had been given a very personal name.
"It looked absolutely stunning," the guest alleged. "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 reportedly included St Andrews, where they met at university, as well as Lewa after Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in Kenya where Prince William spent time during his gap year. It was suggested that another table was called Tetbury after the town close to King Charles’s country residence, Highgrove House, and others were supposedly given Welsh names as a nod to Kate and William’s then-home in Anglesey.
If Kate and Prince William’s wedding tables were indeed named after places that are important to them this was such a lovely way to make an occasion like a wedding reception really reflect them as a couple.
It would’ve ensured that although they publicly shared their ceremony, this part of their day was private and something that could really be appreciated by their nearest and dearest. As reported by The Telegraph, everyone at the reception was "equally important" to Prince William and Kate and the tables were supposedly a mix of royals, other family members and friends. The tables seemingly weren’t the only way the couple honoured places that are important to them at their reception.
Their delicious-sounding dinner menu featured lamb with Highgrove spring vegetables and ended with a trio of desserts, including Berkshire honey ice cream. Prince William spent a lot of time at Highgrove when he was growing up, whilst Kate grew up in Berkshire, not too far from the Waleses’ current residence, Adelaide Cottage. Speaking on Giovanna Fletcher’s Happy Mum, Happy Baby podcast in 2020, the Princess of Wales described her "happy childhood".
"I'm very lucky I've come from a very strong family. My parents were hugely dedicated to us - myself and my siblings," she said, before later adding, "I think the things that resonate with me most are the simple things, and I think I see that even with my own children."
They used to enjoy family walks and this is something that Kate is committed to continuing now with Prince George, Charlotte and Louis.
The Princess declared, "It totally strips away all the complications, all the pressures, as a parent. I also think these experiences mean so much to children and the world that they're in, which is a real adventure for them at that age."
