Wedding V&D: The Wedding Banquet

The Wedding Banquet

The wedding banquet will be held in the Hall of State at the Royal Palace of Stockholm, Sweden's finest ceremonial hall. 558 guests have been invited to the royal gala celebration.

The Hall of State has been renovated for the wedding. The paintings on the old ceiling above the banquet table have been restored: pale blue clouds in a summer sky. The silver throne and all the benches have been removed to make room for a long table, the main table, for 98 guests that will run the length of the hall, ending with a table of honour in a T-shape for the bride and groom and their closest relatives, numbering sixteen.

Other guests will be seated at 38 round tables on either side of the main table and in three of the adjoining Halls of the Orders of Chivalry. A fourth Hall of the Orders of Chivalry will function as a mobile kitchen to complement the kitchen that has been specially constructed for the evening in the Inner Courtyard of the Royal Palace.

Canopy
The bride and groom will be seated under the Hall of State's canopy of blue velvet, featuring the greater national coat of arms and the lesser national coat of arms on the canopy roof. The canopy was designed by Jean Eric Rehn. The coat of arms and other details were made in Paris in 1751, where they were ordered for the coronation of Adolf Fredrik in 1751.
A show of pink flowers in varying shades form the floral paintings in the eight blind windows and add warmth to the austere atmosphere of the huge hall. The floor is covered with a light blue carpet.

The tables are laid with the finest tablecloths, porcelain services, glasses and cutlery that Sweden can create. The Royal Table is magnificent, both light and airy as a Swedish Midsummer evening.

Roses and Lilies of the Valley
The tables are decorated with long mirror plateaus, on which silver candelabra are interchanged with silver bowls strewn with flowers in shades of pale pink and white. Each bowl is filled with different flowers - sweet peas, lilac, roses, peonies, lilies of the valley and green lady's mantle. The candlesticks on the long tables for single candles have been specially adapted to hold five candles, on which green trails are bound with gaudy bouquets of lilies of the valley, the flower of Gästrikland, in the centre.
Following the choral tribute at Lejonbacken and wedding photographs, The Crown Princess Couple will make their entrance through the Halls of the Orders of Chivalry down the steps to the Hall of State for the banquet, which begins at 8.00 p.m.

Source: www.royalcourt.se