You know you’re somewhere special when there’s a string quartet, a list of presidents on the grand staircase wall, and lots of plaster stuccoed pillars. On Saturday we found ourselves at the Royal Society of Arts in John Adam Street, London, by invitation of Luke and Emilie to celebrate their wedding.
It was very special day. There really couldn’t be a much better venue, and as the families had almost hired it out exclusively, the guests had the run of the place. The ceremony itself was held in the Grand Room – which was as grand as it sounded – and included beautifully romantic readings in both English and French, as Emilie’s mother’s side of the family descend from across the Channel.
From there, there were pre-dinner drinks in the vaults, and then the celebratory meal in the Benjamin Franklin room upstairs. The meal was delicious; just the right amount of each course to make you feel that you’d enough, but also to make you look forward to the next dish that followed.
And what a feast it was. There was thinly-sliced tuna carpaccio with a pickled walnut dressing to start, pork and cider sausages with parsley mash and a redcurrant jus to follow, and baked lemon curd cheesecake with kumquat marmalade to finish. Coffee and chocolates were the refreshments and palette cleansers of choice.
Washed down with lots of white wine and champagne, the wedding cakes broke with English traditions and looked delicious, too. One was made of cheese rounds, and along with a traditional French croquembouche (a dessert of pyramid crème-filled pastry puffs decorated with a caramel glaze), was enjoyed at the after-dinner reception.
Just before coffee, we had memory-tinged speeches by Emilie’s dad, and Luke’s best men, all of whom reflected on the individuals that made up the happy couple, and the new pairing that they made together, as well as telling us some of the humorous tales that had made up their four-year story so far.
The waiting staff’s timing was impeccable, and the whole event was very well run, the RSA’s staff just moving things along at exactly the right pace. Full of bubbly, food, and wine, we said our goodbyes before the disco (to Kathryn ‘s chagrin) and left just after 10pm, to wend our way back to the hotel at King’s Cross.
Stepping out into the chilly night air, we strolled though Covent Garden, stopping to take a look at the LED icicle lights. Reflecting on what a special day the happy couple and guests alike had enjoyed, we thought about the twists and turns that had brought both us and our now married friends to the places where we all now are, more than happy where that place is.