Pippa Middleton's wedding reception details revealed: Meghan Markle sat apart from Harry, and waiters were models
For a bride who arranged her day with military precision, it is perhaps unsurprising that Pippa Middleton wanted to ensure that even the waiting staff were as svelte and glamorous as her high society guests.
The staff serving food and drink at Saturday’s wedding were all understood to be models.
Miss Middleton’s careful choreography extended to the table plan, which decreed that couples should not sit together.
There were no exceptions, not even for royalty, meaning that Meghan Markle was unable to sit next to Prince Harry, despite flying more than 3,000 miles to attend.
The Telegraph can reveal that Miss Markle, 35, who missed the morning’s church ceremony and champagne reception on the private Englefield estate, arrived at the evening festivities on the arm of her beau, dressed in a stunning maroon backless gown.
Pippa Middleton and James Matthews prepare to marry: in pictures
But despite her hotly anticipated arrival at the event, held in a 140ft glass marquee in the Middleton family’s back garden, all eyes were on the bride, who had changed into her second dress of the day, an elegant, white floor-length gown with v-neck and sparkle details.
The new Mrs Matthews, 33, wore her hair down in a relaxed style, much as her sister, the Duchess of Cambridge, had done at her own wedding in 2011, prompting guests to remark that she looked “absolutely beautiful”.
But despite happily posing for pictures outside the church earlier, Miss Middleton and her new husband James Matthews, 41, were keen to ensure that no pictures of the evening reception emerged.
The no-expense-spared party was held amid such tight security that guests had to send in photographs and produce a password before gaining entry.
On arrival, attendees – who as requested had eschewed fascinators and suit tails for the more glamorous black tie – were asked to step outside for a flypast by a single Spitfire as the glass marquee was considered too hazardous should anything go wrong.
Outside, under a canopy that protected them from ominously grey skies, the guests duly watched for up to 15 minutes before the heavens opened. One suggested the rain had come as a welcome respite, as the display had perhaps lasted a few minutes too long.
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Back inside, the well-heeled guests, among them tennis star Roger Federer, television presenters including Ben Fogle and Tom Bradby, and Princess Eugenie, were guided to servers holding aloft table names, chosen to represent notable places the newlyweds had visited.
The staff were hired from one of a handful of specialist companies that pride themselves on providing impeccably trained models and/or actors to serve food and drinks.
An extra 150 joined the party for dinner, with a menu said to have included trout and Scottish lamb, before the bride’s father Michael Middleton gave another speech. TV star Spencer Matthews, the groom’s brother, is said to have had everyone in stitches.
Guests then crowded around to watch the newlyweds enjoy their first dance together accompanied by a saxophonist and a DJ, before dancing the night away while enjoying a single malt whisky bar, photo booths and an astonishing light show that saw footage of the bride and groom beamed onto the back of Bucklebury Manor.
The dazzling marquee was decorated with an “enchanted forest” theme, featuring a plethora of trees decked with purple fibre optic lights.
Attendees had earlier witnessed Miss Middleton marry Mr Matthews in a one-hour service at St Mark’s Church, Englefield, which brimmed with flowers and scented candles.
Jaguar E-type at Pippa wedding
Accompanied by the choir of Winchester Cathedral, they sang hymns including Be Thou My Vision; Tell Out, My Soul and I Vow To Thee, My Country. Spencer Matthews read a passage from the Paulo Coelho novel, The Alchemist, while Miss Middleton’s brother James read Love Is An Adventure by Pierre Tielhard du Chardin, and a family friend read the Song of Solomon.
The Duchess of Cambridge, who did a sterling job of marshalling all eight young page boys and bridesmaids down the aisle and keeping them in check, read a prayer.
Her fears that her own two children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, might play up, went unfounded, although Prince George was deemed “excitable” inside the church, while his two-year-old sister had to be comforted by the nanny after bursting into tears and wailing “where’s mummy?”
After enjoying a champagne reception at Englefield House, part of a private estate owned by Richard Benyon MP, guests reassembled at Bucklebury village hall for security checks before being ushered to the Middleton family home for the evening festivities.
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