Last Saturday we had our magical wedding celebration in Finland. The day could not have been more special and I know that it will be my most precious memory and I will carry it in my heart for the rest of my life. We had a touching and emotional consecration ceremony and blessing in the awe-inspiring Art Nouveau, granite Kallio Church followed by an emotional but fun celebration by the beautiful calm waters of the Bay of Finland in a private venue that we had hired for the day.

In the months running up to the event, I found an amazing caterer, who was just fantastic to work with. She was so professional, enthusiastic, full of ideas and happy to help with anything. She and her team took care of organising the flowers, decorating the room and of course putting together the most amazing buffet.

My oldest brother is a great cook and a lover of good food and said he’d never eaten anything better than the cold-smoked salmon wasabi rolls! I was absolutely starving not having been able to eat anything all day and went back for them a couple of times myself. And my father was very proud when our Chef presented the menu wearing her Chef Rotisseur’s ribbon. We got endless thank yous during the evening for how good the food was.

Sweet vetetables and mozzarella. Sweet!

She suggested originally the menu to which I had some suggestions and in the end this is what was served:

Starters / cold buffet:

Lime marinated hot smoked salmon in yoghurt dressing

Marinated sweet vegetables and mozzarella

Smoked leg of lamb

Green salad, dark balsamico dressing

Cold smoked salmon wasabi rolls on sweet island bread

Sweet and spicy tiger prawns and mango with salad

Gravad Lax with dill

Caesar salad with grilled chicken

The famous salmon-wasabi rolls!

Main:
Thinly sliced Roast beef sirloin

Steamed potatoes

Herb sauce

Black salsify gratin

Selection of breads, butter and herb spread

Wines:

Domaine Chablis

Albert Bichot Chateau de Dracy Pinot Noir

Dessert:

Wedding cake, coffee and tea

Amaretto, Bailies Irish Cream, Hennessy VSOP Cognac

Strawberry mousse cake

There was a separate children’s buffet with meatballs, party sausages, French fries and other child friendly grub, which was visited by some of the adult guests as well, I think I saw a couple of my brothers in the queue. :)

We also had the chance to taste the treacherous "Palace Bunch". Our caterer's mother in law had worked in the Finnish Presidential palace in her time and was privy to the soft tasting but dangerous punch that is always served in the Finnish Independence Day ball every 6th of December. In the balls I'm sure it causes all kinds of trouble, but in our mellow family surroundings we escaped any particular scandal. The only consequence of the potent punch was that my overnight bag went AWOL and I had to call a friend to lend me a T-shirt and a skirt to go to breakfast in our swanky mid-town Helsinki boutique hotel the next morning. Or I could have just worn my wedding dress. I'm sure they've seen worse.

"Palace Punch"