Weddings in Castles

Medieval Wedding Feasts

You've heard of the expression, "Food fit for a King." Medieval wedding feasts featured more food than most of the villagers would see for months. Wedding feasts celebrated the day no matter the social class of the bride and groom.

While choices were sometimes limited by climate and availability of food, some of the medieval menus may have included fowl, such as geese, capons, geese, chicken and quail. Celebrants would also dine on meats such as beef, lamb, and pork, while those living near bodies of water may have feasted on herring, salmon, eels and fresh water fish. Nobles and wealthier wedding parties pay the premium for large quantities of milled flour and grain-based meals. Cheese, butter and other dairy products could be seen on the wedding feast table.

Guests may have feasted on other dishes like oysters steamed in almond milk, spicy mulled wine, stewed cabbage, and tarts and custards. Society at a medieval feast rarely used utensils and would eat with their fingers. The party lasted all night, and since little food could be preserved, no one wanted to leave until all the food had been eaten.

While the castle lord, his family, and selected guests of honor sat at a table on a dais, the other wedding celebrants dined while seated at long tables in the castle's Great Hall.