DINNER AND PARTY

At 19:00 the 232 guests were welcomed by bride and groom and King Harald V and Queen Sonja. After speeches of King Harald V and Ari Behn the guests had dinner in a large tent outside in the garden. The first course of the menu existed of trout tartare with fresh asparagus and poached quails' eggs. The main course was noisettes of veal with spring vegetables and potato fondant with purée of Jerusalem artichokes followed by grilled chevre white goat's cheese on spiced biscuits. Finally the dessert was vanilla bavarois with raspberries and pomegranate sauce.

The Cake
The traditional wedding cake, with five tiers and weighing 250 kilogrammes, was made by Sous-chef Morten Carlson at the Britannia Hotel in Trondheim and it took him two months to create it. It was made according to an old recipe and was flavoured with citrus peel and citrus juice. It also contained marinated raisins and apricots. It was covered with a thin layer of marzipan and royal icing and decorated with a white veil and ribbons. The decorations consist of roses, lilies, small white flowers, buds, roseleaves and lily buds. The ornaments include a crown, book (both on the side of the cake), swan (upper parts), a vase (the lowest part), butterflies and a monogram (middle part). For the whole cake 1000 eggs, 20 kilogrammes white flour and 15-20 kilogrammes of sugar were used. Bride and groom cut the cake with a sword that was handed over to them by best man Kåre Conradi and the help of the Steward of the royal court, Jon Henrik Schreiner, who had some problems cutting the cake. During the waiting time bride and groom kissed shortly. Princess Märtha Louise took a first bite from her cake, and then toasted and drank of her champagne.

The Dance
The party meant salsa and rock'n roll music, but also at 23:00, right after cutting the cake, a traditional and romantic wedding-waltz. First bride and groom danced together, soon followed by Queen Sonja with Olav Bjørshol, and King Harald V with Marianne Solberg Behn. Afterwards the guests heard more long and touching speeches, of Marianne Solberg Behn, and of Marianne Ulrichsen and Kåre Conradi, maid of honour and best man. At night sausages were served to the guests. The dancing went on until the early hours of the morning, only interrupted by a magnificent fireworks around midnight. All guests came outside to enjoy it together with the people who were waiting outside. During the party inside of Stiftsgården the front door stayed open so everybody who was outside could get a glimpse of the warm and nice party that was going on inside.

Princess Märtha Louise and Ari Behn leave the party
While some hundreds of people had gathered in front of Stiftsgården in the pouring rain, the party went on inside. Shortly after 2am bride and groom said goodbye to family and friends on the stairs of Stiftsgården and came outside while the guests threw rice on them under big cheering of the public. Thereafter the couple quickly disappeared in a blue Volvo. It is not known where the honeymoon went to. At the press conference Ari Behn said they were going to Florence, but nobody knew if they had to believe him or not. At 2:25 they arrived at Ringve, not far from Trondheim, but quite soon afterwards they left again for Trondheim's airport where they took the plane to Brussels, Belgium, and from there the destiny stayed a secret.

Saturday, May 25th, 2002
Already around 8:00 in the morning the first guests left from the airport. Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden left to Stockholm around 10:00, and Prince Ali bin Hussein of Jordan left by private plane at 14:00. The others left mostly between these two. At noon Queen Sonja and several other guests, including Madeleine and Nicolas Kogevinas and Count Flemming and Countess Ruth af Rosenborg, left Trondheim with the royal yacht Norge. King Harald V also left in the early afternoon. The last to leave on Saturday were Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit. They left by train at 16:25 from the railway station of Trondheim and didn't arrive in Oslo until 23:00.