The lavish event, which spanned from Jan. 7 to Jan. 16, ended with a closing banquet held at Istana Nurul Iman, home to Brunei's royal family, also the world's largest palace, featured a variety of luxurious culinary delights.
The banquet hall was adorned with fresh flowers, primarily in shades of white, purple-pink, and gold.
A sumptuous wedding menu, showcasing traditional Brunei flavors and high-end ingredients, was prepared for numerous politicians and royals from around the world.
British High Commissioner to Brunei John Virgoe, a guest at the banquet, shared the exquisite menu and photos of the dishes on his Instagram.
“Amazing food at the Royal Wedding Banquet this evening,” he wrote in the caption accompanied.
The menu began with an Alaskan king crab salad topped with Iranian caviar, followed by a herbal venison soup with morel mushrooms.
The culinary journey continued with marinated lobster tail accompanied by papaya slaw, served in small portions to ensure guests could enjoy the entire menu comfortably.
The menu included a variety of fusion dishes that blended Asian and Western flavors, such as mango sorbet and bird’s nest, braised wagyu beef with truffle, grilled turbot fillet with pickled vegetables, chicken in Peranakan sauce, basmati rice with saffron, stew lamb with kerutup sauce, hot and sour king prawn, mixed vegetables in coconut milk, and pineapple pajeri.
The wedding of Prince Mateen, son of Brunei’s Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, and Yang Mulia Anisha Rosnah, a royal adviser’s granddaughter, was characterized by various ceremonial events.
The most notable among the ceremonies were the Khatam Al-Quran event on Jan. 8, the Berbedak Mandi, known as the powdering ceremony, on Jan. 10, and the solemnization at Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque on Jan. 11.
As reported by CNN, the grand event reached a climax on Jan. 14 with a formal wedding, with Prince Mateen in a military uniform and his bride in a jewel-adorned white gown with a diamond tiara making their ceremonial entrance.
Prince Mateen, 32, is a helicopter pilot and a major in the Royal Brunei Air Force, and also represented Brunei in polo at the 2017 and 2019 SEA Games.
He was named among Asia’s top 50 most eligible bachelors by Hong Kong’s Tatler Magazine in 2016.
His royal bride, a 29-year-old alumna of the University of Bath and an entrepreneur, founded the fashion brand Silk Collective and co-founded the cultural experience tourism company Authentirary.
Her grandfather, Pehin Dato Isa, is the Sultan of Brunei’s special advisor and held significant roles in Brunei’s government in the 1960s and 1970s.
Her brother Danial Deen Isa-Kalebic is a close friend of Prince Mateen, and her sister-in-law Janetira Attaskulchai Deen belongs to the Attaskulchai family of Thailand, known for their Betagen yogurt empire.
