Photos: Elina Manninen
At our wedding we had only close family as guests so we didn't need to hire a whole venue, we just needed a large table at a good Helsinki restaurant. I considered a few of the newer and more modern options but in the end decided on Savoy. It's by no means trendy or hip but has the kind of old school glamour that I thought would be perfect for a very special occasion. Savoy was established in 1937 so the word old school is certainly appropriate and it's safe to say they know what they're doing! The restaurant is located high up overlooking Esplanadi Park so the views are beautiful especially at night. As we had guests from the UK too the view was what made me sure of my choice as I wanted them to have a very special Helsinki experience.
As table decoration we had candles only. That looked lovely on a cold winter evening. Our dress code was black tie. I love a dress code and it makes pictures look great!
Actually we did have some added decoration... A few balloons for our girls. I knew they would be awfully disappointed to arrive at a party that had no balloons. What kind of party would that be!?
To add to the reasons for choosing Savoy I must mention their wine list... Very impressive.
To the important bits; what did we eat? First course was blinis with the choice of caviar or roe. The caviar was Finnish (usually it's Russian) and absolutely delicious!
We then continued with a little middle course of black truffle risotto.
For main we had a choice of lamb or fish. Or salmon and chips for the two youngest guests.
The food was excellent. To be honest I had expected it to be more fine dining (read: ridiculously small portions covered in different types of foams and mousses) but it was perfect and didn't leave anyone hungry. All in all Savoy did an amazing job. We were very pleased with every aspect to our venue and I wouldn't change anything if I was to do it all over again.
As a dessert we had berry tart that was after this picture was taken soaked in to-die-for caramel sauce.
The kids did well. In the church it was pretty much three of us that got married; Little M didn't leave my side (or she would have but it wasn't going to be worth the noise that would have followed...) so she literally kneeled down at the altar with us. However Baby M who I had expected to be the trouble maker sat down on her grandmother's knee throughout the ceremony and didn't make a beep.
Colouring, iPads and balloons kept them happy through the dinner too. Baby M again didn't make a murmur but Little M had one almighty tantrum upon arrival to the restaurant. I guess it was all a bit overwhelming and unknown to her. Surprisingly though at the end of the evening she happily left home with my mum so that we could carry on celebrating by meeting my friends for drinks.
Cheers! We had a lovely, lovely evening to remember!
Minna x
