With just a few days to go until Prince Harry and Meghan Markle officially tie the knot, preparations for the royal wedding are well underway. And whilst the official wedding menu is unlikely to be announced until after the main event (when Prince William married Kate Middleton on 29 April 2011, their menu was never fully revealed until 2015), Windsor Castle’s royal kitchen chef Mark Flanagan has released a teaser of what guests can look forward to at the reception banquet. As expected, it’s a little far from the royal norm.

From the outset, Harry and Meghan have made it clear they wanted to break away from previous royal traditions, so it comes as no surprise that the couple have shunned a sit-down wedding breakfast in favour of a less formal, standing-only reception instead. As an alternative, guests will be served trendy bowl dishes (think nourishing bliss and Buddha bowls and fresh, flavoursome poke) alongside two-bite canapés made from seasonal British produce, all lovingly prepared in the royal kitchens at Windsor Castle.

Taking the bowl food trend to a whole new level, the idea is that guests will be able to eat their bites and bowls standing up, whilst mingling with the other 600 guests. A first for a royal wedding, but Harry and Megan aren’t afraid to shake up conventions; they’ve already invited 1,200 members of the public and chosen a left-field wedding cake to boot (we even made a version of it ourselves).

Chef Flanagan will lead a team of 30 chefs and assistants in preparing the banquet, much of which will include fresh, seasonal produce from the surrounding area and the Queen’s own estates.

“We know the couple wanted us to make sure we used all of the local seasonal produce as much as possible throughout their menu, and this recent good weather is really helping us to achieve that,” Flanagan said in a statement released by Kensington Palace. “(For) all their decisions, we purely made suggestions and the couple… they’ve tasted everything, they’ve been involved in every detail.”

As well as wholesome bowls and delicate canapés, pastry chef Selwyn Stoby will be creating a selection of chocolate truffles, dainty crèmes brûlées, yellow macaroons and biscuits finished with mango panna cotta topping.

The reception, which will be hosted in the afternoon by the Queen in St George’s Hall, is expected to last for two and a half hours, and it’s rumoured during this time the couple will also make their speeches and cut the cake. Slice of lemon elderflower anyone?

Their private reception hosted by Prince Charles will follow in the evening at Frogmore House, and will be a traditional sit-down affair for a selective 200 guests.

Will guests be bowled over? Here’s hoping…