An Inside Look at a Royal Wedding Street Party

The tradition of street parties to celebrate big royal occasions in the UK has been around for many, many years. The last time the people of Britain gathered with their neighbors for a street party was in 1981, after the wedding of Prince Charles to Princess Diana. It is only fitting that their first born son's marriage was celebrated the same way! If you weren't lucky enough to attend a street party, don't despair! Here is an inside look at how my street celebrated this special day.

We held our party in the car park which is central to the houses on our street. Union jack bunting was tied to the street lights, and other union jack decorations were placed on the food tables. One family placed the speakers from their stereo on the roof of their garden shed so we could have music too!

A table was set up in the centre of the car park, along with numerous folding chairs. A long row of food tables held delicious treats such as scones with jam, quiche, cupcakes, egg sandwiches and much more.

It took a little while for everyone to warm up, but just like all parties, once everyone had tucked into some food the fun really started! To entertain the children, a few of the neighborhood parents brought out bundles of toys for the kids to play with, and one family were even kind enough to share their trampoline! Unfortunately, the adults weren't allowed on it, but we had our own form of entertainment.

It all began with a little bit of dancing to ABBA and other music from years gone by. You'd think a bunch of adults would be well behaved, but an impromptu conga dance around the street while singing "The Wheels on the Bus" suggested otherwise! The real highlight of the party though, was watching people of every generation dancing and singing together.

This is really what the tradition of a street party is all about. People who live side by side, but who may not usually spend much time together, gathering to enjoy the same event. Ages, backgrounds and any other differences are completely irrelevant. All that matters is working together to create a great party and the enjoying the simple pleasure of each other's company.

At the end of my first ever street party, I can safely say that there are some days when being a Brit makes me very proud. Today was most definitely one of those days.