Royal Weddings don’t come round very often. So when they do, it is worth trying to do something special. The wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton in London last Friday deserved a special party and we were keen to celebrate it with Jordanians.
So we launched a competition for engaged couples to come and watch the wedding with us at the Ambassador’s Residence. The competition was open to any Jordanian couples engaged to be married this year. Entrants were required to answer 3 simple questions about the royal couple including where Kate Middleton lived when she was 2 (answer: Amman, Jordan). We put the questions on our website and advertised the competition via Facebook and Twitter. We had planned to invite 50 couples but received over 1,000 applications.
So we invited 100 couples who watched the Royal Wedding on a large screen in the garden and inside the house. We had a light lunch in an informal and relaxed atmosphere in the Amman sunshine. We also sold tickets for a number of prizes: Royal Wedding pillboxes, mugs and commemorative coins and two BMI Business Class tickets to London. The proceeds of the raffle will go to a Jordanian charity. And each couple got a small set of sweets with a picture of the Royal couple.
Two things struck me about the event. First, none of the couples had visited the Embassy before and many of them had little knowledge of the United Kingdom. So we were able to reach out to a wider range of Jordanian society and talk to them about how they met each other and how they plan to make their way in the world in the future. I was struck by their hope, optimism and determination and make the most of their lives in Jordan together.
Secondly, this was a uniquely happy event. As Jordan is surrounded by uprisings and turmoil in some countries in the region, we were able for a while to put the bad news behind us to focus on a happy story of a Prince and his bride, their love for each other and the coming together of millions of people round the world to celebrate it.
Many thanks to BMI for generously sponsoring the event.