Sixty guests, one table, eleven metres long. The couple wanted everyone in a single conversation, which ruled out most venues before we started.

We found a barn with the span to take it and built the rest of the day around that table — no top table, no seating hierarchy, speeches between courses rather than after them. The menu was served family style, which kept the room moving and meant nobody waited for a plate.

It is the format we now suggest most often to couples under eighty guests, and almost never above it.