Wedding Blog

[1] The Details: Hair + Makeup
[2] The Details: Bride’s Attire
[3] The Details: Bridal Party Attire
[4] The Details: The Venue
[5] The Details: Paper
[6] The Details: Decor

Mmm…time for food. I am a sucker for delicious, beautifully presented food. However, with our modest budget and guest count, I had to find a caterer who made solid (if not crazy excellent) food for a decent price. We did it! We got all of the below food, all china/drinkware/flatware/linens rentals, some disposable ware (please feel free to clutch your pearls now), a few miscellaneous rentals (bar height tables for cocktail hour, a bar, etc.), cake cutting, champagne toast service (which we didn’t use), waitstaff, and bar staff for less than $50 a head. The food wasn’t uber gourmet and presentation was good but not wow. However, the food was fresh, good for mass-produced banquet food, service was excellent, and it was a really great value. I will post my caterer’s information and a full review soon.

[Ceremony]
Water, lemonade, iced tea station, since it was so hot. It didn’t turn out quite as cute as most drink stations as I left it up to my caterer and use of pitchers they already had, but it served its function.

[Cocktail Hour]
Tray passed hors d’oeuvres.

• Fresh mushroom stuffed with andouille sausage + fresh herbs
• Italian pesto bruschetta
• Oven-roasted quesadilla rolls with avocado and tomatillo salsa
• Crab cakes with fresh mango relish

Mashed potato martini bar with choice of toppings, including whipped butter, sour cream, fresh chives, bacon, shredded cheese, caramelized onions, mushroom bourguignonne, demi-glaze, and sauteed California mixed vegetables. 

Bride + groom who don’t eat all night? Never in this case! We made sure to join in the feasting.

[photo by family member]

[Reception]
Sorry, no fab photos of this food. It was your pretty standard (but moist!) chicken italiano or vegetarian lasagna entree with grilled veggies and penne on the side.

[Cake]
The Flavors:

• Lemon cake with bavarian cream + fresh strawberry filling.
• Red velvet cake with cream cheese filling.
• Both flavors frosted in cream cheese frosting, then covered in fondant

[both photos by friends who love food + dessert as much as I do]

The Look:
Clean, unfussy, modern, incorporating chocolate-covered strawberries was a must.

[Favors]

• Diddy Riese cookies.
• Packaged in plastic.
• Then packaged in festive, appropriately colored + patterned, food-safe waxed tissue paper.

[photo by a friend]

How I did it here. Adapted from this.

“Enough details already!” you say? The event action starts in my next installment, I promise.

[All photos by M. Norwood Photography unless otherwise noted.]