Weddingbee Blog

This weekend, my mom came into town and we (Mom Guinea Pig, Mr. Guinea Pig, FMIL Guinea Pig and I) ventured out in a huge snowy storm to our venue’s tasting event! The CBBC appears to be a little unique in that this tasting was for all the brides & grooms (plus 2 guests) getting married there in late spring and summer.

At first I was nervous about this when we booked the venue, because the tasting seemed so far away and was not something we could schedule. However, a major benefit to this arrangement is that they hold the event for about 180 people, and it is just like a wedding, only without a ceremony. So you get to see exactly how things are presented, situated, and handled for a wedding. Plus, you know how the food tastes when they cook for so many people - as opposed to just presenting a perfect meal for 4, we’re now totally confident they can cook well for 180! And there was so much food at the event, we felt like we needed to be rolled out of there after trying everything - too bad we can’t store food in our cheeks!

When we arrived, they had a lemonade/iced tea table for a refreshing drink while we waited (I can imagine it’s much more refreshing in the spring/summer than in the freezing winter!), and staff walked around passing out a signature drink: a Pomegranate infused Sparkling Cider that had a ginger kick to it.

(This was amazingly delicious, but only the girls seemed to like it. All the guys made faces when they took a sip! Good to know.)

For all the brides, there was also a little favor that came with a Sampling Menu for each person, so you would know exactly what they were serving the entire evening - each item had a check box next to it and they supplied everyone with pencils so you could take notes (copious notes, if you’re the Guinea Pigs)!

(First thing I did: open date book to our wedding date and write GET MARRIED!)

Everything outside was covered in about 6 inches of snow and it looked gorgeous - it made me daydream about yet another ’other wedding’! A winter wonderland version…

(Let’s hope we don’t need the fireplace in May!)

After mingling for a little while in one room sipping lemonade and sparkling cider while watching the snow fall, we all moved over to the room that was set up like a cocktail hour. What did Mr. Guinea Pig want to make a beeline for?

(A mashed potato bar with garlic mashed potatoes, or regular sweet potatoes, and all the fixins)

There was so.much.food. In fact, halfway through the ’cocktail hour’ the four of us sort of paused and realized there was still ’dinner and dessert’ to taste! But we made sure to try one of everything… in the name of research… yes. That’s it. There were only a very few things the entire evening that I didn’t like, and everything else ranged from good (as in, no complaints but not ’wow’) to spectacular (i.e., going back for 4 of the same thing)!

(Garden vegetable display/spread with the bread and dips table beyond it)

There were also passed hors d’oeuvres that I didn’t get a chance to snap photos of, probably because I was too busy inhaling them the moment the plates moved anywhere near me! Things we loved: Chorizo Stuffed Dates Wrapped in Apple Wood Smoked Bacon, Asian Lobster and Tobiko Canape on Cucumber, Sesame Seared Tuna with Wasabi Mayo & Seaweed on a Crispy Wonton. Delicious.

In addition to all this, they had a series of appetizers that were paired with Dogfish Head beers that Mr. Guinea Pig and I loved! We’ve actually been to the Dogfish Head Brewery in Delaware with a group of friends, many of whom are in our wedding party, so we (and by we I mostly mean Mr. Guinea Pig) were particularly drawn to this idea.

(Shooters of 90-Minute IPA paired with Grilled Flat Iron steak & stilton appetizer)

Amazingly, the cocktail hour is not something I had given much thought (or budget) to previously. All menu planning I had done in my head before this event had revolved around the dinner choices, the cake, etc. After spending an hour sampling all these wonderful appetizers and seeing all the options to keep our guests happy and mingling, I wanted to add every hors d’oeuvres we’d tried!

And then we hit a wall. A giant wall. A wall named BUDGET.

(adapted from this source, but I’m not as smiley as that guy…)

I’ll return to this problem later, and how I think we’ll solve it, as we work out our options for the food at the reception - but I was thoroughly surprised with how much I enjoyed the cocktail hour. An hour I had previously thought of almost as just a time-killer while the bride and groom took photos (not just at our wedding, I mean every wedding I’ve ever been to). This event actually reminded me that the cocktail hour should be a fun, delicious mingling time especially since Mr. Guinea Pig has finally agreed to a first look (can you hear my hallelujahs all the way from MD?!): we may actually get to spend some time at our own cocktail hour! Oh the wonders never cease.

Do you enjoy cocktail hours at weddings? Will you be having one? What appetizer is your absolute favorite for a cocktail hour?

Up next: we actually get to the dinner and dessert part of the event!