Weddingbee Blog

Back in September, we had our first scheduled meeting with our caterer…and I was a little excited.

Image via icanhascheezburger

As soon as we arrived for our meeting, I started to get those nervous, excited, “I can’t believe we get to get married here!” feelings. What can I say? You all know how much I love our venue. And it was a good thing that we decided to meet there. We spent the first 30 minutes discussing the flow of the wedding and the ways in which we could use all the different rooms at CIC. I immediately realized we had a lot of options (translation: a lot of decisions to make).

For instance:

Option 1: We get married outside, hold cocktail hour inside.

Image used courtesy of Chicago Illuminating Co. / Photo by Rick Aguilar Studios

Image via Chicago Illuminating Co.

This seemed to be Sparks’s favorite option, which actually surprised me. For some reason I had imagined him liking:

Option 2: Get married inside, hold cocktail hour outside.

Image via Chicago Illuminating Co.

Image used courtesy of Chicago Illuminating Company / Photo by Rick Aguilar Studios

Sigh. Either option is gorgeous. Of course, if it rains we’ll have to scrap both of these ideas and have the ceremony and cocktail hour inside. But let’s just hope that doesn’t happen, m’kay? In all seriousness, this is exactly one of the reasons we chose CIC. If it does rain, we DO have an option (and a very lovely option if I do say so myself).

Another big decision we’ll have to make is whether to use CIC’s lofted space for dining, or to stretch tables into a second room, creating a smaller dance floor. I would prefer to have all the tables in one room for dinner. It creates a more intimate feeling, and I like the idea of moving from space to space as the evening progresses. I think we can make it happen, as long as we can keep our guest list from expanding exponentially (which it seems to be doing…eeek).

Remember how I told you this was just the first part of the meeting? Well, we saved the best for last.

Sweet Tea. I need it. (Image via ehow Food)

So where does this classic concoction fit in at our wedding? I’m so glad you asked! It will be served alongside our 100% Southern-inspired hors d’oeuvres. That’s right. We’ll be serving nothing but the best of the South during cocktail hour.

The last half of our catering meeting was devoted to creating a rough draft of our menu: everything from drinks to passed snacks to main courses to late night goodies. The one thing we decided we absolutely must have was a Southern-inspired cocktail hour. Sparks and I met in the South, started our life together in the South, and let’s not forget that yours truly was BORN in the South. We couldn’t let our wedding day go by without recognizing that part of our lives in some way.

Fried green tomatoes will definitely be there…

Image via epicurean.com (Click for the recipe!)

…as well as my favorite: BBQ pork sliders.

Image via My Baking Addiction (and recipe!)

Are you having a “theme” for any part of your reception?