Weddingbee Blog

Despite having quite a few details of the wedding out of the way, there were still many unanswered questions. A BIG issue was catering. Since we could pick essentially any caterer we could afford, it was really up to us to do the research and make the decision. I started doing my usual obsessive internet searches. I knew that food would be a pretty big deal. But let’s be honest—most wedding food is pretty forgettable (unless it’s really bad). It’s not that it’s not good, it’s just that the usual buffet-style filet o’ something with sides of veggies is so ubiquitous that it’s hard to keep which filet was from which wedding straight, and they never really seem to stand out.

That being said, our catering choice was not some attempt to overthrow the status quo and is not terribly unique itself! Remember how we want a “family barbecue” feel at our reception? We decided to take it to its logical and literal conclusion and serve barbecue. There are a ton of barbecue joints doing catering in northwest Ohio, but there was one that I kept going back to—City Barbeque. I kept drooling over the pictures of their food, and their prices looked almost too reasonable.

Drooool.

Image Via City Barbeque

Unfortunately, this was during lent and Mr. Cannon and I had foolishly given up meat! So, for the entire forty days, I kept fretting over how we needed to book a caterer, but knew there was no way we would book someone without tasting their food. Obviously, having barbecue as our meal of choice meant it would be ridiculous to hold a tasting while we couldn’t eat meat. And so I waited impatiently for Easter to FINALLY arrive.

Happy Easter, Cherry Bomb!

Not long after the holiday, I contacted the City Barbeque catering manager to set up a (free!) tasting for Mr. Cannon and me. I was pretty psyched for it. When we arrived, the catering manager wasn’t there yet, so they gave us some drinks and we sat around and talked about what we wanted, and we about died from the delicious smells coming from the kitchen since we decided to show up with empty stomachs. The catering manager finally arrived and explained what they would provide and how the actual day would work. We asked some questions about the timing and logistics involved with transporting the food. Then, we got down to the good part—she brought out a tasting portion of pretty much everything on the menu. All I can say is “Wow!” It was all so good that we had a hard time deciding what we wanted.

We used the ever-so-scientific method of judgment where we wrote out three columns—“For Sure!” “Maybe” and “Meh”—and put each food into the appropriate column after we tasted. I don’t think we had anything in the “Meh” column. It was all that good. And there was so much. They packed up the leftovers for us to take home. I was gung-ho on the brisket. I worked at a Texas-style BBQ a couple of summers when I was in college, and it had the best brisket ever. I had honestly never had anything even close to the quality of that brisket—until this tasting. I can’t explain how high of a praise that is. It’s so good. If you get the chance to try City Barbeque, DO IT! You will not regret it.

Anyway, after much debate, we finally cut the menu down to brisket, pulled pork, smoked chicken, mac & cheese, potato salad, vinegar-based coleslaw, cornbread, party salad, and a veggie lasagna (just in case we have any vegetarians or barbecue haters).

The catering manager wrote up a quote later that day and emailed it to me. Mr. Cannon and I got it signed and mailed it in with our deposit. I absolutely cannot wait to eat that brisket on our wedding day. Of course, with all that barbecue sauce and a klutz like me in a white dress, I might need to invest in a full-body bib. But I’ll worry about that then.

Is anyone else considering marrying their wedding dinner instead of their SO?

All images personal unless otherwise noted