Weddingbee Blog

Finally, it was time for the meal that I had been looking forward to ever since we chose IslandWood as our venue - dinner!

Several months prior, we sat down with our coordinator at IslandWood, Marla, and the head chef, Jim, to plan our weekend menu, and specifically what the wedding dinner would include. IslandWood is focused on providing sustainable and local food wherever possible, so we knew from the beginning that we wanted this dinner to reflect the Northwest in winter time.

Jim started by asking me about the feeling that I wanted the dinner to evoke. My answer was almost immediate - warm, friendly, homey. The type of food that you would have on a cold day in front of a roaring fireplace. And oh, did he and his staff deliver.

We had stuffed pork tenderloin, a whole presentation of arctic char, freshly baked bread with rosemary butter, warm rustic potatoes, fresh green salads and the best green beans I’ve ever tasted. It was absolutely, breathtakingly delicious.

*Guest photo

And I could barely eat a thing.

My appetite had been completely sporadic since about a week before the wedding. Essentially I would be hungry until I was presented with the opportunity to eat, and then I couldn’t eat a bite. Nothing would go down. So I tried to eat what I could leading up to the wedding, feeling confident that my nervous energy would dissipate by the time it was dinner after the ceremony and I would be able to eat as much as I wanted. Not so much. I had a bite of everything that was there so that I could at least taste it, but that was all I was able to force myself to eat. I had even done a good job with seeing most all of our guests by that point so we didn’t even have to get up during dinner to go visit tables. But I still wasn’t able to eat anything.

I know that everyone says to make sure that you eat at your own wedding, and if you can, I am a big proponent of following that advice. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t a possibility for me that night which I’m still sad about, given how incredible all of the food was. Luckily, the staff at IslandWood very thoughtfully sent a huge plate of appetizers and a loaf of bread back to our cabin so I was able to eat a little bit more before I went to bed that night.

My appetite didn’t fully return for a good week or so after the wedding. I’ve never really had that total lack of appetite happen to me before, but I just wanted to let others know that sometimes eating on your wedding day doesn’t happen for reasons other than time. And that’s OK.

As long as you also drink plenty of water!

*Unless otherwise noted, all photos by the fabulously talented Persimmon Images.

Want to catch up?

• We get our license to wed.
• We bottle and seal our wedding wine.
• We finish our projects one week out.
• The bridesmaids lunch.
• I make gifts for my girls.
• I break down the morning before.
• The family gathered.
• We come together at the Welcome Dinner.
• We eat s’mores and tell stories around the bonfire.
• I’m a little less calm when the power goes out.
• We rehearse!
• Our indoor forest was complete.
• The girls get pretty.
• The guys suit up.
• I get dressed.
• We had our first look!
• We enjoy the sun at the Tree House!
• We take photos with our people.
• It’s time!
• We make our entrance.
• We say I do.
• We take family pictures.
• We join our guests for cocktail hour.