Weddingbee Blog

Hey hive! Just got back from a fabulous weekend in Montreal and spent the past few days crossing off a number of items on our to-do list! It was so great to get out of town for a few days and start seeing the wedding details come together. After the family guest list drama from a few weeks ago, this trip really helped me release the stress and get SUPER excited again for the wedding!

Mr. M and I decided to drive up to Montreal since it’s only about a five or six hour drive from where we live. As soon as we got to town, we checked into the hotel where the wedding will be and immediately met with the event manager and chef for an incredible food tasting.

We started off by tasting the canapes that will be served during cocktail hour.

*All images are personal unless otherwise noted.

Starting from the left and going clockwise: mushroom arancini, smoked salmon blinis, crouton w/ blue cheese and honey, chorizo arancini, chicken satay w/ dipping sauce, crab served with cherry tomatoes (in the shot glasses) and in the middle, prosciutto w/ melon

The mushroom arancini and chorizo arancini (fried rice balls) were phenomenal. The crab was amazing—however, because this will be served during cocktail hour, we asked the chef to serve the crab in either a tortilla or wonton since guests would need silverware if eating out of the small glass. The chicken satay was cooked very well, and the accompanying sauce (called soya sauce) was delicious—it was like a peanut sauce but not as thick. The prosciutto with melon was really good as was the smoked salmon blini (it was served almost tartare style on a soft pillow of bread). For our cocktail hour we were able to choose six of the seven items pictured above and, while the crouton with blue cheese and honey was good, the cheese was very strong, so we felt it wouldn’t appeal to all palates and decided to nix that option.

Next up for the tasting were the options for the first course that will be served at the reception (after the green salad). We had a choice between goat cheese and grilled vegetables or smoked salmon served with lettuce/cucumber wrap and a horseradish cream sauce.

Goat cheese, grilled veggies, arugula, balsamic vinegar, and oil

Smoked salmon, lettuce wrapped in cucumbers, and horseradish cream sauce

The goat cheese was by far our favorite—the cheese was absolutely delicious and the veggies were grilled to perfection, cooked through but still a little bit of crunch to them. And what I didn’t realize was that there was goat cheese between each layer of veggie, giving it a creaminess and burst of flavor that was pretty amazing. The smoked salmon was good, but because of how hearty the smoked salmon canape would be for cocktail hour, I thought it would be best not to have yet another salmon dish.

Last but not least, the main course! The options were either the grilled Angus beef sirloin served with mashed potatoes and asparagus with a black pepper sauce and the sea bass filet served with polenta and asparagus with a sweet red pepper sauce.

Grilled sirloin

Inside of sirloin

Sea bass

Both dishes were divine—the steak was cooked medium with a slightly pink inside (generally I like my meat with no pink or redness whatsoever, but this was perfect), and the black pepper sauce really complemented the dish. The sea bass was also amazing—so tender and light. I’m not even sure which one I will choose for myself the day of the wedding—both were so good!

Oh, and we had also paired each dish with different white and red wines. (Our package includes half a bottle of wine per person for dinner.) Needless to say, I was pretty tipsy by the end of it all!

Which dish would you choose?