Let's Eat...Success!

Leading up to my tasting I have been so nervous and even had a crazy nightmare. Well, I'm here to report the tasting was uber successful!

Ok...one part of the dream was slightly correct, the caterer's office was located in some random industrial park type location, but other than that, everything else about the dream was totally fictional and looking back on it just plain crazy! I was a little disappointed when we scheduled the tasting appointment because I knew that Mr. B wouldn't be able to attend as he is still away in Philly. But thankfully I had some wonderful people there with me to discuss the food and provide additional suggestions and opinions. I brought along my father, my youngest bridesmaid and my FMIL. I'm so grateful for their attendance. Afterward we had a good idea of some of the tweaks and substitutions that we could make to ensure that the menu is well received by a majority of the guests.

Without further ado, here's the food:
*Sorry guys, I was too busy eating and enjoying the food thus the picture quality suffered a bit.

Hor D'ouevres (clockwise from top left) - Beef Empanadas, Shrimp and Grits, Bourbon BBQ Chicken Skewers

Entree Choice #1 - Buttermilk Fried Chicken w/ White Gravy and Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Steamed Veggies in a Tarragon Butter

Entree Choice #2 - Pan Seared Salmon with Lemon Butter Sauce w/Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Quick Review:

• Hor D'ouevres - LOVED 'EM ALL! I wouldn't change a thing...ok maybe a little more cheese in the grits but who doesn't like a little more cheese. Otherwise, they were all so tasty and right on point, finger lickin good, lol.
  
  
• Entree #1 - This was also fantastic, I think the only thing we will change will be the vegetable selection. I like the veggie choice that we selected, but after speaking with my other fellow tasters, we concluded that the majority of guests probably wouldn't eat that particular veggie selection. So we have identified one possible substitution.
  
  
• Entree #2 - The salmon was cooked perfectly and had the best crispy crust on the top. And the lemon butter sauce was a perfect complement. We just need to find another option for a second starch so that people won't be stuck with just mashed potatoes.

Let's Eat!

Some fancy salmon and caviar hor'deurves

We have our first tasting coming up on Monday and I'm a little nervous. Did we pick the right menu items? Did we play it too safe with the entree options? Is it going to suck? And the questions go on and on.

I think we decided on a great area caterer to move forward with to have an initial tasting. Our budget really helped to dictate our choice as well. We wanted to make sure to get a good bang for our buck in the catering department and we both love to go out to eat so we wanted our guests to have a fantastic food experience at our wedding. I've termed our wedding food choices as upscale comfort food when discussing ideas with our planners. Our families both have southern roots, his family has ties to North Carolina and my family has ties to New Orleans. So we knew that we didn't want any food that our guests couldn't identify with because they wouldn't be open to trying it and it would go to waste. Plus people just wouldn't have a good time. And we don't like any food that's too complicated so were trying to stick with items that are familiar but with a twist.

And I think that's where the anxious feelings stem from. Since we are sticking to familiar items, will they be memorable or will someone compare it to something back home. I'll just have to wait and see what happens at the tasting. It won't be our last chance to make tweaks to the menu and taste their food, so that puts me at ease a little bit.

There will be lot's of food pics coming and hopefully good news after this appointment. What were your experiences with your caterer?

On the Hunt...Reception Venues

I started my search for venues in the same spot where many other brides have started, on the internet, with a google search. However, I must let the cat our of the bag, because when I really started looking at reception venues, we were newly engaged and not even thinking about when we would have a wedding (it just wasn't very practical at the time). So many of the places that I initially fell in love with like 2-3 years ago were sooo not going to work with our actual wedding budget. So I just nixed any venue that I had bookmarked circa late '07-'08.

I started to look at some of the other typical wedding websites to get ideas. I contacted a boatload of hotels (seriously, I think I still have like 25-30 random info packets on my laptop right now) in the DMV to get their wedding package information but I didn't feel like a hotel was the right place for us, I guess some part of me felt like it was a little too cookie cutter. But I've also seen beautiful weddings at hotels so to each his own. But there was one location that I thought might work, the Mason Inn and Conference Center, on the campus of George Mason University (GMU). My mom and I even went to take a tour, and we did actually like it, it was overwhelming love at first sight but it could work. I kept it on my list of possible locations but kept it moving.

Outside the Mason Inn

Small Ballroom

Table details

But the funny thing is, on the way to Mason Inn we passed a historic home just minutes away from GMU and I thought I knew what it was as we drove past (based on previous online hunts) and a google search confirmed my curiosities, it was Old Town Hall (OTH). It was also on my list of top reception venues to check out, I immediately scheduled a tour the next day for an upcoming weekend. Upon our arrival at OTH I fell in love with the building, it looked so elegant. As we toured the grounds I was pretty sure that I wanted to book that place ASAP. There were multiple locations throughout the venue that we could utilize and even an outdoor garden area that looked really nice and lush and perfect for cocktail hour. And I don't know about you but parking was also at the top of my list of must haves. I didn't want us to have to pay for valet parking or any kind of parking for my guests, it's just an expense I didn't want to take on. But I was happy to find out that there are 4 free parking lots within like 2 blocks of the venue which our guests can use. SCORE!

Old Town Hall

Main Floor Room

Expanded view of the Main Floor Room

As the days passed after my two initial visits I just couldn't stop thinking about OTH. But I thought maybe I should see a couple more places. So I headed over to The Lorien, a boutique hotel and spa in Old Town Alexandria. I was a little annoyed and didn't really want to continue with the tour after the woman told me that our date was already taken. I mean, really lady, you could've told me that before I came over here, after work, in the rain. But I played along seeing the sights and they were nice, but since I knew it wasn't even an option, I was really just window shopping. They also had many multi-function spaces and an outdoor area, but none of the inside spaces were big enough to accommodate both dinner and dancing, so those activities would have to be split between 2 rooms. Not a big deal for some but I thought it would be a little awkward for guests.

Source

Source

After that disappointment, with my mom in tow we headed over to The Lyceum in Alexandria, VA. I saw this venue suggested on many websites and wedding boards so I figured why not. But it just didn't do it for me. There was nothing that caught my interest. There were multiple spaces that could be used but one of the two spaces was within the museum and I'm not that fond of having cocktail hour around a bunch of artifacts. And the price wasn't right for us either, so it was ruled out.

So after viewing 4 possible venues and even dreaming about one for many a night, we decided to book one of them and I couldn't be happier. Stay posted for an upcoming post where I reveal our venue!

*All photos are my personal handiwork unless specified.

No Barney Purple Here Folks!

I've been talking alot about various wedding related things such as our photographer, ceremony venue and wedding planners but I haven't really shared any design related details about our day yet. So the next couple of posts will be dedicated to all things wedding vision and inspiration related. Enjoy!

First up, our color palette.

Our colors from left to right: wine, raspberry, deep fushia, gray, silver

Somehow when I started thinking about what I wanted my wedding to convey the color silver was always there. Its such a chic color, I love metallics and like gray it brings a touch of modern edge. I knew that I needed another key color to really pop and add some sophistication to the mix...and from there I fell in love with the deep purple color I like to call "wine" purple. Now, I've never been a fan of purple in the past, because whenever I think of the color purple that nasty barney purple always comes to mind. And that just wouldn't work. The other colors will be accents and will be incorporated into all elements of the decor. Using just 2 colors would be too simple for us.

Here is another color palette along with the inspiration boards which I considered, which is from 100layercake.com, another one of my wedding blog faves.

Next up...I'll share my inspiration board and theme for the wedding.