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.

My First Wedding Dream...I Mean Nightmare

It's actually not the first but it's the most realistic and tangible one yet. As I've mentioned before, I have my first tasting today with our number one catering choice. I've been so nervous lately about how this is going to turn out. And last night just reinforced those nervous feelings.

The dream starts out as I'm driving to the caterers office and once I get there I realize were in some really crappy strip mall type of place with the cheesy fluorescent 7-eleven style light-up words. I gasp and wonder OMG what have I gotten myself into. I bring the rest of my tasting team in and we get started. The setting was horrific, were sitting in a cafeteria style room with the tables and benches from 3rd grade. And when they finally bring the food out, it's lukewarm and it looks and tastes like cafeteria food...bland, no type of presentation whatsoever and just plain nasty! I leave really pissed off because it was huge waste of time and now were back to square one in the search for a caterer.

I'm confident that my experience today will be nothing like the one from my dream but I can't help but think of how my thoughts have manifested into this grand dreamland scenario.

Tasting update coming tomorrow!

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?

Gettin Fit for Life: January Update

At the start of the new year I wrote about trying to get in shape not just for the wedding but for life. Can I say that I'm off to a great start, yeah... not so much. So here's what's happened thus far:

I was on a roll going into the holidays as I had created a routine for myself where I would work out at least 3 times a week. I prefer TV workouts available through On Demand so that's what I was using. It allows me access to a variety of workouts so that I don't get bored. And I was able to keep this up throughout the holidays.

But then sometime between my travels back and forth to Philly during the start of the new year, to visit Mr.B I lost my motivation to continue what I had started. I think I had even lost a lb or two. And then last week, I'm pretty sure I injured my knee (I heard a loud pop) while doing a workout. So after that incident I rested it for a couple days and it's been hard to get back into the groove again.

I started my workouts again last night. I did my best but I noticed I was a little apprehensive about anything that works the lower body, so I think it'll be a little while longer before I'm 100% again. However, despite this setback, I've decided to set a goal for myself to work out at least 3 times a week (between cardio and strength exercises). I'm hoping to stay consistent with this for a month, track my progress and continue along.

I want to credit the "Bridal Fitness" posts over at Lovely Little Details for giving me that weekly dose of fitness guidance that I need to stay on track and continue educating myself in the realm of overall fitness and nutrition. So take a look for yourselves!

Do you have any fitness goals either specifically for the wedding in general that you're working towards?

How to Survive a Winter E-Pic Session

We had a busy saturday planned and we made the most of it. In the DC area, this past saturday was coined as the coldest day thus far for winter and boy it felt like it. I just kept wondering why does the coldest day of the year (so far) have to be the day when I'll be spending a good amount of time outside...oh well, we just decided to roll with the weather punches and keep it moving.

We ventured out to our alma mater, the University of Maryland College Park. There are so many great buildings and open spaces to utilize as the backdrop for our session. Just driving onto campus brought back so many great memories. You don't realize how fast 4 years really flies by. After getting onto campus we met up with my cousin who was our wonderful photog. We mapped out a quick course of action and hit the campus.

At the beginning of the session we were both very nervous and took a little time to warm up to being in front of the camera. But after about 10 minutes we loosened up, laughed a lot and eventually had a great time.

So here are my tips for any couples out there who are considering or are planning a winter e-pic session.

• Make sure to choose a coat that is warm yet sleek, i.e. close-fitting to the body (please no large puffy coats!!)
• Are you willing to go coat-less for a couple shots? If so, then make sure you consider what you both are wearing under the coat and try to coordinate somewhat but forgo the matchy-matchy
• LAUGH! Laugh alot! It gets the blood flowing which in turns warms you up a bit and laughter is the best way to get a more natural smile

Those are some of things I'm glad we did and they really did help us get through the session. I can't wait to share some of our favorites with you in an upcoming post so stay tuned!

Why Can't Our Names Be Kate & Drew

Etsy Seller: Lilafrance

 Same source as above

Well they aren't and they're too long to have customized into these cute photoworthy hangers. I'm pretty I want one I just need to figure out what I want it to say...I'm off to brainstorm a hanger catch phrase.

Brides, It's Ok...

This may eventually turn into a weekly or monthly feature of thoughts, actions, etc that others may think are crazy but we know as brides it's ok to think, feel, do, etc, etc, etc. This is an adaptation of the Glamour magazine feature "Hey, it's ok!" which I love to read every month and I can definitely relate to many of them each time.

So here it goes.

Brides, It's Ok...

1. To want your FI to be involved in decisions but make it easier by giving him only 3 options which you selected to choose from
2. To make a weekly trip to Michaels, you can't let those coupons go to waste!
3. To change your color palette 3, maybe 4 times...ok...it's more like 6 but who's counting