Let the parties begin!!

My first bride-party has come and gone... and it was A-MA-ZING!! Two years ago when my sister got married, my mom and I surprised her with a trip to San Francisco, a girls weekend, a mother daughter bonding trip, bride celebration. Well, the tradition continued this past weekend! The destination was a surprise, and a complete hit!!Yup... my girls hit the top of my cities-in-the-states-to-visit-list with an amazing long weekend in New Orleans. How fitting right, considering our Cajun inspired menu!! And boy let me tell you, we ate up as much inspiration as we could... food and music for 3 full days... bliss!! Yes, the pants all got a bit tighter on this little trip, but let's face it, it was soooo worth it!!

That's the three of us at the Court of Two Sisters Jazz Brunch for our first New Orleans dining experience. We sampled some of New Orleans' classics, including crawfish, bread pudding, cornbread, and the most amazing stewed sweet potatoes.... ummmm, hola!! This stuff was beyond a food experience... it was a lather-up-my-thighs-with-fat-cause-I-don't-care-how-many-calories-are-in-here experience!! I thought it would be a unique addition to our dessert buffet. Well, get this ladies, I filled in a comment card (glowingly of course, because the food and service were spectacular!!), and requested the recipe for this heavenly treat, and literally, the day I got home, they had emailed it to me... wahoo!! I see stewed sweet potatoes in our wedding guests' future!!

I will post a whole wack of pics soon, but since I have been off work for 5 days, it is time for me to hit the books!! Stay posted!!

The Menu (Final Part)

OK, so much has been discussed about our casual, family focused wedding, and the inspiration for our menu. Also, I think I have made it pretty well known that our caterer, Donna Marie, is an absolute dream to work with, who, when I told her about troubles we were having with our venue, told me that "if worse comes to worse, I have a barn that we can put some tables up in, and we can do your wedding there!"... unheard of right??

So the bottom line is, to stick with our casual feel, while trying to avoid a 'typical wedding meal' of dry hotel chicken, we have come up with a cajun themed menu. My mom and step-dad have thrown cajun parties ever since they went to New Orleans, probably ten years ago now. Ian first had it when they put one on for my going away party, a couple of months before we got engaged... he loved it, and so did his parents. It is a tasty menu, in which diners get their hands dirty, and I hope it will give our guests something to talk about. The other really exciting component is the fact that we are serving family style. We definitely did NOT want buffet (it seems to take wayyyy too long, and we want our evening to have momentum!), and plated just didn't seem the best way to set-up the cajun menu. Family style service is essentially how you would serve a meal to your family... each menu item is served at the table, from large serving dishes. This means guests will be passing the ribs, getting to know eachother, and hopefully enjoying themselves!

Here is what our menu looks like now:

Cajun BBQ'd ribs and Chicken, Cornbread, Sweet potatoe pie, Cajun Veggies. Delicious right??

We decided that we wanted to self cater our appetizers during the cocktail hour (we will move right from ceremony into cocktail hour into reception). So of course sticking with the cajun theme, or ideas right now for appetizers are:

Peel-and-eat shrimp (except we are serving already-peeled-just-eat-shrimp... yes, that means shrimp rings!), stuffed artichoke, crabmeat cheesecake (totally different, but totally cajun!), and cajun nuts... but I am still looking for 1-2 easily eaten appies to serve... any suggestions??

The music during the dinner will match the food... cajun of course! It won't be the really twangy cajun tunes (think banjo), but will range from bluegrass, to blues, to big band... New Orleans baby!! To round off the theme of the food, in our napkin assembly, we will include a rib-bib (hopefully custom printed) and wet naps!

(images from http://www.sandscripts.com/)

We really do want our guests to take this meal for what it is, a fun, messy, tasty menu! We hope everyone will have fun with it, and that it will break the barriers of the stuffy-wedding meal with assigned seating, where people are just looking forward to getting up and mingling (and drinking!). We want this dinner to be an absolute highlight!! And as for dessert, more details will follow, but rest-assured, key lime pie will be served!!

How are you guys using food to create atmosphere or to get the party started??

The Menu (part 2)

image from here

The menu has, like most elements of our planning so far, not come together without some bumps. We knew we wanted to serve fun food, in a casual, homey environment. While the wedding will still be a classy affair, it is definitely more rustic-chic than casual elegance. It's a wedding in the mountains, with all of our family and closest friends by our side... and we want the food to reflect our excitement at having our nearest-and-dearest celebrating with us!

Before the details, I must comment on working with caterers. The Lodge that we have booked has an in-house caterer (ok, he's not technically in-house, but he is their go-to-chef for weddings) that we were strongly encouraged to use. After speaking with said-chef, it became clear that his plan was really not in line with ours... our conversation went something like this:

chef: "Prices start at $38.50/head for a 3 course meal"

me: "Ok, that's great, but we only need you to do a 1 course meal, as we will be DIYing the cocktail hour and dessert"

chef: "Oh, you have to serve a 3 course meal... this is a wedding"

me: "But we don't want 3 courses"

chef: "No no no, it's a wedding, that is how it's done"

me: "I don't care how it's done, I want to do things my way, in budget, with you saying 'yes maam' the whole way" ... OK, that was what Bridezilla said in my head, but you get the idea as to how I was feeling!!



So what did we do?? ... found another caterer!! Listen ladies, this is your day, and regardless of what the wedding industry will have you believe, you don't need to serve your guests the standard hotel-style 3 course meal, just because that is "how it's done". If you like this type of meal, go for it, but if you have your own ideas, you will (and MUST) find a vendor that will work with you, not against you!



So, introducing the new caterer... Donna Marie. This is how our conversation went:

me: "I don't want the typical 3 course wedding meal"

DM: "Great, what did you have in mind?"

me: "A fun, family style cajun meal!"

DM: "Oh, that sounds fantastic... I make a mean cornbread!"

me: "(sigh of relief) Awesome... and by the way, I want it all for under $25/head..."

DM: "This is your day, you tell me what you want, and I will make it happen... within your budget!"

me: "WAHOOO!!!" (I think that was meant to be in my head, but I am pretty sure DM heard it all!!)



So, DonnaMarie from Fernie Fine Foods is making it happen for us. She is fun, honest, sincere, and best of all, completely ego-free. This is not her show, this is our wedding. She knows that whatever we decide in terms of menu, her food will be amazing... so she doesn't need to write the script for how the food will look! I trust her whole-heartedly, and in the see of difficult vendors we have come across, she is truly a breath of fresh air. For all you BC brides, definitely check out Donna Marie and Fernie Fine Foods Catering!!