My big, fat, elaborate, lavish wedding feast ...

[CurlySue]

The food pretty much determined how we planned our wedding. I have been to so many weddings with cold banquet food that I was determined not to do this to my guests. We finally decided that the best way around it was to have a small formal wedding with family only. We had the ceremony and "dinner" on a Friday night and were served in the library of a very nice local lodge/hotel. The food was fabulous and our guests were allowed to choose from the standard dinner menu from the restaurant because we only had 25 people. The hotel restaurant was known for it's fine food. It was exactly the way I had pictured it. Wine and booze flowed freely and everyone had a great meal and a relaxing evening.

Our outdoor reception followed the next day where everyone was treated to traditional picnic type food (chicken and corn and beans and sandwiches) and kegs of beer and the most beautiful May day we could have hoped for. I, of course, made the cakes for both evenings. I wouldn't change a thing.

[designchick88]

What did they serve at your wedding for the guests?

Our wedding was at a bed and breakfast that also served high tea. We got married at 2 p.m. and had a tea reception - as I recall (it's been 5 years) the menu was:

Finger sandwiches

Scones and clotted cream

2 types of iced tea and 2 types of hot tea

Chocolate-dipped strawberries

Crudites

Mini quiches (the B&B owner made them in-house, just like the scones, and they were good)

Wedding cake

Do you actually remember the meal itself?

Very little of it, but then again I don't remember very much of the wedding at all. I mostly remember the profound relief of it being over.

Would you have the same meal today after however many years of marriage?

After 5 years - no. We were extremely broke at the time and had considered a Vegas elopement but my parents wanted to do something for us so my grandparents could be there - all 4 were still alive at the time. As DH's parents didn't make any offer of cash it was up to my parents to pay for our reception, and I didn't want them to spend a lot. They had a small wedding fund for me that totaled about $2,000 - I think our entire shebang, including my dress, cost less than that. (I wore a fancy ivory bridesmaid's dress and no one could tell it wasn't a wedding dress. I think it cost about $150.)

Now, if we had it to do over again, we would rent out the banquet room at Seasons, which is kind of our crowd's hangout (nice but not too upscale bar/restaurant here in Abq., good food) and do a plated reception with the food we like most: roasted chicken, roast beef, garlic mashed potatoes, yummy veggies, etc. Open bar instead of just a champagne toast. But I wouldn't change the cake - we splurged on that and it was dark chocolate with Kahlua filling and fondant icing, which was extremely hip at the time (is it still?). DH hated the fondant frosting but I loved how the cake looked.

If prices of food for such an event have escalated, would you scale-down the meal?

No - as mentioned above. We could scale up because our own financial situation has improved significantly. We had about 45 people at our wedding - I would up that to maybe 60 or so and give everyone a good, casual meal and have a lot of fun. Not to say I have regrets about my wedding - it was a great time and I loved it, though it was small and far from fancy. It was the last time we ever saw my FIL alive so that has meaning above and beyond any of the wedding "trimmings."

[NVNVGirl]

What was served?

PASSED APPETIZERS:

SPEARS OF BELGIAN ENDIVE

with smoked trout, citrus concasse and creme fraiche

FOCACCIA CROSTINI

offered with assorted toppings

-vine ripe roma tomatoes with basil

-tapenade and caponata

-sonoma goat cheese with sundried tomatoes

-caramelized red and yellow peppers

-sauteed forest blend wild mushrooms

ASSORTED CALIFORNIA ROLLS AND SUSHI

with soy, wasabi, and marinated ginger

CHICKEN CURRY PHYLLO TRIANGLES

SHU MAI

RUMAKI

SONOMA FOIE GRAS

seared and served on toast points

APPETIZERS (STATIONARY)

SPICY FRESH CRAB CAKES

with Creole remoulade

FRESH JUMBO TIGER PRAWNS

peeled, deveined and poached

Served with bloody mary cocktail sauce

COLD WATER OYSTERS

shucked to order and served with mignonette, lemon and tabasco

ASSORTED CAVIARS

with creme fraiche and blinis

BEAUTIFUL DISPLAY OF SEASONALLY FRESH FRUITS

with abundant available berries

RIPE BRIE AND AGED STILTON

with crostini and crackers

ABSOLUTELY KILLER DOMESTIC RACK OF LAMB

grilled on site and carved into chops at the station

BISCOTTI AND TRUFFLES

JUMBO CHOCOLATE DIPPED STRAWBERRIES

Would I serve the same thing now?

After 6 yrs....Absolutely~ wish I could do it tomorrow

Do I actually remember the food?

Well, I remember what it all looked like....but I actually only got one oyster and a lamb chop. And lots of champagne

Would I scale back if the costs escalated?

The only thing I would have eliminated would have been all the dessert stuff...it said only biscotti and truffles and the strawberries, but it took one entire tent, so I'd say that there was too much of that. Otherwise, no, I would still do the same thing. Hey, you only do it ONCE, don't you ?

[Tkrup]

We got married last October, and because of our culinary dorkishness, we really wanted the food to be good above all else. We booked a local restaurant called The Brass Elephant. They were really great! The Chef worked with us to add some Portuguese dishes to the menu, and we got to rent the entire place on a Sunday for cheap because they aren't open for lunch on Sunday. We did our ceremony under the beautiful hand carved teakwood arch, then moved everyone upstairs for snacks and cocktails in the lounge with the solid marble bar. One hour later, everyone came back downstairs and had lunch and danced. They even worked with us on the wines, purchasing some Portuguese wines just for the event. If anyone in Baltimore is looking for a place to do their reception, I have to suggest this place. It was almost effortless (at least on wedding day!)

Here's our menu....

Cocktails and hors d’oeuvres in Tusk Lounge

Bruschetta- roasted garlic, tomato and herb

Chicken Noisets (frango no espeto)

Mini crab cakes with wafers and remoulade

Displayed Fruit, Cheeses, Olives, Vegetables and Dips

Dinner Menu

Mixed field greens, aged sherry vinaigrette,

grape tomatoes, shaved red onion, cheese

Paella- shrimp, mussels, crawfish, chorizo,

tomato concase, saffron, basmati rice

Steak Frites- grilled NY strip atop shoe string potatoes

with burgundy demi glace and jumbo asparagus

Breast of chicken, delfine potato, baby carrots,

cognac and green peppercorn jus

Desserts

Wedding Cupcakes (small cake on top, chocolate hazelnut filling, ivory frosting, fall colors, gold wrappers)

Lemon custard in mini puff pastry cups (Pasteis de nata)

Fresh Berries

Edited February 22, 2005 by Tkrup (log)

[SuzySushi]

We got married on Waikiki Beach, then we and about a dozen guests walked half a block to a hole-in-the-wall Chinese restaurant. I don't remember the food distinctly (a lot of different dishes were served), but it was tasty and ours must've been the only wedding reception the restaurant held in its entire existence.

A few months later, we held a "real" wedding reception for my family and friends in New York City at a Chinese dim-sum restaurant. Again, the actual dishes just kept coming around, so no one item stood out.

No wedding cake at either party.

The one thing that did stand out at the dim-sum brunch was the bill afterwards. My husband and I had stopped at the wine shop on the way over to pick up Champagne for the party and had spent most of our cash. The bill arrived and he tried to pay it by credit card. No go, said the manager. Credit cards are only accepted at dinner. But this was a meal for 40 people and the bill came to well over $300. Sorry, no credit cards. Luckily, my sister was still there and we could borrow cash from her. I wonder if the manager would have put us to work washing the dishes...

All this was 14 years ago (and we're still very much happily married).

[callalla]

Our wedding reception was held in a whisky distillery about a mile away from where my parents live in Scotland. In the end we had about 120 people at the reception (we didn't expect that many, but everybody said yes to the invitations!). We picked a local caterer to do a buffet which I seem to remember included things like poached salmon, cold roast beef etc. It sounds a bit boring, but I really wanted things that everybody would like, especially as many of them had travelled a long way, and needed sustenance for a long night of ceildh dancing ahead... Also, this might seem like a bit of a given, but I knew that the caterer uses really good ingredients and would go the extra mile to ensure that everything looked and tasted lovely, so I was happy to stick with fairly 'safe' options.

From vague memory(this was only three years ago), she also did a great dessert buffet, but I was starting to get a bit emotional and nervous what with the speeches coming up and didn't really eat it.

My mum made the wedding cake which was beautiful. I appreciated it even more as she had just made one for my brother's wedding 5 weeks earlier. Ralph was very organised and gave her a couple of years to get started but I think that we only had about 4 months from getting engaged to being married.

Quite late in the evening, my husband and I snuck up to the room where the food was (leftovers were re-plated nicely for people to graze on through the evening), and were just starting to get stuck in when we got called away for Auld Lang Syne and to be packed off to our hotel. Being quite ravenous, I think that we ate all of the biccies in the room, and then had a huge breakfast the next day. Ah, happy memories!

[Abra]

Our 10th anniversary is coming right up, so the wedding has been on my mind a lot lately. That was the first time either of us had ever hired a caterer (2nd marriage for us both) and we really had no clue. I picked a bunch of appetizers that sounded good, stayed out of the kitchen and let the caterers do their thing, but don't remember actually eating any of it on our wedding day. We had lots of apps and cake for the guests, since we were married in early afternoon, and then the family went out to dinner that evening. We did have lots of leftovers, and so lunch the day after the wedding was assorted wedding food, and I remember thinking that it was good. We did have a delicious wedding cake, though, and I think I remember eating that. Or is it just that I've seen a picture of the cake-cutting, and that's what I remember?

A lot of people had told me that they didn't remember their wedding, and I'd vowed that wouldn't happen to me. We were married in our garden, which I'd been feeding Miracle Grow for several months before the wedding, so it was gorgeous. I do remember the wedding itself in vivid detail, but the food...I have to admit that I remember more about what the plants ate than what the guests ate! There were only about 30 of us, and I suppose they did eat. The dumbest thing was that we bought unforgivably cheap champagne from Trader Joe's for the toast, neither of us being much into wine at the time. It was so terrible that we had lots of bottles left over, evidently no one wanted to drink much of it and I was cooking with it for months afterward.

What I find really funny is that now I have a personal chef business, and I cook for peoples' weddings and rehearsal dinners, and I'd be totally mortified if they didn't remember the food, like I don't remember the food at my own wedding. It must be karma!

[lesfen]

When you planned your wedding meal, how much of a factor was your concern about the appropriateness of the choices for your guests?

So much so that we're having rigatoni... my family don't like no fancy food.

[racheld]

Our wedding was twenty years ago, WAY down South, on my parents' lawn, with food done by the dear people who had assisted me in catering weddings for many years. We served beverages on the new deck where we had just repeated our vows; a big punchbowl of 40-weight Iced tea, one with fruit punch, and one of an odd concoction of champagne and CranApple, a favorite of my Mom's. The good Baptist ladies virtuously shunned the bottles of chilled bubbly being poured, averting their eyes as they headed for that GOOOOOOOOD red punch.

A dear friend had asked me many years before to "do" her a little wedding, as they had absolutely no funds to have any sort of reception. We had scouted her up a nice white prom dress, I made a small tiered cake and a lovely tea-party table; I had dozens of silk corsages from all my years as a caterer, so we passed them out abundantly to Moms and Grandmothers and Aunts. Another friend did the photography, just for the price of the film. We had a wonderful small lawn ceremony, just at sunset, also on my parents' lawn, and the bride just kept saying she'd never forget me for doing such a lovely day for them.

SOOOO. I asked her to coordinate the reception for our wedding, and she did an outstanding job. I was doing the food myself, and I had intended only that she see that things got put out on the tables in a timely fashion, platters filled, etc., but lots of the ladies from our little church insisted on pitching in and helping her, and we had ONE wonderful reception spread. Some made huge bacon-crusty pans of baked beans, another made fifty pounds of the BEST potato salad; there were Summer salads and pasta salads; bowls and platters of fruit and dips and spreads. My Dad did his famous bbq, eight-hour-pitted pork shoulders which just collapsed from the bone into melting, tender smokiness.

The young woman who had always provided my fresh vegetables picked her smallest, tenderest crops two days before: we did platters of steamed baby squash and zucchini and potatoes and turnips, with a warm sour cream/butter/ sea salt dip. The tiniest green beans tossed with red onion, yellow peppers and cherry tomato slices in a cool sesame vinaigrette; crudite of the smallest and tenderest radishes and snow peas and sugar snaps and broccoli and carrots.

Platters of devilled eggs, garnished with olives or capers or caviar; Lo Mein salad with black sesame seeds and cucumber; a tea table of tiny sandwiches, chou puffs with chicken salad, inch-biscuits with ham, cornbread mini-muffins with smoked turkey and cranberry mayo.

Another friend to whom I had referred all my birthday cake clients for several years insisted on making our wedding cake, and I just let her do her own thing. It was a luscious white cake with white frosting; it was buttery and sweet and perfumed with wonderful vanilla. It tasted like the very best cake on the very best Birthday you ever had, the day no one gave you clothes or practical stuff, but toys and books and games, and ribbons for your ponytail. We had NONE to save for our anniversary; it was eaten down to the last crumb, with Homemade ice cream. Even though there was pie.

THERE WAS PIE. Those ladies set up a pie buffet to confound and delight Miss Marthy herself. The meringue alone could have floated off with all the balloons around the lawn. There were coconut pies, lemon icebox pies, chocolate and chess and banana cream. Cobblers and banana pudding and Ooey-Gooey bars and lemon squares. I watched as one man left the table with a plate in each hand, a significant slice of several cream pies on one plate, and several berry kinds on the other. He made a quick detour past the ice cream servers, grabbed a BIG spoon, and settled himself over in the small side garden, sitting right on the grass with his back against the fence. Don't think I saw him again the whole evening.

My sons' friends had all chipped in for kegs of beer, as their present to us, and there was a great crowd out around that area all afternoon. As darkness descended, all those young folks trooped out to the big open field beside the lawn, and we all sat with our drinks on lawn chairs or quilts, watching a wonderful display of fireworks, a gift from my husband's Army unit.

Lovely day, lovely memories...thanks for letting me remember them again and share.

Edited March 11, 2005 by racheld (log)

[DTBarton]

We got married at the Chamberlin Hotel on Fort Monroe in Hampton, VA. Great location and view, was not renowned for the food.

My father in law and I planned the reception in the roof garden (wife and MIL planned the wedding held in a ground floor waterfront room), all the out of town guests stayed in the hotel. Travel by elevators.

Dad in law was very generous. The only time in my life I got to go all out for 250 people. Top shelf champagne, wine, booze. We had a hilarious meeting with the head chef. They had a standard printed event menu with stuff like swedish meatballs on it that he gave us. It took us about 20 minutes to convince him that:

1. We wanted him to be creative, think outside the menu.

2. Dad in law was willing to pay for the creativity.

The only time I've ever seen the cartoon light bulb over somebody's head when he got it. Then the ideas came out. Grilled dolphin in a pesto sauce. Now you're talking, we said. Smoked salmon roulades. Assorted grilled fall vegetables. Wedding was on Halloween (insert joke here), so we wanted a harvest type theme. Two centerpieces were carving table with roast turkeys and whole roast suckling pigs and an ice carving boat with raw oysters, clams and steamed shrimp.

I wish I could go back as a guest. Other than a couple of oysters and some champagne, didn't get to try much. Others said the food was great.

In a personal request, send out some good karma to Dad in law. He's very ill with cancer. I remember him smoking a big cigar and reveling in watching all the guests indulge.

[Portia_Smith]

Our wedding feast took place in a tiny wine cellar in Satov, in the Southern Moravian region of the Czech Republic. We managed to convince 60 of our friends to travel to what is essentially the middle of nowhere. The wedding itself took place at the nearby chateau in Vranov nad Dyji, which was heavenly and we bussed everyone to the vinny sklep (wine cellar) for an afternoon of partying and three meals. Not three courses - but three actual meals over 10 hours.

The food was prepared by the wife of the cellar master - started with noodle soup which Paul and I fed to eachother and then a livery, porkish pate with a currant jelly, pork schnitzel with the most fabulous potato salad i've ever had. Kolace (poppy seed, lemon or cheese) was the dessert - neither of us wanted a cake.

As much wine as anyone could drink, kegs of Hostan beer (brewed in nearby Znojmo) and minerals.

Most of our guests were horribly hung over from the pre-wedding party the evening before - in which a whole pig was roasted and the police were called (the two events not necessarily connected). Shots of merunkovice (local apricot schnapps) were passed around on arrival and I thought we were almost going to lose a few guests right there. But it's amazing what the hair of the dogski can do to speed recuperation.

The cellar master started taking small groups off to inspect his cellars and conduct what was later referred to as 'the crazy czech dude's speed wine tasting'. His famous comment was 'you are not here to remember, you are here to DRINK'.

People started getting merrier and merrier - then were fed marinated beef in a sour cream sauce with lemon and cranberries with bread dumplings (Svickova in Czech, I think) and wait - More kolace.

Lastly, we were all given plates of charcuterie and the local pickled gherkins. The gherkins are quite possibly the most fabulous thing in the world, synonymous with the Znojmo region. Oh - and more kolace.

I managed to polish off quite a bit of food - but found drink a real struggle, as I'd over indulged the evening before. Both bride and groom were exhausted on the day, I know Paul didn't eat anything at all.

Nothing would be changed (it was only 6 months ago, admittedly) - the food and surroundings were great, the hosts brilliant. They hadn't met any Australians before and their parting comment was ' We like the Australians, they drink like horses'.

Oh yeah - I might add that this is my second marriage. The first time around I eloped to Yuma, Az and we ended up at an Applebee's. Looking back, that should have been a harbinger for things to come.

[mizducky]

I've not gotten married myself, but I've officiated at a whole bunch of other people's weddings, which can give one an interesting perspective on the whole wedding biz, let me tell you. (I can still hear my internship supervisor advising me to try to keep the wedding party from drinking until *after* the ceremony. I still don't know how he expected me to stop them. )

Of all these various weddings, some had fabulous food and some had, erm, rather less so. But the one that most sticks in my mind for the food aspect, as well as for other features, occured on Vashon Island (in Puget Sound, a short ferry ride from Seattle) in the early 1990s. Vashon is a wonderful place, an entirely different vibe from the nearby city--largely rural, very laid back, with a bit of a artistic/left-over-hippy vibe--and the couple and their party, mainly long-time island residents, were very much in that mold. The wedding itself was held outdoors, in an apple orchard (I recall the groom, a bit of a character, deftly plucking an apple and taking a bite of it as he and the bride recessed out of the orchard at ceremony's end). We then all drove a little ways to a farm owned by friends of the bride and groom, where a catering company had a nice rustic pig-roast ready. They'd cooked the whole hog on a rig made from a split oil barrel. The buffet line was set up in a barn, with big platters of the pulled pork plus typical barbecue sides like cole slaw and the like. I always applaud those brides and grooms who achieve a wedding celebration that really reflects their personalities and style, and this one definitely did that.

And I just have to share a funny wedding-meal story from my sister's wedding planning. She was discovering, to her mingled stress and amusement, that her mother-in-law to be was an anxious worrywart fussbudget the likes of which she'd never met before. (Her son, having had a lifetime of his mom's fussbudgetry, tended to just roll his eyes when she'd go on about things...) Anyway, one of the things MIL-to-be said to my sister during the wedding dinner planning went something like this: "Now, you should be sure to choose no dishes that involve any kind of sauce or gravy, because there will be a lot of elderly family members at the dinner, and their coordination isn't what it used to be, and they'll wind up spilling sauce on themselves, and then whenever they see that stain on their expensive outfits it'll remind them of your wedding but it'll be an unhappy memory because that outfit was ruined." My sister told me that, the first moment she and her fiance got out of earshot of his mother after this pronouncement, they both cracked up laughing and vowed that their wedding dinner was going to have sauces on *everything*.

[Alex]

What did they serve at your wedding for the guests? OR, WHAT DID *WE* SERVE?

Do you actually remember the meal itself?  *INDELIBLY*

Would you have the same meal today after however many years of marriage? *WITHOUT A DOUBT*

If prices of food for such an event have escalated, would you scale-down the meal? *NO WAY*

Memory is such a strange thing. When this thread reappeared today, I would have wagered a moderate amount of cash that I had already replied. But noooo... So here's my reply.

Getting married at 46 and 41 has its advantages, not the least of which is that one gets to arrange the entire menu. It was a small reception (~40 persons), so we could splurge a bit. I did some of the menu, a chef-friend-CIA grad did most of the rest. I don't remember the wine, except that for the champagne toast our table drank a Tattinger Brut and the masses had a Chateau St. Jean bubbly. I do remember that my friend, my brother, my two nephews, and I spent a not insignificant amount of time watching the last game of the 1996 World Series on a little black and white TV in Temple Emanuel's kitchen. (You can take the boy out of New York, but....)

Apps: Stuffed grape leaves (vegetarian, locally made, and unfortunately no longer available); seedless green grapes covered in Boursin and chopped pistachios (friend)

Soup: Gazpacho (me)

Dinner: Cold poached salmon w/ginger remoulade and yogurt dill sauce on the side; couscous w/seasonal vegetables (friend)

Dessert: Wedding cake -- Three-tiered chocolate cheesecake decorated with edible Hawaiian orchids (me)

I think the food blew some folks away. My oldest nephew said he was fully expecting rubbery chicken, soggy green beans, and mashed potatoes. My father-in-law was heard to complain about the lack of meat, but wound up eating three helpings of salmon. We put a disposable camera on each table for our guests to take pictures of whatever they wanted; we wound up with more pictures of the cake than anything or anyone else!

[scordelia]

I had my reception at a private club known for its food.

We had a cocktail reception with a light buffet:

For appetizers--passed goblets of vichychoisse instead of fussy little canapes--this was way less expensive and people thought it was so original!

On the buffet--raised game rabbit pie, whole poached salmon and salad

For the cake--we went with a croquembouche because we got engaged in Paris and were married at Xmas time

I would not change a thing! I have been married for 5 1/2 years. The reception was lovely and was not too expensive but still very elegant.

Sophie

[hazardnc]

When I got married over 20 years ago in Houston, TX, it was more traditional to do a buffet and have an open bar. The country club catered the affair, so the food was your typical carving station, rolls, some sort of chicken, some boiled shrimp, cheeses, etc. We had an open bar and served Freixnet in lieu of champagne. The was the bride's cake (Italian Cream) and a chocolate groom's cake. We too were too busy socializing to eat, so my groom and I had very expensive hamburgers at the Houstonian that night!

The better affair was the next morning, when honored out-of-town guests and family members were treated to a lunch at Ninfa's on Navigation. They were served queso fundido, guacamole, Ninfa's famous fajitas and plenty of margaritas.

Sadly, my husband I missed the lunch as we were on a plane heading to our honeymoon destination. Very bad planning on my part!

[Portia_Smith]

Charles and Camilla's wedding day yesterday and this post had me scuttling off to my photo albums to enjoy an afternoon of reminiscence.

I'd like to share some of the star attractions of the weekend. Mr Porky was doing his thing on the lawn of the beautiful Penzion Jelen which terrified the vegetarians (pussies!).

And here is Mr. Smrcka aka crazy wine cellar guy - people disappeared into the cellar for a tasting and came up completely inebriated. Paul and I were too exhausted by that stage to take part in any drinking, so we missed out.

By the way - news just to hand indicates that the Royal Couple had egg and cress sandwiches, mini cornish pasties and scones with jam and cream at the reception.

[Gifted Gourmet]

By the way - news just to hand indicates that the Royal Couple had egg and cress sandwiches, mini cornish pasties and scones with jam and cream at the reception.

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ah yes, cornish pasties ... and then some ... more wedding details, click here ...

Your own Mr. Porky looks divine, Portia!

[Wendy DeBord]

Over the years many people have come to the Pastry & Baking Forum to ask about doing their own wedding cakes and the food at their own wedding. I've always tried to talk people out of doing their own food at their wedding. Because, at the time I got married my family owned a somewhat successful catering business..........so of course we/I catered my own wedding. I've always had TONS of regrets about doing so because I worked at my wedding and didn't enjoy the experience like I wish I would have.

So I'm reading this thread and gosh I couldn't begin to remember what we served.........so I went to my photo albums to remember. I haven't looked at my wedding pictures in at least 10 years and supprisingly I think they sort of hold up to the test of time.

I got crazy (hubbys at work so I'm bored) and I took some digital photos of pictures from my album to share with you all. I hope this isn't too boring........

This table had tenderloin and smoked turkey to make into sandwiches (or not) on one end, then a salad bar on the other.

We had other tables of savories, but I don't seem to have photos of them. One had a seafood table with crab claws and mustard sauce, shrimp and coctail sauce, oysters on the half shell and condiments, smoked fish.

Another table was a fondue station. I had bowls and baskets of items to dip into the fondue, like: baby potatoes, bread cubes......oh I can't recall what else.

I had another station........but for the life of me I can't recall what was on it, hum.........Then we had passed HD's of baby lamb chops (they were outragously good), crab wontons, beef wontons............and again I'm blanking out, sorry.

Last I did my own wedding cake and sweet table. If I didn't have a photo of this I wouldn't recall anything. Here's a view of that:

I only made the truffles in this chocolate box. I bought the box from Cora Lee candyshop. My husbands Uncle still talks about those truffles, over the years I've mailed him more to keep my one fan happy.

I forgot to mention that this was 16 years ago, just when Martha Stewarts first book hit the scene and I was heavily influenced by her. I even bought depression glass dishes in different colors (no rented stuff for me)........the cake was a basketweave design (ala Martha).

[Gifted Gourmet]

Wendy, this is something fantastic to remember and share, as you have done here! Beautiful food displays all of which I am now dying to taste! Your guests must have been in awe of your abilities, both of you ... sincere appreciation for your sharing this with us ...

[Kris]

I got married in October of 2001 at an Italian catering hall in NYC called Riviera. The food was stupendous and over-the-top. There was so much food that many of my guests thought that the cocktail hour was the main meal.

Cocktail Hour:

Carving Board with Chateaubriand, Loin of Pork, Roast Leg of Lamb, roast turkey and Fresh Salmon.

Baked Clams Oregonata

Fried Calamari

Mussels Marinara

Scallops

Crab stuffed tomatoes

Chicken cacciatora

Stuffed zucchini

Meat and Eggplant Fra Diavolo

Grilled sausage

Pheasant DiLuci

Tripe

Stuffed mushrooms

Risotto a la genovese

Stuffed peppers

Cheese tortellini al filetto di pomodoro

Ravioli with Meat sauce

Linguini with clam sauce

Fresh & Smoked mozzarella with tomatoes

Prosciutto with melon

Fresh fruit

Assorted breads and bread sticks

Sit Down Dinner:

Appetizer: Sliced fresh melon with berries

Soup: Stracciatella alla romana (chicken & egg drop soup)

Salad: Caesar Salad

Guests could choose a dinner entree from the 10 selections listed below. If they were still "hungry", they could choose a second, different entree.

Shrimp Scampi

Roast Duck

Filet Mignon

Baby chicken

Veal Chop

Filet of Lemon Sole

Baked Eggplan

Pork Chops

Red Snapper

Chicken Capriciosa

We also had a full open bar with top shelf brands, full international wine list and frozen drinks.

I didn't eat much from the cocktail hour, but I enjoyed my two dinner entrees (filet mignon and red snapper) along with several pina coladas and champagne. I was a bride with a hearty appetite.

We had about 125 guests. We were expecting 150-165 but many guests bowed out due to 9/11. They were scared to fly to NYC at that time.

Don't think I remembered this whole menu....I have my catering hall contract and wedding menu carefully preserved. Every so often I'll pull it out and smile. :)

[Susan in FL]

I love reading all the posts on this thread. Boring... NO way! Thanks, All.

[Gifted Gourmet]

I love reading all the posts on this thread.  Boring... NO way!  Thanks, All.

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As I re-read parts of this thread (which has actually lasted longer than some marriages! ), I never found the word 'boring' ... I think everyone likes to wax nostalgic and relive the food served at their weddings ... if they can recall accurately in the excitement of the moment!

[curlywurlyfi]

The best wedding (food-wise) that I went to was on the Isle of Wight in the summer, and started with champagne + crab sandwiches made by the bride's mother - normal size slices of brown bread, cut into quarters, for the home-made craggy look. Then a hog roast, and finally, at midnight after much dancing + jollity - a doughnut van. Genius!

[lyagushka]

What did they serve at your wedding for the guests?

Do you actually remember the meal itself?

Would you have the same meal today after however many years of marriage?

If prices of food for such an event have escalated, would you scale-down the meal?

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Yes, I remember the meal, because I prepared nearly all of it myself. We had:

Hors d'oeurvy bits:

batons of baked zucchini wraped with prosciutto

apricots with goat cheese and pistachios

Main event:

Curried tomato soup

Fennel & sage crusted pork loin (roasted)

Timbalo of pasta with two different sauces (tomato & basil)

green salad with seckel pears and Asiago

grilled portobello mushrooms with garlic oil

braised fennel

(seems like I'm missing another vegetable here, but I can't recall what it would have been)

dessert:

home-made lemon cake with lemon curd

dark belgian chocolate

We were married in October. My mom made the base of the tomato soup in summer from her home-grown tomatoes, and froze it for later use. My aunt is a fantastic baker and she made the modest two-tiered wedding cake. My cousin then decorated it with edible flowers and berries. It suited our small (40 guests) country wedding very well. We had a full bar with a paid bartender, who served the wines we selected (a McElroy white and a Marr zinfandel if I'm not mistaken) and whatever mixed drinks the guests wanted. The backdrop of fall colors gave us all the grandeur we needed in the setting, and fortunately it was a balmy, indian summer day. The whole thing was very non-traditional with a little bit of formality and a lot of unstructured socializing. Almost everyone who was there told us afterwards that it was the best wedding they'd ever attended.

You bet I'd have the same meal again! And I doubt I'd cut back on the meal if costs went up. It just wasn't that extravagant. It was good because it was all really well prepared with quality ingredients. Not because the ingredients were exotic or prestigious.

[Rebecca263]

1987, we got married on ten days notice (the future ex husband was very anxious to get married RIGHT NOW, PLEASE!)... so, only 150 or so guests, mostly friends of my in laws, because that was who was in town on such short notice. A local hotel closed their restaurant for us, and I do not remember one thing about the food. Well, my father and his wife flew in, and we had kosher meals brought in for them, and for some in laws of my future ex husband's father's future ex wife(got that?) but that is the extent of meal that I can recall. I can tell you this funny bit. As I got married on such short notice, and I was so skinny at the time I had to wear a bridesmaid's dress off the rack, got no invitations, had no wedding shower, etc.(boy was I irked by that! I mean, really, no bachelorette party even!) in compensation I ordered the most expensive cake that I could, at a local Coral Gables bakery, to the tune of $700 plus. I came home from shopping, and F.E.H. said "Darling, do whatever you girls want about anything for the wedding, but get me a cake from Publix, please!" I hastily changed my deposit at the bakery to cookies, and ran to Publix. I bought the most elaborate white pineapple layer cake that they could make me, with fresh flowers along each layer(thanks, cousin Laurie!), and after making a cake to feed hundreds still barely spent $200. The things that people remember about that wedding to this day are: the sun setting and the guitarist playing alongside the cantor while we were wed on the sand, the open bar, the cake and the open bar. I'd do it all the same, excepting the groom, if I ever do. Especially the open bar. VERY conducive to happiness, until your drunk FIL sees the bill at the end of the night, and decides it's wrong, because 150 people just could NOT drink THAT much. Well, Dad, those Miami Beach socialites not only could, they did! I mean it, the bar cost more than the rest of the wedding. I am not exaggerating, we could have bought a used car instead. And, BTW, getting married on short notice? Excellent idea. Everyone assumed we were in a family way(although no one said anything to us), and gifted us accordingly(yup, $$$). We got to buy what we needed, and had very few unneccessary gifties! Of course, I was embarrassed a few months later when my MIL's friends were all checking me out in my bikini at the club, it turned out I was expected to be showing!