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

[CaliPoutine]

I cooked my wedding dinner, as we only had 8ppl and it took place in our back yard.

I made chicken, shrimp and scallop kebabs

veggie kebabs

orzo pilaf

my MIL made her famous cole slaw.

I had a platter of fruit and I made shortbread cookies

a guest provided a small wedding cake( i hated it).

A year later we had a huge reception. Roast beef dinners are traditional in these parts and I wanted no part of that.

I hired a company that does smoked meats, etc,

We had chicken, corn on the cob, potatoes with fixins

We also had salad and cole slaw and rolls and homeade baked beans

and the piece de resistance

a 5 tiered cupcake tree. 300 cupcakes, 4 different flavors, filled and frosted by me.

coconut with coconut filling and a vanilla buttercream

double chocolate with choc. ganach

fresh orange with orange cream cheese frosting

white chocolate lemon with lemon curd filling and a white choc. cream cheese frosting

Edited January 24, 2005 by CaliPoutine (log)

[chromedome]

Couple trays of cold cuts.

Couple trays of buns.

No cake. Bulk wine from the u-bottle place, and not much of that. Thirty-odd in the wedding party, including bride, groom, parents.

I told my wife, "Hey, the first time 'round you got the wedding...this time you're getting the *marriage*.

...Of course, we were pretty broke at that time, too.

[oneidaone]

Oh Lord, I shudder to think.........Chicken of some sort ( help me this was 24 years ago.......) and

I'll never forget the "champagne" toast with those banquet bowl glasses.......at least we shared the wealth and had a glass for everyone - don't you hate it when you go to weddings where only

the head table has a glass of whatever it is (and fortunately I've been to not many.......)

Help me again, our first dance was "The Rose" WHY????????????

So the best food I remember was that my dad was so worried about folks driving home drunk that he reserved the entire floor of the Skokie Hilton and it was turned into a flop house of debauchery and mayhem with the main party identified by the floral arrangements flanking his room of all places and people filtering in and out at will. We actually had drained the bar of beer, bourbon and vodka

and they sent out employees for more for the reception and after party.

So, with all these people spending the night and waking up at random hours in even more random conditions.......my dad had the restaurant serving brunch buffet have an open ticket

for everyone and they were all welcome to filter in and eat, drink more and get their space

together to make it through the Sunday afternoon. What a motley group.....No Vince Neil.....

Suffice it to say I believe our 10th and 20th anniversaries were far better with food and libations

and if anyone wants to know about those events I'd be happy to elaborate. Nothing like the

'sweets table' in Skokie............a hui ho

[Susan in FL]

This is a fun topic!

[bergerka]

Got married in Phoenix in October, 1994. Had 300 people in my parents' back yard (they have a gazebo, under which the ceremony took place).

Food was catered by the Wigwam Resort - barbequed chicken and ribs, potato salad, green salad, corn on the cob, wedding cake (good - alternating layers of white and chocolate cake with a raspberry filling, white frosting. Can't remember what kind).

Finished up with tequila shots in my mom's kitchen. For the life of me, I can't imagine how I managed to plan such a great wedding and reception and choose such a lousy spouse ! (no, it wasn't slkinsey! One only gets this lucky once in life.) Chalk it up to serious youth and inexperience.

The COOLEST wedding reception I've been to was my brother's. Slkinsey catered - he cooked a pig in a pit and made polenta and assorted other goodies for about 100 people - in THEIR back yard.

K

[birder53]

This was over 26 years ago - the reception was small, 80 people. The party was held in a Greenwich Village brownstone with a lovely backyard. The "hosts" greeted each guest at the door with a glass of champagne and waiters moved through with trays of finger foods. A buffet of baked ziti and baked chicken was offered along with salads. There was an open bar. We had invited people to an "Open House" so there was no seating and guests wandered about visiting, eating and drinking. My brother put together a plate of food for me and I did eat a few bites. The highlight was the Carvel ice cream cake with "Good Luck Kathy & Louie" written on it that was too frozen to cut and caused the party to run over by an hour! We payed for the reception ourselves and selected the food. I certainly would not chose the same menu again! We did have a good time, it was informal and yes, we're still married. The caterer probably got a lot of mileage out of stories of our pedestrian choices for a long time after that. It wasn't exactly the usual menu they served to their Manhattan clientele, but they treated us as though we were their favorite client. Nice!

[reesek]

I remember thinking at the time, if I do this again, I will eat.

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that is the funniest thing i've read all day. i love your priorities, susan!

(not married, but definitely ready to plan the menu. )

[suzilightning]

we will be married 23 years this may. for the first ceremony outside at my mom's house we had:

clam quiche

quiche lorraine

stuffed eggs

pate with miniature pumpernickel bread

green salad with a basic vinaigrette

trays of cold cuts and cheese

portugese sweet bread and oatmeal bread

potato salad

coleslaw

chocolate chake with vanilla buttercream frosting

white fruitcake for the groom's cake

my mother, maid of honor and i made everything but the cold cut and cheese tray

the second ceremony with john's family was a hot and cold buffet that was catered in the Cottonwood Inn in Millbrook, NY.

since john is the way he is there was no dancing though we did have two young ladies from the mid-hudson philharmonic play - violin and harp. no cake ceremony either.

we ate, we laughed, we drank, we talked and had a good time.

i think if we were doing it again today i'd want to have a barbeque - hmmmmm newburgh isn't that far from poughkeepsie- but i would definitely do all the sides all over again.

[Gifted Gourmet]

we ate, we laughed, we drank, we talked and had a good time.

i think if we were doing it again today i'd want to have a barbeque -

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Barbecue nuptials? Cool idea! I like your line about "we ate, we laughed, we drank, we talked and had a good time"

Isn't that the main idea for a wedding anyway?

[suzilightning]

i don't know. when john's sister got married it was so stressful. who had to be invited since her dad was well known in the area. for that reason, too, he insisted she have a sit down dinner, etc. etc. etc. and it was all oh, this one wants to bring a date or we need to invite so and so, the food has to be fancier. thank goodness i was in control and paying for it.

[MHesse]

This May makes 21 yeas for us. My entire wedding party fit in one limo (6 of us). Ceremony at rabbi's study in Washington Heights, then back downtown for dinner at Cafe des Artistes. They had a special on DP champagne which is still the best I've ever had. Archie Bunker (err Carol O'Conner) was sitting at a nearby table. My step-daughter got his autograph.

Couple weeks later we had the party in our apartment. About 50 people consisting of friends of bride and groom. Quite an interesting mixture. Cake from Dumas! Food from Zabars, Williams, and a Mangeneros Hero. The cat sneaked out with a chicken breast and ate it while sitting on the guests' coats.

[Malawry]

Wedding was Sunday, June 3, 2001.

My sweetie and I were both vegetarian at the time, which affected the menu. Being Jewish we had a Sunday wedding--around 1pm, so the members of his choir could make it in time to sing. (Many of them sing for church choirs Sunday morning.) I figured, people love brunch food on Sunday afternoon, and with brunch food folks won't miss the meat so much.

While we were in seclusion, everybody had passed apps. I arranged for a plate of them to be sent to our seclusion room:

Zucchini-spinach tyropitas

Artichoke bottoms with some kind of mayonnaise

Vegan potstickers with ponzu sauce

Then we went down and mingled, and eventually we all sat and had toasts. Then my spouse and I were led to the buffet first, to guarantee we had a chance to eat. We served:

Some kind of roasted salmon, which I did not eat (I didn't even eat fish at the time)

Herbed egg omelets filled with spring vegetables

Asparagus and hearts of palm with red pepper coulis

Bowtie pasta in garlic cream sauce

Potato tart

Assorted breakfast breads and challah

Wines included some sort of pinot noir and I have no idea what else. I was too excited to drink! The bar was open and featured grapefruit, orange and tomato juices, vodka and champagne for making salty dogs, screwdrivers, bloody marys and mimosas.

There was a dessert table which I never saw and therefore can't identify. My family is huge on fruit and the caterer ran out. There was a tiny cake for cutting, a pound cake with chocolate frosting. Kinda dry and uninspired. I made a much better version for our first anniversary, since there was no top tier to keep.

My grandmother told me she'd been afraid we'd serve tofu and sprouts--she was thrilled that we served food as accessible and delicious as this. As was everybody else. I don't think anybody missed the meat.

[lovebenton0]

We started the day with coffee and muffins, went to sign the papers on the house we bought, and then went to the courthouse. Strictly us and the clerk on Valentine's Day. We planned it that way because we knew the house was closing, we'd be moving, starting a garden and just wanted a chance to do all that without the wedding stress. New hubby did surprise me with a weekend trip to the southernmost tip of South Padre Island immediately after the "ceremony." We ate crab legs and shrimp that night, huddled in a blanket on the beach watching the full moon turn the Gulf Cost waters to mercury.

Fast forward to the weekend after July 4th . . . our wedding celebration/reception. On the banks of a lovely little river in Central TX we set up the smoker early in the morning and fired it up it. We had nearly-smoked a brisket the night before at home and put it back in the smoker to finish off. Then the Elgin Hot Sausages and brats were grilled. Four dozen bollilos for sandwiches (made by me), flour and corn tortillas. A whole picnic table set with all the olives, pickles, hot pickled okra, sliced onions, garden tomatoes and jalapenoes, three kinds of bbq sauce, ketchup, mustards etc., you could ever want. Sides/snacks table had red potato salad with jalapeno yogurt/ricotta dressing, vinaigrette pasta bean salad, roasted corn on the cob, smoked salmon dip with crackers, chips and salsa, fresh fruit including a couple melons. Wedding cake was a fantastic chocolate/raspberry cake, 14" across, three layers with raspberry filling and chocolate silk icing made by my friend who does a bit of catering on the side. BBQ heaven! Lots of beer, limeade, bottled water. It was a great day, and nearly all the guests stripped down to bathing suits and tubed the river with us afterward.

(Then we left for the Bahamas. )

Yes, for the most part, I'd do it again. And, oh yes, we ate!

[Mooshmouse]

What a great topic! Though I remembered about 75% of what we served, I hauled out a copy of our dinner menu to refresh my memory on the specifics.

Instead of going the big blowout wedding route, we decided to have a more intimate 40-person wedding and made it a weekend-long event. We were married in August 1998 on Salt Spring Island; my husband's family have owned a summer cottage there for 20 years, and we wanted to share this special place with those closest to us.

Our reception was held on the lawn of an oceanfront cottage as there wasn't enough room on our property to accommodate everyone. With a jazz quintet playing on the deck, we dined al fresco under a summer's evening sky.

Passed hors d'oeuvres included:

- Grilled Salt Spring lamb skewers with minted yogurt sauce

- Caramelized apple and blue cheese walnut filo purses

- Grilled marinated prawns and fresh pineapple

The buffet dinner consisted of:

- Grilled seasonal vegetables atop a mixed wild greens salad with balsamic vinegarette dressing, pine nuts and asiago cheese

- Thai breast of chicken in a lime and coconut marinade

- Grilled Chilean seabass in a ginger-wasabi marinade with mango salsa

- Baby new potatoes, buttered and minted

- Lemon rice pilaf

- Poached asparagus with olive oil and romano cheese

Wedding cake details are hazy, but it had some kind of chocolate in it and was definitely delicious. Tea and coffee were also served (beans from Salt Spring Roasting, of course).

We most definitely served wine, both red and white though I can't remember what, and champagne for toasting. Lots of beer... after all, it was an outdoor summer wedding... as well as rum and vodka with assorted mixers. However, I distinctly remember a bottle of very expensive and very tasty tequila making the shot rounds later in the evening.

Do we remember eating? Heck, yeah... and we each went back for seconds! Would we do it again now even if it was more expensive? In a heartbeat. It was a phenomenal evening... now you've got me thinking about repeating it for our tenth anniversary. Hmmm.

[Milagai]

my wedding (~ 11 years ago now) was small by indian standards:

only about 300 people since no-one from my husband's family

could make the trip from the US.

(that's right, he is not indian in this birth, but given

his enjoyment of indian food of all kinds, must surely

have been indian in a previous life).

for them we had a second ceremony and a second feast in the us.

but the indian feast(s) consisted of breakfast and lunch

since our actual wedding ceremony was in the morning.

our typical tamilian wedding ceremony was vegetarian,

eaten off banana leaves (yes, with your hands

though stainless steel spoons are provided

for the westernized), and people eat sitting in rows

with the serving staff running up and down the lines

ladling the food out of stainless steel buckets:

here's a link with a typical menu selection

from an old egullet india board discussion:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=47694

but my actual feast had fewer items:

breakfast:

south indian coffee "by the yard"

idlis

sambar

vadais

uppuma

yogurt

lunch:

servings of rice (rice + different dish = 1 course)

so this was multi course I guess.

rice + drumstick sambar

rice + rasam

rice + spiced buttermilk

rice + yogurt (with pomegranate seeds in the bangalore style).

side dishes:

green beans + coconut curry

plantain curry

carrot + cucumber kosumali (salad)

mixed veg koottu

dollops of ghee as needed on the rice,

yummy pickle

dab of salt and sugar on the side

small slice of banana and sugar

appalams (papad / pappadum)

dessert:

rice kheer

gulab jamuns

we didn't get much breakfast because we were stuck

on the dais with varios ceremonies going on.

someone smuggled us a couple of bananas.

but my mother, bless her eternally, saw to it that

we were smuggled out and given a good lunch.

you bet i remember it.

even though the menu is almost identical to

almost every other tamilian wedding i've attended,

the food is so sublime and the caterer was first rate

so it stood out.

we repeated the feasting when my sister got married

~ 3 years ago, and though busy again made sure we

all stuffed ourselves, thuogh this time around i had

to make sure my kids were fed :)

i'm looking forward to the next round of family weddings

this summer. it will be in cleveland, ohio and i hope

the local caterers can match the standard i'm used to

(said snobbishly)

milagai

[hjshorter]

We had our wedding at a local restaurant - ceremony in the garden then a brunch with a jazz combo afterwards. I remember quiche and salad, not much else because after we were served we got up to talk to friends and when we got back our plates had been cleared! Our cake was almond pound cake with raspberry filling and almond buttercream and was DELICIOUS.

We had already been on our honeymoon (Scott was starting a new job the Monday after) but that night we stayed at the Morrison-Clark hotel in downtown Washington and had a wonderful dinner at the restaurant there.

The following day we had all of our friends over for grilled burgers, hot dogs, and assorted salads, and drank and carried on. Wound up scarfing the top of the wedding cake that had been carefully packed to freeze. It seemed a shame to waste a perfectly delicious cake like that.

Edited January 31, 2005 by hjshorter (log)

[snowangel]

Wound up scarfing the top of the wedding cake that had been carefully packed to freeze.    It seemed a shame to waste a perfectly delicious cake like that.

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Had to laugh. Some 20+ years after our wedding, my MIL discovered the top of our wedding cake in her freezer. Did we want it? Sure! With the kids watching, we opened a window in the upstairs of our house, and in a Monty Python sort of moment, tossed it out and watched it crumble. (BTW, even the squirrels wouldn't eat it).

Our wedding? A beautiful June day. We were young, and in love. Now older, we are still in love. Church wedding. Reception simple -- ham, buns, potato salad, kegs of beer, bottles of wine -- in my folks back yard. It was no work, no fuss, and lots of money left over. My BIL's parents sent us an unbelievably expensive bottle of champagne. We shared it with my sister, BIL and my folks, all perched on counters and the top of the toilet in the downstairs bathroom, drinking it out of little bathroom paper dixie cups.

We honeymooned at The Cabin and feasted on each other and simple food.

As we have weathered many things -- Heidi, gray hair, a teenage girl -- I am glad we did it as we did. Not fancy, but full of warmth and laughter and love.

[JennyUptown]

This is the most fun topic I've seen in awhile!! Love it.

But having never been married, I have no reception food of my own to contribute...unless you want to hear about the six (or is it seven?) weddings I've been in!

[Milagai]

This is the most fun topic I've seen in awhile!!  Love it.

But having never been married, I have no reception food of my own to contribute...unless you want to hear about the six (or is it seven?) weddings I've been in!

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why not? do tell!!

[buttercup]

I am working on my wedding menu. My fiance is Persian and my family is from the states/Cuban. I figure it would be ill advised to serve any of the famous Cuban pork dishes, so I am leaning to an American/Persian style.

Apps.

Have not narrowed it down. I can pick six. Was going to do some type of indian themed cocktail hour, but not sure where that is going.

Tables

On each table traditional Persian herb, radish, cucumber and feta platters and a selection of persian breads.

Buffet:

Eggplant stew with Lamb (Khoresh Badenjan)

Beef stew with fried potatoes (Khoresh Gheimeh)

Persian Chicken with Apricots

Poached Halibut with Pomegranate Sauce

Grilled Flank Steak with Molasses and Balsamic Glaze

Rice with Tahdig

Roasted Vegetables

Roasted Potatoes

Tomato and Herb Salad

Desert

Cake

Gazd

(I think I may need to cut some things out, but the caterer was fine with the menu)

I have some months to go, but this is what I expect to feed them...From what I am hearing, I am going to make a definite effort to eat-- maybe I will give a list of what I want and have a plate made up for me by someone else so I can do the tour of the room duty. I wanna eat!!!

[pattimw]

great topic. I really enjoyed reading everyone's replies.

May 12, 2001.

Very simple -

Cheese, fruit, and bread.

Filet Mignon with a bordelaise sauce

Grilled Asparagus

Mashed potatoes

(no vegetarians at our wedding)

Wedding cake - chocolate with a chocolate espresso mousse filling, buttercream frosting (vanilla I think)

[daves]

I agree -- this is a great topic...

We had a small wedding (about 60 people) at an old farmhouse that had been converted for events. There were a few large rooms that we used for different functions during the night: dining room (and later dance floor) and two 'quiet' rooms for sitting and talking.

This being Seattle, to start we had a latte bar with a barista. Guests arrived and could get a shot or two to perk up for the Saturday evening ceremony. After the ceremony, the wet bar opened with our selected wine and beer (all 4 selections we provided are still near the top of our list).

I really can't remember the apps -- I think they consisted of smoked turkey wrapped green beans, chicken satay, and 2 other selections. We didn't have any as we were signing papers and getting pics taken. But our dear friends did deliver beers to us

Dinner consisted of dijon chicken, some sort of risotto, some sort of tortellini dish, salad, and something else that I can't recall.

My wife (now a pastry chef) insisted on making her own wedding cake. I think it was a lemon chiffon with lemon curd and buttercream frosting. I was running all over town to get the candied flower petals when her order didn't show up on time.

Wife and I both spent the evening walking around and talking to old friends and dancing our butts off. I can't remember eating, but I know I must have. I also don't remember having too many beverages, but I also must have... A good friend paid us a great compliment a few years later when he said "I loved your wedding -- it was clear that you were having a party to celebrate the event and not just doing stuff to please someone else." As we were planning, that's what we were thinking ;^)

[amccomb]

Our wedding was also small - about 60 people. We had our reception in a restaurant since our main focus was food, and the hubby hates dancing.

We were married in October, and I wanted everything to have a fall feel to it.

Hors d'Oeuvres

Wild mushroom phyllo purses

Savory duck and sun dried cherry baklava

Winter rolls with pomengranate dipping sauce

Smoked chicken empanadas

assorted olives

assorted cheeses

spiced pistachios

foccacia

Soup and Salad

Creamy roasted onion soup with florentine croutons

Baby spinach with marinated re donions, crispy goat cheese medalions, walnut vinaigrette

Entrees

Roasted butternut squash stuffed shells with browned butter, fried sage, and toasted pine nuts with a side of garlic sauteed spinach

Stuffed herb roasted chicken stuffed with roasted fennel and chestnut stuffing with a side of sauteed herb gnocchi

Citrus and spice roasted pork loin with roasted root vegetables

Lamb with balsamic and rosemary reduction with a wild rice, apple, dried cranberry, and toasted nut pilaf

Desserts

Persimmon creme brulee and spice cake napoleon

Pear and currant frangipane tart

Gran Marnier pastry cream tart with carmelized cranberries

Assorted gelato

Assorted truffles

Cake - chocolate with white chocolate mousse and chocolate ganache and almond cake with raspberry filling and chocolate ganache

Wine, beer, coffee, tea, etc

The top layer of the cake was chocolate with peanut butter mousse filling, which we ate a year later and wasn't too darn bad!

We were served a tasting plate with small servings of all of the dishes, and while my husband ate, I had maybe a bite or two of food. Luckily, we had had a tasting beforhand, so I knew what it all tasted like!

We were married on a Sunday, and that I would change. People left early to get home for work the next day, and I would have loved to have stretched things out a bit and not have been so rushed. I would have added a small band just to play some background music and made some mulled wine, cider, and hot cocoa to keep us going,

Now the honeymoon...THAT was a food extravaganza. We went to San Francisco and wine country, and the highlight was dinner at The French Laundry.

We had talked about having an indian buffet, but were afraid that only the two of us and our 6 closest friends would eat. I would have loved a huge breakfast spread with mimosas and bloody marys and such. Maybe for our 10 year anniversary.

[Gifted Gourmet]

We had talked about having an indian buffet, but were afraid that only the two of us and our 6 closest friends would eat.

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Which then stimulates the next question on wedding meals:

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

I had a friend who insisted on serving oriental vegan and her mother had a fit saying that the guests would have little to eat after coming the long distance for the wedding. She was, it turns out, quite correct.

[Timh]

My wife and I eloped to Memphis and got married at the Viva Memphis Wedding Chapel, besides the Elvis, there was a preacher and a priscilla impersonater. They supplied moonpies and cokes afterwards. We then went out and ate BBQ. Later the family got involved at my family's farm in AR. We had blackeyed peas, turnip greens, skillet corn bread, a baked country ham, and a peach cobbler, all prepared by my sister, mom, granmother and an aunt. Add lots of beer and wine, it was the best reception I've ever been to.