Wedding Recap: Part 9 – The Fun!

Without question the best part of our wedding was our entertainment. One of the main goals we had when planning was for everyone to have FUN at our reception. Creating fun is a lot harder than you think. You need a lot of things to fall in to place in order for guests from across the country, young and old, drinkers and sobers (although not that many of our guests were sobers) many who do not know each other, to all get together and have a really fun time. Here are the key components that created fun on our wedding day:
1) No sit down dinner – too formal for us, we wanted the whole evening to feel casual so that people were comfortable meeting new people rather than forced to converse with who happened to be sitting at their table. We strategically placed food tables throughout the space so that people would have to walk around to taste everything. We also had a mix of tall boy tables and seated tables so that everyone wouldn’t all be seated at once.
2) Extra Activity – let’s face it, not everyone is going to get crazy on the dance floor, so in order to give those guests something fun to do. We had a Photobooth where guests could get a little silly and we could get great shots of our friends and family.
3) Splurge on the booze – in actuality we got a really great price for our bar service and were just lucky that they were trying to get rid of the top shelf stuff. Our bartender kept the line moving even while mixing up anything our guests could think of. Even my mother was taking shots of who knows what.
4) Provide transportation – the big reason that we were able to go so heavy on the booze was because we had reserved a Trolley service to take guests to and from the hotels in the city. Less than half of our guests came by car which made it easy to safely transport the drunks back to Coney Island and then the hotel.
5) Awesome Entertainment – I married in to one talented family. Evan’s cousin’s band, the Lonely Jones, performed at our reception and they rocked the house! My step-father got in the action and played the harmonica and the spoons! While the band took a break, his other cousin, DJ Hubbs, kept the crowd dancing. More on the entertainment in my next post…

Food Finally Finalized!!

I am very excited to finally share some of the details of our catering! As you may have read in my earlier post, we are having a cocktail style reception. We have been working diligently to convey our vision for our reception in many a catering meeting. I am so happy to report that we finally found a caterer who gets it. Zingerman’s Catering it is! For those of you from Michigan (particularly the Ann Arbor area) you may already know all about Zingermans. They started as a small deli in the 1980’s and have expanded their business to be a staple of the Ann Arbor Community by serving quality fresh made foods. The food and the service are sure to be amazing. Check out this excerpt from their website.

We pride ourselves on treating our guests like royalty (in fact, we’ve written a book about it). With Zingerman’s Catering and Events you can be confident that the service will be five star.

So far we have received great service from our contact, Laura. Exceptional service is a wonderful thing, but if the food is no good, it doesn’t really matter. Trust me when I say this, the food is going to be delicious! We had four people at the menu tasting in March: Evan, me, Evan’s Mom, Jane and Evan’s sister, Jessica. We all left stuffed and satisfied. Here were some of the favorites:

Bruschetta

Our Bakehouse baguette is made to eat the same day it is baked, with a thin crispy crust and a soft interior. Grilled baguette slices are topped with a creamy spread made with Zingerman’s Creamery cream cheese and imported Italian Roi pesto, or fresh tomatoes with fresh basil.

We sampled two types of Bruschetta, tomato and pesto. Both were absolutely delicious! This was probably my second favorite thing that we tasted. I was on the fence about serving bruschetta, but after tasting this, we knew it was a must have.

Meat Skewers

Marinated chicken with spicy peanut sauce, ginger and balsamic vinegar.

When talking about how we should serve meat, a skewer sounded like a great option. You don’t need a knife to eat off a skewer and it keeps everything bite-sized so you can grab as many or as few as you like. We are going with the chicken skewer which should hopefully be a crowd pleaser.

Italian Platter

Classic antipasti at its absolute best. We selected the best of our Italian salamis and cheeses and curated a selection just for you, featuring genoa salami handkerchiefs, Parmigiano-Reggiano bites and aged provolone pyramids.

Another item we were “on the fence” about was the antipasti platter. We narrowed the selection down significantly from all the items we tasted, but let me tell you, I could eat handfuls of the parmigiano-reggiano. This will be a nice little bite for people who like some salty cheeses and salamis.

Meatballs

A very old family recipe from food writer Elizabeth Minchilli’s Italian mother-in-law. Served in homemade tomato sauce. We use local beef from D-Kay Cattle.

Meatballs are a little less formal for a wedding, but these were my absolute favorite thing that we tasted. They were delicious at room temperature which is most likely how they will be served. I didn’t want a big steel warmer as part of our food display, so I am happy that they could work with us on that.

I am confident that the food will be a memorable part of our day because of the beautiful display, great service and amazing tastes. I can not wait to chow down. I hope someone saves me a plate!

No Knives Allowed

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When we first started planning our dream wedding, Evan and I both agreed that we did not want a seated dinner service. The formality of an assigned seated affair where dinner is served by waiters in white gloves just isn’t us. We also agreed that we didn’t like the idea of a buffet style dinner. We are both great table fillers since we are very social, so we have been to many a wedding where we were sat at the mixed table which is always last to be invited to the buffet line. So if we don’t want a waiter served dinner and we don’t want a buffet where does that leave us? Unfortunately, it leaves us in a gray area.

We want there to be food (obviously), and we want the food to be good, but we don’t want the food to be the focus of the event. This alternative request is causing quite a question mark with many of the caterers that we have met with so far. They are calling our request a “cocktail-style” reception. I am also being told that this type of reception is becoming more and more popular. Where we are getting stuck is that every caterer we met with has a different idea of how to manage the catering for this type of event. The food options that are being presented just wouldn’t work for this type of event. Carving stations, chicken, steak or pasta dishes just aren't going to cut it. What I have come to learn in many meetings trying to explain my vision is that we do not want any food that must be eaten sitting. If we are keeping people moving, some people will be eating while standing, so that means NO KNIVES!

How I envision the food service is: waiters with trays of mini-bites strolling for at least the first hour of the reception and 3 stationary tables of food that can be eaten while standing throughout the reception space. This way people will have to walk through the space in order to find all the food options and be more adept to mingle with each other. We will have a mixture of high-boy tables and seated tables in order to encourage guests to keep moving and mingling. We will not have as many seats set up as there are guests so that everyone will not be tempted to sit down. There will be no assigned tables (which is kind of sad, since table numbers are so fun to DIY). This could be great or it could totally backfire.

The food selection is particularly important to ensure the success of this style of reception. We need items that can be eaten while standing, items that are savory and satisfying (since they are replacing dinner) and a variety of items so that there is something for everyone. We are coming upon our final catering meeting and some decisions are going to have to be made. Here are some of the options we have and the pros and cons of how they will work for our “cocktail style” reception.

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Mini Crab Cakes - crab cakes are a must for this Marylander, easy to eat in one bite and perfect for passing

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Steak Bites on a Skewer - could work if the bites are small enough, no knife needed but you still have steak!

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Mushroom Tartlet - a good vegetarian option and still savory

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Tomato Soup Shots with Grilled Cheese Minis -could be really cute if done well, but is tomato soup could be too cozy for a summer wedding

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Spring Rolls - could be a fresh and savory addition, might need a knife for these unless they are pre-cut

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Bruschetta - a personal favorite of mine, but could get messy

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Mini Cocktail Meatballs - another savory option, could be messy, but could be nice on a skewer

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Blue Cheese Stuffed Grapes - definitely yummy, but not too savory

Anyone else getting hungry?