Catering Tasting

Last Friday JM, Mom, Dad, Lynds and I went to the Ritz Charles to taste a few samples so we can make a decision on the wedding menu. It was really neat, they had a table set up on the dancefloor for us so we could see the china, linens, etc. that will be used for our reception.

This is how the tables will look, minus the diet coke can! We will be using these ivory tablecloths, but we are having chocolate cloth napkins. The centerpieces come with the catering (the votives with the mirror). I haven't decided whether or not to add some rose petals, leaves, or whatever, in addition. The family tables will have centerpieces made by the florist...but it was way too expensive to have one at every table!

We are going with the buffet option, in which we get to chose a salad, a couple of sides, a veggie, 2 main meals, and then rolls. We were able to try 3 of the main dishes, so the first one we tried was the london broil. The chef came out ahead of time and explained everything. He had marinated it for 2 days in a tomato basil. The rose is made out of tomatoes. It was excellent.

Then we tried the key lime chicken. I didn't want to do the usual chicken with sauce or gravy, so I thought this would be different. It was marinated in lime and honey and then it was cooked so the marinade became a glaze. I thought this was amazing. The chicken was sooo juicy.

We then tried the beef brochettes, which I had no clue what would be! They were awesome. It was flank steak on skewers with olives, pearl onions, artichokes, and some type of sweet pepper. It was then sprinkled with feta cheese. The chef said it was Mediterranean inspired.

While it all was amazing, we could only pick two. I wanted a red meat and then a chicken, so we obviously went with the key lime chicken. It was a tough decision between the brochettes and the london broil, but the brochettes won out. We thought it was a very unique dish to have at a wedding and sooo tasty!

Then we tried 3 different cakes to see what icing, cake flavor and filling we liked. The icings we tried were cream cheese and buttercream. It was a unanimous vote of the buttercream. We then tried the white, chocolate and yellow cake. That was a toss up, but in the end, yellow. It was moist and didn't take away flavor from the rest. The fillings were almond mousse, cafe mocha and chocolate truffle. The cafe mocha was way too coffee-like. I really liked the almond mousse, but the majority vote was for chocolate truffle. We're not for sure that we're going to have the Ritz do our cake, but if we do, this will be the cake.

It's a wine/beer bar. There will be a white and red wine and then the two beers will be Coors Light and Mich Ultra. That may change, but for now it's what we're going with. Cocktails will be cash only.

We still haven't decided on appetizers or sides, but that should be taken care of in the next week or so.

Hope everyone had a happy Father's Day!

A visit to the wedding site

Last Friday, JM, Mom, Dad and I went over to the Monon Center to meet with the coordinator and take a look at the grounds. Everything was a blur when we went there originally and decided to have our wedding there, so I wanted to take another look and get an idea of what we need to order and decorate. Turns out they have made some major purchases that I am THRILLED about! They bought white wooden folding chairs for the outdoor reception (which we don't have to rent!). They also are buying a shuttle so the bridal party doesn't have to walk all the way over to the ceremony site...it's not that far, but it will be when I'm dragging a train behind me! Now they're thinking of buying...ok, I can't think of the word for it, but it's that rectangle thing that the bride, groom and officiant stand underneath. Kind of like this...

Although there won't be an ocean behind us :-) (BTW, this is Courtney, one of my bridesmaids, and her husband, Ben's, wedding in Naples last November).

I'm very happy with all that the Monon Center is doing. They actually haven't had any weddings there yet and they're bringing in a wedding coordinator from the Ritz Charles so they have all of these ideas. Yay!!! Here are some pictures of the site.

These are of the banquet halls where the reception will be. They had it walled off for an event that night. This side has the stage. We'll also have all the balcony area that you can see outside.

The wall that you see to the right of this picture below will be open leading into the other rooms.

This is the other side of the banquet hall.

And the kitchen area where the food will be set up.

If the weather is poor (which it BETTER NOT be!!!), the wedding ceremony will be held inside on this breezeway. The doors at the end of this hallway will be shut and the furniture will be removed.

This bridge will serve as the background to the wedding ceremony outside. That's JM and Dad up there ahead of us.

Closer picture of the bridge and Dad videotaping for Greg.

This is looking out from the bridge. Everything's flooded right now so it's not a great view...but if you can tell there's a small hill on the right. They are going to build a walkway up to the top of the hill and that's where the ceremony will be held.

I should be hearing from the Monon Center sometime this week with their final decision on the catering (it should still be the Ritz Charles). I'll also get to speak with the girl who is going to be coordinating the weddings and get some ideas from her.

We may have found it!!!

As you know, finding a place and a date for our wedding has been quite the predicament. And by predicament, I mean pain in the @ss. Anyways, JM and I decided for a different approach. Screw having a neat, unique place, and let's spend less and maybe save for...I don't know...a house?

So, JM, Mom and I went to the Monon Center tonight to check it out. We liked it!!! Thing is, we'll be cutting a TON of costs, so in exchange, there's a particular photographer I want who is slightly pricey. The only dates in October that the photographer and the Monon Center have open in common are Oct. 17th and 24th...both Fridays. But, we get a discount on just about everything because it's not a Saturday!

I REALLY want the 24th (day after my 30th birthday...how fitting!), but another bride is going to look at the Monon Center tomorrow morning for a couple of dates, the 24th included. I just left the lady a rather desperate message and said that we discussed it and we definitely want the 24th...we'll come in tomorrow and pay the deposit! I'm hoping she'll at least sway the other bride away! If not....keep your fingers crossed that the photographer is open on the 17th! She was open the other day, I'm just hoping she isn't already booked!