The hot temperatures on Saturday reminded us of one of our favorite weddings from 2008. Remember Joan and Ben’s wedding last June? It was 90+ degrees outside but we had a fabulous time anyway. So I found out today from my the awesome duo of Anne and Bill Holland of Holland Photos Arts that Joan and Ben’s wedding is featured in the Little White Book blog! Thanks Courtney!
Glenview Mansion wedding
Recently, we were invited to An Evening with the Chef at Main Event Caterers to sample their culinary capabilities and to meet their staff. My husband’s company has used Main Event for several of their corporate parties and they have always done an excellent job (best crab cakes). What a wonderful evening! We had so much fun and went home full and happy. The event designers were friendly, the wait staff was attentive but not overbearing (we learned that a lot of their staff has been with the company a long time), and the chef was engaging and personable. The food was nothing short of amazing, beautifully presented and full of flavor.
What I like about Main Event is that they are a medium size catering company so you get very personalized attention. On the “green” front, Chef Joel has been composting for a long time. They are also more than willing to share their used cooking oil to power bio-diesel vehicles. On top of that, they really go out of their way to recycle everything and are using biodegradable disposables. See their website for more info on their environmentally responsible initiatives.
Showing off some new tablescapes
Demonstration kitchen. Look at the wine rack!
Chef Joel preparing the first course of Artichhoke Soup in his demo kitchen. He also offers cooking classes.
One of the small plates of raw lasagne. check out the cool silver wavy placemat
Small plates: Mini corn & smoked chicken tomales
Dessert! Chocolate cherry shortcake
Are these dishes beautiful or what??!!
If you missed the vendor recap, go to Part 1. Can you believe I forgot my camera?! I never leave home without it! So here are a few teasers from Jan Graves and more are available on her blog here and here.
You can see one of the altar arrangements do double duty at one of the food stations.
Instead of a groom's cake, Adam chose apple pie, his favorite. Why not?
The thing I remember most about this wedding is that Gwen and Adam looked happy and excited the entire day!
Church: Church of the Ascension resident at the Christ Church of Arlington.
Reception & Catering: Clarendon Ballroom. Excellent as usual. Because Gwen and Adam were going for more of a cocktail party vibe, the Ballroom did a mixture of cocktail tables, hightops, larger tables and lounge furniture! It was a fun alternative. The chef also made the cake which was moist, airy, and delicious!
Photographer: Jan Michele Photography. What I like about Jan is how proactive she is. She scouts out your ceremony and reception venues if they are locations she has not been to. She will also scout out some good locations for photos. Unlike most photographers, she also attends the ceremony rehearsal to work out any restrictions with the officiant and to meet the wedding party members. She had the photos edited and a slideshow up on her blog within 3 days! Talk about fast!
DJ: Mike Bell from MyDeejay.com. Mike did a great job.
Florist: James Cox
Makeup: Makeup by Brooke.
Stay tuned for Part 2 and the photos!
For the vendor recap, go to Part 1.
Beautiful white wreath by Philippa Tarrant at the Holy Trinity front doors
Programs
Escort Card Table
What a little pipe and drape can do to hide the otherwise boring ballroom walls. See the uplighting around the room and the pinspotting on the tall centerpieces?
My new favorite: the gold grid organza overlay paired with the gold bead clear charger from Party Rentals. Note also the menu card and boxed favors. They were the most yummy chocolate covered pretzels.
eaTip #1 : Using a mix of hotel and rented linens help to keep the budget reasonable. You can select a few tables to highlight with specialty rental linens like we did here with the organza overlay for the sweetheart table. The cake table also got special treatment with a double layer of gold shimmer tablecloth.
Cake by Park Hyatt pastry chef
eaTip #2 : It’s good to mix up the colors as you move from one part of the evening into another. For Abigail, her ceremony decor was mostly white/ivory. At the cocktail hour, we used the brown linens provided by the hotel. Once inside the ballroom for dinner and dancing, there were more touches of gold and deep red. While all the colors were present at each part of the event, the emphasis was on a different color at different parts of the evening. This will give you a coherent overall look but still allows you to vary things up a bit.
Sunday brunch at the Westin Grand Promenade. The floral centerpieces made a 2nd appearance too!
event accomplished 