A whole bunch of tasting

Well, another week is done and Teddy and I spent the weekend getting some more wedding things checked off the list.  On Saturday our wedding/reception venue Ruffled Feathers hosted their annual tasting for all the weddings in the next year.  It was much more than Teddy and I expected.  We went with both our mom's and it was pretty much a dry run of our wedding reception.

The room was set and decorated for 200 people (which nearly all tables were filled).  We were greeted with a string duo playing some beautiful clasical music.  Teddy and I were pleasently surprised that they were from the same company that we had hired to do the music for our ceremony, Affinity Music.  So, we got a live preview of what it would sound like.  Then they had a DJ playing music during the dinner portion.

The room had a full buffet of cold hors d'oeuvres when we arrived, so we were able to see a sample of what the cheese and veggie table would look like and sample some of these cold hors d'oeuvres.  Then they had waitresses passing champagne and a full open bar. 

Soon after sitting, they opened a full buffet of all but 1 of the selections of hot hors d'oevres to try.  We of course tried them all!

On this plate starting at the top left is Chicken Coconut with some sort of sweet sauce, a Cheddar Cheese Puff, Black Bean & Cheese Empanada, Artichoke Beignet, Chicken Sate, Sausage Stuffed Mushroom Cap, BBQ Meatball, Beef Sate, and a BBQ Pork Spring Roll. 

Wow, that was a lot of food, and remember this is after a plate full of cheese, veggies, cold shrimp crostinis, and bruschetta from the cold table.  I was already full, but it was great to be able to taste pretty much every option of the hors d'oeuvres to make our choices for our cocktail hour.  We decided on keeping the cheese & veggie table and then we'll have passed app's of shrimp crostinis, sausage stuffed mushroom caps, chicken sate, and artichoke beignets.  Yum!! 

Then after the appitizer trial, they served us all soup.  Every other person got a cup of either chicken wild rice or garlic sun dried tomato.  Both were delicious, but we decided to go with the chicken wild rice.  Although there was some heavy debate about the other soup options that they didn't have available for the tasting. 

Next came the salad.  It was similar to the soup trial, and every other person got a caprice salad or house salad.  The caprice salad was romaine lettuce with mozzarella cheese, red onion, black olives and tomatos.  The house salad was spring greens with dried cranberry, crumbled bleu cheese and pecans.  Here's a picture of the house salad.

It's a little fuzzy (poor photography) but the house salad was yummy.  We also could choose from a plain garden salad or a caesar, but all 4 of us thought the house tasted great. 

While they were serving up the soup and salad they were getting the hot buffet turned over for us to try a whole bunch of starch and main course options.  They had the following items available for tasting:

• Veggie mix (zucchini, yellow squash, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, etc)
• Vesuvio Potatoes
• Garlic Red Skin Mashed Potatoes
• Red Roasted Herb Potatoes
• Wild Rice
• Angel Hair Pasta
• Cowboy Mashed Potatoes (these were weird - mashed with corn and carrots mixed in - not the most appitizing sight...)
• Champagne Chicken
• Chicken Vesuvio
• Chicken Dijon
• Almond Crusted Chicken with Rasberry Sauce
• Salmon w/ Ginger Teriyaki Glaze
• Beef Filet
• Pork w/ Mango BBQ Sauce

Ok, so, you can probably tell from that list that the plates got a little full in trying to taste all the potential items we might decide to serve.  Here's an example of mine

Yes, it's a little ridiculous.  Pretty much everything tasted great.  The big winner for our dinner will be a duo of beef filet and champagne chicken with garlic red skin mashed potatoes and the veggie mix.  YUM!!! 

Now at this point we needed wheelbarrows to roll us out the door because we were SO FULL, but they decided to bring out samples of wedding cake.  Oh boy.  One of the selections was exactly what we chose for part of our cake, devils food chocolate with chocolate mousse filling and buttercream icing.  EXTRA YUM.  Both our moms were excited to taste part of what we had chosen for the cake. 

As we were straining to get up and head out, we noticed they had filled a full sweets table so we could see what it would look like on the big day.  We couldn't possibly stomach any more food, so Teddy just took a picture of it.

There are two chocolate fountains, one white chocolate and one dark chocolate.  The table is filled with things to dip in the chocolate:  rice krispie treats, pound cake, marshmallows, pretzels, fruit, etc) and there are trays with all sorts of pastries:  (lemon tarts, cannoli's, carrot cake, mini cheese cakes, eclaires, cream puffs, and on, and on and on).  I must say I was anti chocolate fountain, much to Teddy's dismay.  But after seeing it all put together, it really is quite nice, so we're going to chocolate fountain it up. 

One thing is for sure, our guests are going to be well fed!  I was so impressed that Ruffled Feathers basically put together a mock wedding for all of us to see what the day will look and feel like in the room we're getting married in.  We got to try every course, taste the wine selections, taste the champagne selections, even see live all the options for bow tying for our chair covers. 

These are just 2 of the 10 options available.  We're getting even more excited about the big day especially now that we feel like we did a run through at the location.  Only 4 1/2 months away!  We can't wait. :)

I Heart Flowers

Well, this weekend was another weekend of getting things done for the wedding.  We are now less than 5 months away and we are being good about getting things done.  Saturday Teddy and I went with my mom to Old Oak Florist and had a lot of fun picking out our flowers.  Nancy, the owner of the shop was fantastic to work with.  She took my inspiration photos and added some great suggestions and ideas. 

This picture isn't exactly what we are doing, but it gives a general idea.  The bridesmaid bouquets will be blue hydrangeas, cream peonies, and green buttons with a little greenery to finish them off.  The centerpieces will be very similar to the bridesmaid bouquets.  My bouquet will be cream hydrangeas, cream peonies, white stephanotis, and blue delphiniums.  I can't wait to see it all pulled together.  The whole day is starting to come together with what I envisioned in my head.  It's getting exciting.

Then on Saturday night we drove up to Teddy's sister's house with his dad and hung out with the family.  His niece Emily is so adorable.  She loves being read to and even more so LOVES playing with cell phones and other gadgets.  She'll be 2 in May and it is hillarious that she wants to call people on the cell phone that are in the same room.  Any excuse to press the buttons.  :) 

Yesterday Teddy and I finalized the music for the wedding, both for the ceremony and the reception.  I'm really excited with everything we chose for the string trio to play at the ceremony and I think we picked some fun music for the reception.  Another set of details done!!!  It seems every weekend will be some sort of planning activity, so that we are ready and stress free for the big day.  (We'll see if the stress free part holds true!)

Next weekend we have our tasting for the food at the reception.  I'm looking forward to picking out the menu.  Hopefully this week goes by quickly!

Cake!!!!

Well, it's been another crazy week.  I worked far too much, but this weekend has helped make up for it. 

On Saturday I went into work in the morning, but then afterwards Teddy and I went to pick out our cake for the wedding.  It was a lot more fun than I even expected.  We tasted a bunch of delicious cake with different fillings while we were flipping through pictures of example cakes.  And then, there is was, the perfect cake and exactly what we were looking for.

(this isn't exactly what it will look like, but it is fairly close - the design on the layers will be different)

It's going to be a five tier cake with alternating layers of devils food and marble cake both with chocolate mousse filling.  Yum!  We also were able to order a grooms cake that will be very cute. 

We also were able to go to order my wedding band, which should be ready next weekend.  I'm happy that we are getting back on track with the wedding planning.  More to do, but we're definitely making progress. 

We were so productive yesterday that today we've been able to relax and enjoy our day together before starting another work week.  Hopefully this week won't be so bad so I can get some work outs in. 

The basement remodel

It's been a week since my last blog, but it has been a CRAZY week!  I think I worked over 80 hours this week.  Yikes! ;) 

In any case, I said in my last blog I would do a post on our basement remodel from over the holidays.  Also, I didn't think we had any before pictures, but my wonderful fiance had taken a bunch of the train he set up down there for over the holidays.  So, here it is, our before. 

As you can see it was filled with wood panelling.  It always seemed dark  and a little cave like.  So, Teddy and I decided to brighten it up with some nice bright white paint.  Painting was a 3 day project between taping, 2 coats of primer, and 2 coats of paint.  And with painting paneling, there are all these line indents between each panel that require the use of a brush for every one.  I didn't coun't how many lines we painted, but I know it was A LOT!!  We're still not 100% done with furniture arrangement, throw rugs, or shelving units, but we are so happy how it turned out.  It's amazing what a little paint will do.  Without further ado, here it is, our nice, bright white basement.

We decided to keep the doors on the closets wood, and the trim on the corners, baseboard and at the ceiling wood.  I think it frames it out nicely.  I just can't get over how much brighter it is down there.  It's going to be so nice once we have it all organized.

Am I really starting a blog?

Well, my sister has been doing blogging for close to a year now.  It's been fun reading what her and her husband have been up to, so I've been thinking about starting one of my own.  I have no idea how often I'll be posting or what I plan to say, but it's the start of a new year, so why not do something new. 

2010 proves to be an exciting year.  My fiance, Teddy, and I will be getting married in June.  We have been living in our home for about a year now and continue to try to improve it.  Last year we remodeled the family room.  This year, there is a long list of things we want to get done.  However, I think for at least the first half of the year we'll be focused on the wedding.  We've been engaged for a year and five months already, and have gotten a lot of the planning done.  Although, the last few months we haven't gotten as much done as we wanted to for the big day.  We've got to get back on the planning train.

For the start of the new year, so much has already happened!  My cousin Chris got married (new year's eve wedding) - Congratulations Chris and Sara. 

My parents got a new dog named Watson yesterday.  How cute is he!

Lastly, Teddy and I decided to remodel our Basement.  We're in day three of painting wood paneling.  I wish I had a before picture, but I wasn't that organized when we got started.  Hopefully I can post some after pictures once the paint is dry, tape is off, and things are organized.  So far it is looking much brighter, bigger and cleaner.  The wood paneling made it a little cave like down there.  I'll be excited to see it done. 

Tomorrow I'll be back to work.  It's been a great week and a half of vacation time spent with family and friends over the holidays.  Hopefully 2010 will continue the trend from the holidays with good news, good health and happiness.