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New Cuisine Trend

Many brides are eliminating the formal sit down dinner and overflowing buffets and opting for an all-passed appetizers wedding with chic smaller buffets.

Find the Perfect Pair – fun food & drink pairings during the entire wedding:

* Black Bean Soup with Mini Chilled Casahas Shots
* Mini Tuna Tacos with Mini Chilled Lime Margaritas
* Fish & Chips served with Mini Pints of Beer
* Mini Gourmet Pizzas served with Mini Pints of Beer
* Caviar & Chilled Vodka
* Instead of huge cheese displays pair cheese, meats and breads with a variety of wine tastings

Choose Mini Buffets – more do-it-yourself stations with toppings:

* Cous Cous Station with Toppings
* Curry Bar
* Deconstructed Mac & Cheese with Truffle Oil, Jalapenos, Chipotle Crème
* Tuna Bar with Tartar & Seared Tuna with Toppings like Wasabi Caviar, Citrus Caviar, Avocado, etc.

Pass the Dessert – serve your guests mini desserts while they are on the dance floor:

* Espresso Brownies with Mini Vanilla Milkshakes
* Fresh Fruit Sorbet on Mini Cones
* Fresh berry tartlets with limoncello sips

Late Night Munchies – serve mini-burgers and mini-grilled cheese for late night dancing treats or surprise guests with an all-passed midnight breakfast:

* Mini Burgers & Fries
* Mini Grilled Cheese
* Mini Blueberry Pancakes
* Mini Scrambled Eggs in Phyllo Nests
* Mini Bagels

Source: GetMarried.com

Photos courtesy of Blue Plate Catering – Chicago and Culinary Art Catering – Dallas

An Evening of Culinary Innovations by Blue Plate (Chicago)

One of our Chicago catering partners, Blue Plate, recently held an event at the Ivy Room to introduce Chicago’s top weddings with Blue Plate’s newest innovative cuisine. “An Evening of Culinary Innovations” by Blue Plate incorporated, from start to finish, a cohesive theme that was inspired by the peacock’s colors of vibrant violet and sapphire.

Invitation Cards
The invitation card is the first impression of any wedding. The artwork detail, the paper texture, color schemes and typography set the tone for the special day. Blue Plate incorporated the soft and dark turquoise tone as the main glow for the invitation.

Décor
Trying to think of décor that will stand out is always a challenge, but by engaging a new concept such as feathers, you not only create a look that is uniquely your own but also one that can be forever beautiful. By maintaining the peacock’s feather colors in various accents around the room, such as on the blue and crystal chandeliers with violet shades, guests were left with a look that was not only striking but also pulled together.

Culinary
Tying in the food with the theme is not easy. Our executive chef designed a popular Gargouillou with Fava Beans, Pea Tendrils, Asparagus, Thumbelina Carrots, Popcorn Shoots, Pink Peppercorns and Edible Flowers with a Carrot-Ginger Reduction. Along the rim of the plate were Smoked Hawaiian Sea Salt, Meyer Lemon Compote and Toasted Flax seeds.

Blue Plate was sure not to forget about the cocktails! Blue Plate’s specialty cocktail of the night was aptly named “The Peacock,” with a brilliant turquoise hue, concocted of Midori, Blue Curacao and Pineapple Juice.

Entertainment
Lastly, entertainment is the absolute key to an unforgettable reception. Ken Arlen Entertainment was absolutely the best choice. From the first note, guests were out of their chairs and onto the dance floor, and didn’t stop shaking their tail-feathers until the late hours of the night.

Enjoy the beautiful photos from the event below…

Wedding & Shower Recipes

We couldn’t pass up sharing one of our FAVORITE web sites for getting recipes – MyRecipes.com. This is a great site for the new and experienced cook. The recipes are simple and consistently good.

Just got this in my email today about Wedding & Shower Recipes and thought to let you know. I can’t tell you how many young people I have personally helped learn how to cook. Personally, there’s nothing like a home cooked meal, no matter how simple … your fiancee/husband and eventually children will appreciate that you can cook. Or if you man is the cook in the house, share this with him.

Finding the Perfect Caterer

Ask for Recommendations

Many caterers say that most of their business comes from word of mouth. Ask your florist, wedding planner or coordinators at your reception site whom they like to work with.

Do a Background Check

You can see whether the caterer has any complaints filed against him with the Better Business Bureau (www.bbb.org), but if so, don’t cross him off your list yet, since you won’t know his side of the story. Calling references is your best bet. Contact three or four past clients and ask: Was the caterer pleasant and accommodating? Was the service efficient and unintrusive? Was the food delicious, and did it arrive hot?

Meet and Eat

When you’ve narrowed the list to a couple of caterers, you and your fiancé, and maybe even a food-savvy third party, should be able to sample some of the chefs’ signature dishes (note that there may be a fee involved). You can expect the food to look precisely the way it will at your reception. So if the salad is meant to be garnished with flowers, you should have them for the tasting, and they should look fresh. That said, seasonal items you plan to serve may not be available at the time of the tasting, so you’ll have to imagine how those dishes will ultimately look and taste. Though you shouldn’t expect a total overhaul of a recipe, don’t hesitate to make suggestions or to ask the chef if spices or subtle elements can be modified to suit your taste.

Wine While You Dine

Let caterers know before tastings that you’d like to sample the wines that will be served with the wedding meal. If you don’t like the way the cabernet sauvignon goes with your food, ask to taste-test another wine. Don’t get hung up on which wine should go with what food, however‹the best choices are those you, your fiancé and your guests will enjoy drinking.

Put It on Paper

You’ll need a written contract‹not just a verbal agreement‹spelling out the date, time, fees and specific menu items. Both you and the vendor must sign this to make it binding. Remember: The number of guests may change at the last minute, so be sure to agree on a deadline for your final count.

Get It to Go

Ironically, after all the time and energy you’ve put into planning the meal, you may not even have a spare second to eat during the reception. Ask your caterer to pack a basket for you and your new hubby so that you can devour it later, back in the hotel room. You deserve to enjoy the meal, too!

Let StrictlyWeddings.com suggest one of our fine caterers.

Great Chef

Check out Andrew Ormsby for parties. He served up some wonderful things at a wedding I was at outside of Dallas.