Yummy Signage, Anyone?

As a rather picky eater, with some food allergies, I tend to steer clear of buffets, or when I do eat at one (mainly in Vegas!), I stick to only recognizable foods. I'm just not adventurous enough to try new things, unless I know what they are, and it seems many buffets don't think it's necessary to label their food items.

So as a courtesy to our guests, I've made 4" x 6" framed signs for our buffet, so they will know what they're eating. And I found the frames on sale at Joann's for only $2.99 each! This will be a good alternative to a menu, since it really isn't practical to have a menu at the place setting when people will be serving themselves, plus it's an excuse for yet another project with my beloved paper! :)

(the tri tip will be hand carved to order by our chef at a carving station)







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Prior to the buffet dinner, we will have passed hors d'oeuvres, so I think guests will have to fend for themselves to figure out what those are (or just ask the waiter!). Our guests will be able to choose from:

• Smoked Trout & Apple Salad on Cucumber Rounds
• Crab Cakes with Chili-Lime Aioli
• Flatbread Pizza with Caramelized Onions, Pancetta & Gruyere Cheese
• And on an 8 foot table there will be a Selection of Cheeses, Marinated Vegetables & Fresh Fruits (Triple Cream Brie, Point Reyes Blue, Sharp Irish Cheddar, Fresh Mozzarella, Picholine & Calamata Olives, Sundried Tomatoes, & Artichoke Hearts, Assorted Seasonal Fruits)

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There will also be bread and salad served at the table before the buffet dinner, but since we chose a simple Classic Caesar Salad with Crisp Romaine, Croutons & Parmesan Reggiano Cheese, I'm thinking our guests can figure out the salad by themselves!

Are you having a sit down or buffet dinner at your reception, and will you be incorporating any signage or menus for your guests?

(unless otherwise noted, all pictures in this post were taken by me)

Yum! Our Caterer Tasting

One of the highlights of wedding planning is the fact that everything needs to be tested ahead of time, to make sure it will be perfect for the big day. And tasting the food is no different, in fact, it's probably more important than a lot of things, because everyone puts such high expectations on the food at weddings. Nobody wants to hear people report back, "the food was good, for a wedding."

So we scheduled our caterer tasting pretty early in advance, since it was an easy thing to check off the list. We're using the on site caterer at The Mountain Terrace, and they have 4 tastings a year. There were about 12 other couples there with us. We started our tasting with 5 appetizers from their list of about 30 choices.

(From left to right: Mushroom Profiteroles (eww, mushrooms), Dates Wrapped in Bacon & Filled with Goat Cheese (pretty good), Traditional Spanikopita (Spinach-Feta Phyllo Triangles) with Apricot Drizzle (ok, but the pastry was too flaky), Ahi Tuna Poke on Crisp Wonton (neither of us cared for this, it tasted sort of like fishy fruit loops), and at the top of the picture is the Crab Cakes with Chili-Lime Aioli (really good, our favorite appetizer we tried).)

After appetizers we tried a Mixed Greens and Pear salad, with Gorgonzola Cheese, Caramelized Walnuts & Champagne Vinaigrette, which was very good, but the picture didn't turn out. We then sampled one of the vegetarian options, Roasted Veggie Stacks with Eggplant, Portobello Mushroom, Red & Yellow Bell Peppers, Herbed Goat Cheese & Feta Cheese (we didn't care for half the layers).


After that was another vegetarian option, Eggplant Parmesan (Mr. Cola didn't care for this since he doesn't like eggplant).


Next we tried Chicken Cacciatore Served in a Tomato Sauce with Fresh Vegetables, along side Smashed New Potatoes with Roasted Garlic, Green Onions & Crème Fraiche. The potatoes were excellent, and are our choice for one of our side dishes, the chicken was quite good too.



Then we had the fabulous Roasted Beef Tri Tip with Caramelized Shallots & Red Wine Sauce.



The red wine sauce was fantastic, and we will be serving the tri tip at our wedding, hand carved to order at the chef's carving station (we're doing a buffet, if I didn't mention it earlier, it's much more casual, which is what Mr. Cola wants, and fits our venue).



Equally as fantastic was the Teriyaki Roasted Salmon with Mango-Papaya Salsa, which is our other main course selection.


Mmmmm, my mouth is watering looking at these pictures again! Narrowing down the two entrees was the easy part of this process, but we still haven't figured what appetizers we'll be serving, except the gourmet cheese, bread and fruit 8 foot table.

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We definitely have time to make our other appetizer choices though, and I'm so glad we did this part early in our wedding planning. And now we have time to save up too, 'cause apps, food and open bar is going to cost us about $9,300, including tax and service charges:


Did you enjoy your caterer tasting as much as we did? And how early did you decide what to serve at your wedding?

(all pictures in this post except the last one of the cheese table were taken by me. And yes, Mr. Cola was reprimanded several times to not touch the food until I took the shot, LOL!)