What's to Eat?

Our choices were the top left and bottom right meals

Now that the invitation are out, we are free to give menu details!! I know you have all been waiting with baited breath to know the outcome of the tasting, and now you do! Alas, we couldn't fit the entire description of each meal on the RSVP card, so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to both finish the tasting story AND explain the meals in more detail.

As you may remember, we had to narrow four meals down to two. It was hard, but we had to go with our hearts (and tastebuds!!). While I won't be revealing the appetizer and dessert, I am going to disclose the main meals to maybe make your decisions easier (or harder, as the case may be!!). Ultimately, we have 4 meals to choose from: the two we picked during the tasting, a vegetarian which we did not try or have a choice in, and a children's, which we also did not try or have a choice in.

• Duet of Sirloin with a Green Peppercorn Demi Glaze and Corander Crusted Marinated Chicken with Garlic Ykon Gold mashed potatoes and baby carrots. This dish was so delicious and met our desire to have a chicken option--the chicken-only choice wasn't very good--and we figured people who don't like red meat could just not eat it or swap out with someone who does.
• Mixed Grille of Sirloin and Jonah Crab Stuffed Jumbo Shrimp with Basil Mashed Potatoes & a Seared Tomato. Holy crap was this amazing!! Without question, this was our seafood offering, it was just too delicious to not offer! The neon-green potatoes alone make it worth serving!
• Butternut Squash Ravioli with Vanilla Sage Chestnut Sauce and Shaved Grana Padano Cheese. Vegetarian option they gave us.
• Chicken Fingers with French Fries.  Kid's option

Ellie and I have an unofficial bet to see which of the steak dishes is ordered most, but I don't want to sway anyone's decision, so we'll not talk about that just yet.

CAKE!!!

Yeah, I'm not creative enough to think up a better title because it's all I can think of when the topic of cake comes up.

I've mentioned before, but the DoubleTree required us to use Montilio's, something I was only too happy to agree to. For those unfamiliar with the company, Montiilo's is a South Shore institution, having made many a famous cake over the last 65 years.


When we arrived, we were greeted by a young lady who announced we were there & asked if we wanted a drink. We'd already decided that coffees were needed & ordered our fancy-ass flavored pick-me-ups. Then she didn't charge us! I'm guessing they know we're spending a ton of money on the cake, so a couple coffees won't really matter? It was a nice touch regardless, and gave them a few more brownie points.

It's interesting. Although I've pinned a few cakes to my wedding Pinterest boards, the cake is one thing we never really discussed beyond agreeing that "it MUST be delicious." So, when Frank, who was working with us started out very simply with the seemingly simple "Do you want a round or square cake?' we were like deer in headlights, just staring at each other, then mumbling out a quick "Do you care?" "No, do you?" "I guess round since we don't have a preference." We poured through the display books, hemmed and hawed and finally agreed to a design that Frank suggested, even though it was an "upgrade" and cost more. I'm happy with it, but do wish we had thought to discuss the cake design before because I think we were a little pressured into it since we had no real ideas.


Then the moment I'd been waiting for practically since we got engaged: CAKE!!! (can you tell i have a sweet tooth?)

Aren't those gorgeous!?!?! I hope I remember them correctly; if not, I can' always come back later & edit without you knowing any better ;P All the cakes have white, unflavored butter cream on the outside. Clockwise from the top left:

• Devils Food Chocolate with Chocolate Butter Cream
• Gold with Strawberries & Whipped Cream
• Presidential White with Ricotta Chocolate Chip
• Marble Swirl with Mocha Chocolate Truffle
• Red Velvet with Cream Cheese
• Lemon Orange Marble, soaked in Grand Marnier with Lemon Butter Cream
• Carrot with Cream Cheese
• Presidential White with Raspberry

We ate them in reverse order, mainly because we knew that the 4 at the top would be the most delicious!! We were diligent tasters--we each tried the filing and cake on its own, then took a bite with everything together. The cakes were pretty amazing; even the lemon-orange one was good if you like that sort of flavor (I dislike orange-flavored anything).

Get in my belly!!

I feel more than a little sad we only ate the bottom layer of each cake. Frank told us to eat more, but we were pretty full, although we did finish the Marble/Truffle and the White/Ricotta Chocolate Chip because they were SO good, but were definitely in a slight sugar coma by the time we left. Picking the cake itself wasn't too difficult, we quickly nixed the 3 that we weren't huge fans of, then narrowed it down to the 2 we thought were most delicious. I kind of pulled rank and requested my favorite type of cake, which Ellie only too gladly agreed to.

The filling was MURDER though. The top 4 were all considered "upgrades," and the options for non-upgrades weren't spelled out as clearly as I wanted them to. And I was REALLY hesitant to spend even more money that we didn't need to. I don't know if Frank felt a little bad about conning us into the decor upgrade, or wanted to give us the "FAMILY" (nudge nudge, wink, wink) discount, or both or something else, but he gave us a filling flavor upgrade for nothing, which was super awesome, but didn't help a ton, because they were even more delicious than the regular options. With the field narrowed to two, we were made a final offer we couldn't refuse--one filling for the main part of the cake, and the other in out top tier--that way we could have both but still have a deliciously amazing option for the guests. My sweet tooth was hooked.

Food, Glorious Food!

Considering it's been almost a month since the dinner tasting, and we are going for the cake tasting tonight, it's probably about time I made the FOOD post. Warning, this post is photo-heavy (remember to click the pics to see them full-size) and extremely delicious!

Joined by the lovely Karina, Ellie's lady of Honor extraordinaire, and Danielle, who graciously accepted our offer to join us as an honorary Person of Honor (wow, that's awkward to say!). What we saw upon our arrival in the tasting room was pretty impressive:

Okay, this was actually the "sample table" where we go to see and choose the napkin fold and table number. I didn't get a shot of the "eating table" before we dug in, but it was very similar , only with more place settings, no plates, and an extra wine glass (we each got a glass of the house white, the house red and champagne!). Jocelyn, the event coordinator, sat with the four of us to go over details like those on the "sample table," centerpieces, timing, etc, and generally make sure we were all on the same page.

As the food began to arrive, she continued to sit with us to note our selections and answer questions. It was weird to be eating in front of her, and we all kept asking if she was okay--I know she does this all the time, but it was still slightly uncomfortable. Now, so you're up to speed, when we scheduled the tasting, we were asked to select 2 appetizers, 2 salads and 4 entrees (from 7, 6 & 12 options respectively!); we narrowed the field by half during the tasting and our menu (minus the cocktail hour hour d'ourves) was complete. We should have known just from making the initial selection that this would be a lot tougher than we hoped!

First Course: Appetizer



We chose clam chowdah :) and tortellini for the appetizers. Clam chowder is so quintessentially New England, and Ellie's family has a long history of tortellini soup for special occasions, this was the next best thing. Although we each got our own cup of chowder, we split 2 plates of tortellini--we all filled up on the chowder so didn't have room for the tortellini, that's why not much had been eaten in the pic.

Second Course: Salad

Again, we shared two of each salad: caprese & wedge. Honestly, these were the only two that really sounded like something we wanted to eat. I love that the caprese salad wasn't just red tomatoes--that slice of yellow really made the dish pop. Wedge salads are just awesome. You really should try a wedge salad, just saying.

LOL, you can see my wedding notebook in this picture!!




Third Course: Dinner

 Can you tell from this picture that we like red meat? of the four dinners we chose, 3 had some type of steak on them. This decision was actually really grueling because we are both such people pleasers, but also wanted to be happy with our choice. Clockwise from top left:

• Mixed Grille of Petite Filet Mignon and Jonah Crab Stuffed Jumbo Shrimp
• Filet of Beef Tenderloin with Scampi Prawns
• Duet of Sirloin with a Green Peppercorn Demi Glaze and Coriander Crusted Marinated Chicken
• Herb and Panko Crusted Breast of Chicken

They all came with some type of mashed potatoes and a veggie. I mean, seriously, holy crap these all look amazing, don't they? They tasted just as amazing, trust me. The four of us each took a plate and passed them around. I'm pretty sure we passed some of them more than once. :D We definitely hemmed and hawed about the merits of each, and what we did & didn't like. As she listened, Jocelyn shot out some options that allowed Ellie and I to make the most of the menu and hopefully please almost everyone. I know some people will bitch, but really? they would probably bitch no matter what we served.

Final Course: Dessert

Yes, the dessert will actually be our cake, but Doubletree adds a chocolate covered strawberry or an ice cream bonbon with it. How awesome, right?

The near plates in this picture are how the plate will look with either a bonbon or strawberry (imagine a delicious piece of cake between the whipped cream swirls). The far plate is just a dish of strawberries, the plate of bonbons was already being passed around.

Both were absolutely amazing, but it was really a no-brainer to be honest.

This was the aftermath (we totally housed the desserts). I almost wish we hadn't had breakfast, no matter how light, beforehand because that was a LOT of food! It's so wonderful to know that we and our guests are going to be treated so well. All the food is made in-house by the same chef who runs Bistro 44, which is in the hotel, who prides himself on only serving food that is sourced from within 44 miles of the hotel. That's harder to do when cooking for a wedding, but knowing there is an effort is nice.

I'm not going to reveal our choices until after the invites go out (about 2-3 weeks, I promise!!) to not ruin the surprise, but I plan to post a full description of each meal so guests have a better idea of what they are selecting for dinner. Everything else remains a surprise (I think...we'll see if I can hold back!).

The Case for Cake

Yes, I just posted, but the topic of cake was brought up on the Offbeat Bride forums, and my comment was too good to not expand upon.To put this in context, the original poster hates the idea of a white vanilla cake with white frosting or fondant, and found a recipe for a brown sugar, pecan and peaches cake that speaks not only to her childhood, but also the theme of the wedding. Everyone is encouraging her to go for it, this is what I had to say:

"People will PREFER a flavored cake. In fact, out of the 6 weddings I've been to, it's ALWAYS the flavored cakes that get gobbled up. Many of the cakes I've seen have been made of different flavored tiers, and the "good" flavor option always gets picked first, with the plain-ole vanilla sitting, alone and dejected until the unfortunate people at the end of the cake line have no choice but to take those slices, only to pick at it enough to make it look as though it was eaten."

Ellie can vouch for this, I feel VERY strongly about cake, and was adamant that we get a venue that would allow us to bring our own (we are fortunate that the Doubletree Bedford Glen works with Montillios, a nationally renowned baker) because honestly, most wedding cakes are crap--dry, tasteless, uninventive. This is through no fault of the couple, they are working within a budget, cakes are often made ahead, and I find that most bakes are more interested in the outside than the inside. I personally don't care much about the outside as long as it doesn't look like a 3-year old chimp did it--I want it to TASTE good! And I insist on it being unique, something like marble with italian ricotta mouse, or devil's food with tiramisu (or both!!). I am might be looking forward to the cake sampling more than any part of the wedding planning! Do you want a hand in our cake selection? Check out the Montillios options and leave a comment with your combination thoughts!