Wedding Wednesday

Happy Hump Day! Who is ready for a wedding update?


So this past Sunday John and I went to TPC for their 2011 Tasting Event that they had for all of their couples who have already booked their weddings for 2011 and early 2012. They really encouraged everyone to come if they could, as the prefer to utilize this event to individual tastings.

I was a little hesitant at first, but was SO glad we went. Considering the number of brides and guests in attendance, they actually set up everything as if it were a real wedding, so we got to see everything as it would be set up for 200 people.

Once we arrived, we actually started sampling after party snacks and the appetizers. These lists of passed foods are quite lengthy so we had lots of different foods to try.

We made it a point to have one of everything, that way we knew we had sampled it all and could make an informed decision as to what we liked and what we didn't. Honestly, everything was really good, there was only 1 thing that I didn't love, but it was still good, just not on the same level as everything else- it was a small pressed panini with salami, cheese, and roasted red peper aoli. Like I said it was good, but it was a little greasy for me and the flavors remind me a lot of a calzone- not quite what we had in mind.

After getting through the bulk of the passed appetizers we made our way into the next room for the stationed appetizers and wine tasting. Now I know know this all sounds like a blast, but deciding on the wines was actually a lot of work!

As much as I love drinking wine, analyzing it and deciding what will go best with the food I haven't yet tried, and what is a generally popular choice amongst most was a little difficult.

When Originally tasting we thought we only had choice of 1 white and 1 red, but we actually get 2 of each so that helped settle a few debates :) My wines of choice are typically Savignon Blanc and Shiraz which are not usually standards to most people, so I knew I probably could only fight for 1 choice, and as much as I love red wine, I highly doubt I will be consuming any in my wedding dress. John really enjoyed several of the wines, which was kind of surprising since he normally doesn't drink wine with me!

The food that was at the station in that room was food I had starred to make sure I tried as it was something that was very much in consideration as one of our choices. They had 5 different hours'devours at this station, and we wanted to try all 5, however, this was the last thing we did since the line was SO long. They took the time to assemble your selection as you requested it, which I suppose was nice since it was fresh, but it created a huge line, and that was a downer. Also, by this point, I was starting to get full, and we hadn't even had "dinner" yet.

Next up came the actual tasting. They led us into the main ballroom which was fully set up for a 200 person wedding, this made my day! Each table was adorned with differnt types of place settings and linens so that you could see a lot of the different options available.

In addition, each table had a different centerpiece to showcase the work of several different florists, and countless ideas so you could start to maybe see some of your own wedding vision.

There was one centerpiece of the 20 that absolutely stole the show. It was beautiful, in a huge vase that just displayed itself in such a grand fashion. While my mother thought it was too tall, I thought it absolutely fit with the high ceilings of the room and the gradiose stature of the venue. I was in luck, because this winner was brought in by my florist :) I am super excited to see what I can do with those vases of his! We saw a lot of really fun ideas and things that I am hoping to be able to incorporate into our decor as well

 

After all the oohing and aahing over the flowers it was time to sit down and get to eating. For the tasting they had almost every single station of theirs set-up and waiters also bringing around plated dinners. We opted to stay heavy at the stations. There were things I was very interested in trying- namely a few of their signiture dishes like Shrimp and Grits and macaroni and cheese in mini cast-iron skillets.

The food was all amazing! There was not one thing I didn't like, just some things I loved more than others. John and I sampled most everything they had out between the 2 of us, seafood, beef, pastas, salads, vegetables, cheese displays, bread, you name it they had it- it was like a food overload! It was all so good, that we sat there with our little note sheet actually debating between 2 dishes that we loved, as it would be redundant to serve both.

Now, as I have sat here and raved on and on about food, we have not even addressed what was by far the absolute best part of the day...

The Cake!!!!

We have a pre-set cake baker that has an exclusive with our venue and I had always heard great things, but this cake was untouchable in my opinion. I am really more of a pie girl, so for me to tell you that this cake was the best part of it all, you know I mean it! They served sheet cakes that were layered with 1/2 devils food chocolate cake and 1/2 white cake with a chocolate buttercream filling and their traditional buttercream frosting. I may have actually tried to lick the plate clean... classy.

Needless to say I am beyond excited about our wedding cake now, we set a time to meet with them one on one early this summer, but have some ideas about what we want for our cake.

After this little taste test John is pulling hard for the chocolate and I am still a vanilla/fruity girl at heart. I am still entertaining ideas of 2 cakes, or differnent flavored layers, but am not quite sure which way to take it.

Overall our tasting experience was fantastic, John and I are both SO excited about our wedding menu now it is rediculous, and it is sad that we will not be having another meal that fantastic until our wedding :( It was a pretty awesome day, and we hope everyone will enjoy the food as much as we did, I know that is a big thing for me when I go to a wedding!

Stations or sit down, do you have a preference?

Are you a wedding cake fan?

What's the best cake flavor in your opinion??