Restaurant Reception

Recently I posted about our cocktail hour on the Church Street Marketplace. Today I wanted to tell you about our reception.


Here we are at the end of the bar at the beginning of the reception

For our reception I knew I didn't want a formal hotel ballroom affair. Because we were planning on a small wedding our options were open to other kinds of venues. We ended up choosing a great restaurant right downtown around the corner from our church. We took over their second floor with great vaulted ceilings and a great vibe for the evening. It was so relaxed and festive. We decided to use their beautiful old bar as a "head table" of sorts. The head table is a tradition I don't really like, so instead we just sat our young single or unmarried friends with us at the bar and had two long tables of 18 to seat our 45 guests.







We started the reception with a first dance to Louis Armstrong's "Kiss to Build a Dream On." It was a last minute decision to dance so we hadn't had dance lessons and it wasn't really choreographed, but we had a great time anyway. For the week before the wedding we danced to our songs once or twice each evening to get comfortable and I'm really glad we did it.





I was blown away by our florist, Dana Barrow of Fresh Floral Design Studio. See my post, Cocktail Hour & Reception Details for some more images of her work!

We had a great menu as follows (again everything in print was lower case letters):

soup du jour
or
grilled pita salad
tomatoes, red onions, cucumbers, calamata, olives, feta and romaine

main

sautéed statler chicken breast
mushroom trio, prosciutto, green olives, sherry, herbed mashed potatoes and grilled asparagus

grilled beef tenderloin
lobster béarnaise sauce, roasted ratatouille and saffron mashed potatoes

paella
lobster, shrimp, mussels, chicken, chorizo, bell peppers, peas and rice served with a tapenade aioli

exotic mushroom ragout
served over crisp mascarpone polenta cake and sautéed spinach

sweets
wedding cake
chocolate almond cake with ganache and praline buttercream
and
vanilla cake with lemon curd & raspberry preserves

daily selection of sorbets and ice creams



The cake was from a great bakery in town, Mirabelles. Allison, the owner/baker did a great job. I provided the Marzipan Pears and the cake stand (from VT Tent Company) and she did the rest!


Listening to my bridesmaids sweet toast


Mingling and enjoying our guests during dinner


Beautiful bridesmaids stop to smile for the camera


Listening to my brother's brief but thoughtful toast


My brother-in-law giving his HYSTERICAL toast! Seriously -- it was priceless -- my side hurt I laughed so hard. He promised me a copy for my scrap book.


Dancing with my mom


Friends dancing up a storm



Everyone watching our photo slide show at the end of the night

The best part was everyone had such a nice time! What are your reception plans? Will it be a large formal affair in a ballroom or a smaller more intimate celebration in a restaurant or under a tent? Or are you doing something totally different?

For my favorite girls...

I blogged before the wedding about my bridesmaid's gifts and wanted to share with you how it all came together. Some people present their gifts to their wedding party at the rehearsal dinner, but I decided to let the dinner be just about folks getting to know each other and enjoying themselves.



So I gave my girls their gifts in my room on the wedding day right before I got dressed. I was really excited about this moment because I'd put so much thought into what I got each girl and I wanted them to LOVE everything! I'll have to wait for the pro-pics to share their reactions (yeah - they all cried), but wanted to share some photos of all the gifts ready to go.







Each girl got the same thing but customized to them.

1) A custom make-up case from 1154 Lill Studio
2) Moisturizer and body scrub from The Body Shop
3) Tip Toes from Foot Petals
4) Beautiful pearl earrings from Dasha Boutique (thanks to a sale post on weddingbee)!
5) Custom Note Cards -- each with a different font, color and embellishment! Oh, and each had a different color envelope that coordinated with their ink color.







Then I got them each a card that was perfect for them. I wrote these cards really early in the morning the day before the wedding when I just couldn't sleep.



And to top it all off I tied their note cards with brown ribbon and they each got a great pen to use with their cards :) I felt SO good about these gifts and it all came in around $100 each. I was able to do this because I started really early and was able to hunt for deals and find JUST the right thing for each of them. Don't let bridal party gifts be an after thought -- it will just be more stress for you later.

For details on each item, includng a budget break down, see my first post -- Bridesmaids Gifts.

Daria Bishop's Ring Shots

I was inspired by Miss Petunia's "Picture These Rings" post today and wanted to share some GREAT ring shots from our lovely photographer, Daria Bishop. The photos below were all taken from her blog and I hope they inspire you to check out more of her great work. Daria and her husband Andy live in Vermont but they travel -- so if you're a New England or NY Metro area bride planning your wedding check her out! She also does engagement sessions and family photos. I'd recommend you get lost for hours watching her client slide shows.


These are our rings on the piano at the Willard Street Inn where we stayed with our friends and family.

The rest of the images are from Daria's blog. Enjoy!










To learn more about Daria check out her website, www.dariabishop.com and tell her Mr. & Mrs. Onion sent you!

On the Church Street Marketplace...

After our ceremony we took a group photo outside the church (can't wait to see those from our photographer) and then processed with all our guests (stopping traffic) down the Church Street Marketplace to our cocktail hour outside Adrianas restaurant. See my post on Cocktail Hour Details and then enjoy the tons of photos below.


Mr. & Mrs. Onion with our great photographer Daria Bishop

We had some great appetizers (most of which I didn't even get a chance to try) and our guests were greeted with our signature drink -- an Amaretto Sour! I just enjoyed relaxing, chatting and laughing with our friends and family who had traveled so far to be with us.


Mr. & Mrs. Onion with Mr. Onion's best friend/groomsman

The appetizers we selected were:
1) Artichoke Parmesan Dip
2) Chicken Sate
3) Scallops Wrapped in Bacon

I wish I'd tasted everything, but I don't regret sipping my Amaretto sour and talking with our guests.


Mrs. Onion with her fantastic friend/bridesmaid


Happy newlyweds!


With my new mother-in-law. Doesn't she look proud?!


The only shot we took of our rings on our hands!


Mr. Onion cracking up with one of our guests (note the Amaretto sour)!


A beautiful photo of me with my "aunt" (family friend since before I was born)


Momma and brother Onion


Brother Onion (my brother wore a Prince Charlie Kilt in my family tartan -- more pictures of him all dressed up later)


A friend and her sweet little boy! He was the only baby in attendance and he was such a good boy!


Our flower girl with one of our bridesmaids


My father-in-law really enjoying himself!


Great full length shot of Mr. & Mrs. Onion -- with Amaretto sours in hand (too bad I only had one)!


A sweet moment captured by our groomsman


Groomsman and his wife


Beautiful bridesmaids - I'm in the background enjoying myself!


More beautiful bridesmaids


Shoe change! I'm so grateful for my bridesmaid who spent the morning shopping for back up shoes -- it really made the rest of my evening :)


Off to see the street performers at the Marketfest!


And our flower girl just had to come -- so sweet that she's running to catch up! I didn't even know she followed us until I saw this photo.


And a great teaser photo by our photographer of us enjoying the show -- see our flower girl in the foreground on the left?