Wedding Planning - Catering & Cakes

I think if you asked anyone planning a wedding, they'd probably say that tastings are one of the best parts! I will say that Ryan and I actually haven't done that many tastings because we were lucky enough to find the perfect bakery and caterer for our wedding pretty quickly thanks to recommendations from our photographer and reviews on The Knot! 

I shared a little bit about our tasting with Crumbs and Crumbles last week - they dropped off cupcakes and macarons for our take-away tasting - and we so enjoyed all of the cupcakes! Especially the whiskey cake with a hint of caramel and Swiss buttercream icing. Yum! Yum! Yum! 

  

 

Monday (hey - yesterday) we had a catering tasting and it was quite the thrill! I mean; I've never experienced a caterer tasting, but I certainly enjoyed it! We arrived at Classic Catering and met Deborah, who showed us to a table that was laid out with champagne, ice water and red wine and a lovely crudité and charcuterie board to begin our tasting! Everything was so incredibly tasty - especially their homemade ranch dip that went with the awesomely displayed veggies!

We followed that with Tomato Bisque soup shooters topped with Miniature Grilled Cheese sandwiches, Stuffed Mushrooms, Cornbread Cupcakes topped with BBQ Pulled Pork and Miniature Chicken and Waffles! It was divine! Absolutely divine. I'm drooling just now thinking about it. *giggles* Deborah then brought out Korean Shrimp Skewers, Bacon-Wrapped Filet Mignon Skewers, Chicken & Pineapple Skewers and Miniature Angus Beef Sliders! Guess what - also all to die for! I was starting to feel full and we weren't done yet!

  

She brought out teeny martini glasses filled with creamy macaroni and cheese sprinkled with toppings and shared that they'd serve the macaroni and cheese and guests could top their martini glasses with toppings of their choice! The macaroni and cheese was creamy, lightly cheesy and absolute perfection - so good that even my Dad ate it, and he never eats macaroni and cheese!

 

We finished up with a selection of ham and turkey sandwiches made on a variety of breads with wonderful sauces - again I will say, it was delicious! We finished our samplings and the caterer so kindly brought out a bag of to-go goodies to take to Ryan since he didn't get to come and taste all the good things! It was truly the most wonderful experience and Deborah was so delightful to work with! 

We stopped along the way home at Fluffy Thoughts to pick up another take-away tasting (wedding planning in the age of COVID) of six slices of cake! We tried My Passion, Strawberry Shortcake, Cookie Monster, Candy Bar Crunch, Coffee in the Morning and Dat Cookie Dough - look out y'all! We sampled each of the slices after dinner on Monday evening and while they were all so extremely tasty, they just couldn't quite rival the goodness we tasted from our first tasting! 

I know - we haven't actually done that many tastings - but the ones we have done have been so much fun! I know we've found our winners; the perfect bakery and caterer for our wedding, but there is a part of me that wants to keep attending tastings! I know - there will be plenty of other exciting things to do as the planning continues! 

There was Actually a Win!

Well - the first weekend of September was a great weekend y'all. I mean... it didn't start out 100% great but happily it all went uphill from the start. Ryan and I went out for dinner with my parents but it didn't end well because I ended up feeling sick and we had to head home. I came to the realization that the freezer meal I'd eaten for lunch might have been in the office freezer with the power out over the previous weekend - and probably didn't need to be eaten. Oops!

Thankfully the feeling passed and we were able to go look at some cars, make a stop at Wal-Mart and grab a milkshake at Chick Fil A before returning home to pack a bag for DC and chill a bit. Saturday morning was laid back before we got ready to head to a birthday party for some family friends.

 

 

The birthday party was wonderful - the weather was so beautiful on Saturday and the party was outdoors, with delicious food and time spent catching up with and laughing with friends. Ryan and I probably had a little bit too much fun with the streamers but you know what? Who cares! We left the party around 2:00 and headed for DC to enjoy 24 hours in the big city. Our first stop (after the hotel) was to introduce my not into sweets fiancé to my favorite - Ice Cream Jubilee. I guess he was a fan? 

I got Coffee & Donuts and Cookies & Cookie Dough and it was; as always, divine! We ended up sitting alongside the Anacostia River at Yards Park for a while since our baseball game was the second of a double header and so we couldn't enter the ballpark quite as quickly as usual.

We finally were able to go in for the 6:55 game shortly after 6:00 and I managed to race Ryan around the ballpark to show him the Team Store and grab some tasty bites from See You Tater - because you can never go wrong with tater tots covered in chili & cheese or BBQ pulled pork and macaroni! Yum! We settled into our seats and after the Mets scored a run in the first I was a little anxious - but Lane Thomas smashed a home run to counter and the game was on... the team battled throughout the game and we actually saw not just one but two home runs! When all was said and done, we came out with a 4-3 win and it was so exciting! I've missed my baseball this year!

 

A delightful surprise that we didn't know about was that when the game ended, there were fireworks! We scrambled over to the third base seating and watched as the sky lit up with fireworks for about 5-10 minutes! It was such a fun little ending to the game and it was especially nice to be able to walk across the street to the Hampton Inn, where Ryan and I made our way to the rooftop bar to relax for a bit before getting some sleep.

 

Sunday morning dawned bright and beautiful and after we got ready and packed up our things we explored a little bit in downtown near our brunch location - Old Ebbitt Grill. We happily stumbled upon the newly opened World War I Memorial that's located between The White House Visitor Center and the Willard Intercontinental and perused the quotes, etchings and statues that make up the Memorial - which is still a work in progress - but already a touching sight.

 

We had a divine brunch at Old Ebbitt Grill - we tried some Elote Loco (street corn dip) to start the meal and honestly, I could have eaten that the entire time. It was just SO good! I also had Brioche French Toast with blueberries... the rest of the family had Steak Salad, a Breakfast Melt Sandwich and some more Brioche French Toast! We made a walk around the White House after our meal and of course - snapped some pictures! 

 

We cruised around cloudy DC to show Ryan some sights - making a stop at Gravelly Point to show him the planes landing at Reagan National, soaring over our heads on their final. We also made a stop by the Air Force Memorial before making our way to Arlington National Cemetery - our second to last stop before heading home! 

 

We hopped onto the tram and rode all around Arlington making a stop at the Amphitheater to watch the Changing of the Guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier - a memorable and touching ceremony every time I witness it. We also saw the Memorial to Women in the Military (below) and several notable people buried among the rows and rows of those who served our country in the many conflicts our country has taken part in. 

Our final stop was the Marines Memorial - more often referred to as Iwo Jima - as we headed toward home. The Memorial was filled with gifts left for the thirteen soldiers who were killed in Afghanistan in recent weeks - with a flag that had each name written on one of the thirteen stripes of the flag. 

We headed home in the trickling rain and did some laundry, ate some leftovers and watched Captain Marvel before calling it a night and going to bed! It was such a good weekend and a wonderful way to start the month of September! 

Five on Friday

It's the first weekend of September and it's a three day weekend too - yahoo for Labor Day! I've got a full weekend planned and so I'm really hoping my back will cooperate and I can enjoy the weekend! 

One. Back Struggles - It has been quite a long week y'all, where my back is concerned! It seemed like things were improving pretty rapidly over the last weekend and the start of the week, but things took a definite turn on Wednesday morning. I almost couldn't get up from the bed and the pain was back to being crazy intense and at times really sharp... *sigh*

Thankfully with the combination of heat, Tiger Balm and some new back-specific pain meds, I am beginning to feel better. I just hope that the back will keep improving daily since I've got plans for the weekend and don't really want to have to deal with back pain all weekend long. 

Two. Baseball & Yards Park - This baseball season has been another weird one in so many ways. Games started at limited capacity, masks were required and slowly things began to open up and go back to "normal" - if that's even a thing anymore. Sadly, the Nationals made some huge trades ahead of the trade deadline and the team is definitely in a rebuilding season (it hasn't been pleasant). 

We have tickets to a game on Saturday evening and I am so excited to finally be able to take Ryan to Nationals Park and show him around! I'm planning to introduce him to Ice Cream Jubilee before the game and show him the river walk at Yards Park... and then we can go into the game two hours ahead of first pitch so I can drag him all over Nationals Park and show him everything, ha-ha! I'm looking forward to enjoying the game and hoping next year's team is a little... stronger. 

Three. Brunch & Arlington - We are staying in DC for the night and having brunch at Old Ebbitt Grill on Sunday morning. Old Ebbitt has become a favorite of ours because of the history (it was founded in 1856) and the delicious food; I'm looking forward to introducing Ryan. After we have brunch, we may explore a little in DC before heading to Arlington National Cemetery.

Ryan has never been to Arlington National Cemetery and is especially interested in the Changing of the Guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The ceremony takes places every thirty minutes from April - September, so we will be checking that out. I've seen it before and it's always incredibly touching. 

Four. Halloween Plans - If you've read my blog for any amount of time, you know my co-workers and I always dress up for Halloween! Past costumes have included: The Sanderson Sisters, Star Trek, Game of Thrones and Founding Fathers. This year we decided to go with characters from Schitt's Creek and I will be dressing as Alexis!  

I had pretty much everything I needed for the costume but wanted a shorter dress to wear - it's a very Alexis look - and so I ordered three fairly inexpensive choices from Amazon to try. I assumed I would be lucky if one worked and so I'd just return the ones that didn't fit.... but surprise, surprise - they all three fit and looked good! I'm not used to having that "problem" - but now I have three perfectly great dresses for Fall, including one that will also work for my costume!

Five. All the Tastings - Monday is a day off from work, but I'll still be getting up at my normal time and heading out to do things. And by things, I mean - all the tastings for the wedding! Unfortunately Ryan isn't able to be off on Monday but my parents and I will be going to a menu tasting at Classic Catering in Lorton to sample ideas for the food at the wedding.

Once we leave from Classic Catering, we will be cruising over to Fluffy Thoughts in McLean to pick up a takeaway tasting of cupcakes for another look at potential wedding cake flavors! Yum! I have to say - I have enjoyed the tasting portion of being engaged quite a lot, ha-ha! 

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It's the first weekend of September and a full weekend at that! I hope everyone enjoys their Labor Day weekend and the start of this first month of Autumn!

Watson Wednesday

 

I can guarantee you that he's thinking "if your hand doesn't have food in it, I don't want it near my face." He can be a salty little fellow from time to time, especially where treats are concerned.