Bryan and I have an Apple TV. If you don't have one or aren't familiar with an Apple TV, it's essentially an amazing little box that connects your TV to your Mac. You can listen to your iTunes through your TV, watch your entire iPhoto library on your TV screen, download movies, etc.
As I was listening to some music accompanied by our iPhoto slideshow, I noticed photos from our wedding, held last June in the tiny Napa Valley town of Yountville. And of course being the crazy food-obsessed person that I am, I glossed right over our ceremony and reception photos, specifically taking notice of our wedding appetizer, dinner and cake photos.
Okay, I'll admit, I hadn't eaten dinner yet and I was starving. Couple that with the fact that our photographer, Anna Kuperberg, took the equivalent of food porn quality photos of our appetizers and entree...well, let's just say I was done for. It prompted me to go through our wedding photos and share both the menu and the photos with you.
Man oh man, we had some AMAZING food that night. We spent a few months developing the entire menu, talking about local and seasonal wine country ingredients with the chef as well as tasting our options. This is the menu we eventually settled on; I hope you enjoy looking at it as much as we did eating it. :)
Our menu was tucked inside each guest's napkin...
COCKTAIL HOUR APPETIZERS
#1: Pancetta-Wrapped Jumbo Prawns with Orange Balsamic Glaze
#2: Spoons of Ahi Carpaccio & Hijiki Salad
#3: Crispy Polenta Rounds with Goat Cheese & Pine Nuts
#4: Mini Cheeseburgers with Bacon & Grilled Onions
RECEPTION MENU
First Course: Wild Mushroom & Skyhill Chevre Tart
with Arugula, Fennel Salad & Champagne Vinaigrette
Entree Course: Center Cut Filet of Beef with Smashed Heirloom Potatoes, Asparagus, Cabernet Sauvignon Glace & Tobacco Onions
OUR WEDDING CAKE
Our wedding cake was really non-traditional and inspired by Candy Land, one of my favorite childhood board games. I always knew that I didn't want a traditional, white wedding cake. To me, that was the epitome of bor-ing. There was no real reason for the Candy Land cake, other than I thought it would be amazing to have a 3-D wedding cake that brought the board game to life. Simple as that. Bryan left all cake-related decisions up to me except for one: he mandated that one of the cakes layers include confetti cake, his favorite childhood cake flavor. So he asked our cake designer, Jill Branch of Branching Out Cakes, to create one for us. She found organic, multicolor sprinkles and baked it into a vanilla cake, layering it with passion fruit and raspberry mousse filling. Our other layer was Devil's Food Chocolate cake with chocolate mousse and dark chocolate fudge filling. It was perfect and definitely a show-stopper!
The Candy Land Cake
Gingerbread Plum Tree & Lollipop Lane
Peanut Acres
Lord Licorice's Lane
Candy Castle
Confetti & Devil's Food Chocolate Flavors
Sounds like a delicious menu! I used to love playing Candy Land. Fantastic cake!
ReplyDeleteWow. Just wow. Everything looks so perfect. I'd only hate to see a picture of the bill, ha ha. Excellent work by both the caterer and photographer.
ReplyDeleteOh My!! I'm drooling. How about you coming up with some recipes for what looks like amazing yummy food?
ReplyDeleteMy dear, I am so glad to see at the end of your bio that the cancer is retreating :) My husband had a stroke at 38. Cancer is a different beast but still I can relate to the stages of the process that you have gone through. I will send my best good thoughts to your family :)
ReplyDeleteP.S. I saw the town Yountville and I shivered with glee! Someday I want to eat at a certain joint in that town..lol! Nice to meet you!
Hi Katja! Nice to meet you as well; thanks for reading! If you ever get around to eating at TFL in Yountville, let me know how it is! My best thoughts to you and your husband! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone! I'm working on recreating some of the meals, especially the slides from the cocktail hour. They were spectacular...stay tuned!
ReplyDeletewhere were you married and who was the caterer... all looks amazing.
ReplyDeleteHi Rose! We were married at a hotel called The Vintage Inn. Their in-house food & beverage team did everything and were wonderful to work with. Needless to say, we were thrilled with the result!
ReplyDeleteThat wedding cake is adorable!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds amazing! I would have loved to have been a guest... You blog is lovely and was encouraged to read your husband is responding well to treatment.
ReplyDeletelovely n delicious menu
ReplyDeleteYour menu choices look delightful! I bet your guests enjoyed that festivity. Now how about those birthdays and wedding anniversaries? Did you have a special menu planned for those events as well? Thanks for sharing you wedding fare. I did enjoy looking at it as much you did eating it. Yum!
ReplyDeleteTeri Harris @ Caiger & Co.