Wedding Wednesdays - 2 for 1 special

I've been slacking on the Wedding Wednesday posts lately, but today I'm going to round up the last two weeks. This week the theme is groomsmen gifts. Brian picked these out all on his own and I've got to admit, they were quite well received. He ordered monogrammed 24oz beer mugs for each of his groomsmen and ushers. I don't remember where he got them, but they looked a lot like these. He also gave them their Brooks Brothers bow ties cummerbunds and argyle socks but I'm not sure any of those boys counted those as gifts. They sure do look spiffy though, huh?

The mugs were quite the hit and I don't think I saw any of them running low all night. The unforseen benefit to liquoring up those boys early on was that they really helped get the dance floor going. See Taylor in action below. His wedding is in South Padre in just over 2 weeks. Brian is a groomsman and he may be able to return the favor.

Now last week I missed posting about Wedding Wednesday and the theme was reception dinner. I've got to tell you my single favorite day of wedding planning (yes, even better than picking out my dress) was the menu selection day. And my poor poor hubby was travelling for work that week, as his now, and missed out big time! I did have my mom and dad there helping me and it was pretty great!

When we first started planning the wedding I wanted the reception to be at a local restaurant called Palmer's because it was my favorite in town and they have the best pecan crusted chicken you've ever tasted! My plan was to serve that there, but the guest list grew and it grew and we grew right out of that restaurant and ended up looking at a bunch of other places before ultimately choosing the San Marcos Convention Center that was just being built. We booked the wedding before they even had a chef so we were agreeing to tentative prices and menus. As it turned out the chef they ended up getting was excellent and very willing to work with us to make a meal that we wanted and promised to give pecan crusted chicken a try.

So the tasting started out with our signature cocktail. They brought out some seriously delicious drinks! My dad, who doesn't drink at all, was making fast work of these even. We decided on a poinsettia which is champagne and cranberry because we could use that for the toasts and cut down on extra champagne costs. We renamed it Explosion of Love (go ahead, laugh it up) because that's what I'd been calling the whole party. Plus it was beautiful sparkly red with a cherry in the bottom, perfect for 4th of July! It helped decorate the tables for me.

Next we tried hors d'oeuvres and decided on mushroom caps stuffed with herbed Italian sausage, roasted bacon wrapped stuffed jalapeños, and a spicy shrimp skewer. Delicious! I'm glad I got to try them then because they were all pretty much gone by the time we got there. I guess that's the whole point of the cocktail hour.

The salad we chose was fabulous although the only thing I remember about it is that it had goat cheese and pink (raspberry) salad dressing. There were also herbed rolls to go with.

Finally we tried several delicious main courses including beef medallions, shrimp, snapper, tortilla chicken and pecan crusted chicken. You know I went with my favorite! In the setting we had with a plated meal and about 200 guests the coordinator assured me that it was best to go with just one option rather than trying to get everyone to choose. We didn't have any vegetarians or allergics in the group so that worked. We also chose cilantro rice and haricot verts with julienned veggies.

All night long people were telling me it was the best wedding food they had ever had and I'd have to agree. Brian refused to get up and mingle until he had cleaned his plate (I did too) then we at another whole plate after the party up in our honeymoon suite. It was that good, and I didn't have to worry about fitting in a dress anymore!

I didn't make menu cards for the tables since they didn't really have a choice anyway so I'll print one out here:

Menu

Passed hors d'oeuvres

Mushroom cap stuffed with herbed Italian sausage

Jalapeno stuffed with cream cheese and wrapped in bacon

Spicy jumbo shrimp on a skewer

Salad

Mixed field greens with pecans, goat cheese, strawberries and berry dressing

herbed rolls with butter

Main Course

Pecan crusted chicken breast in a chipotle cream sauce

with a side of cilantro rice

and haricot verts with julienned mixed vegetables

On our anniversary, which is coming right up, we plan on going to Mass at the church we were married at. That's a given, since it falls on a Sunday and we go there anyway. Then going back to that hotel and having dinner and spending the night. We might even get to reexperience one of my favorite honeymoon moments in their spa, the couple's massage. I can't wait!!