Well, folks, this is it… the last photo recap of our wedding. Next, I’ll share with you our budget breakdown, and then it’s on to our Zihuatanejo honeymoon. After that, who knows!
My first detail recap showed you the people and accessories that gave celebration special warmth and feeling.
Today’s post focuses on some of the details that made our wedding unique: DIY projects, decorations, food and beverage, transportation, et cetera. I’ve picked lots of colorful photos to share each detail with you and, wherever possible, linked you to my past posts with more information or other external resources. Enjoy!
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Filed under: Ambiance, Cake, Flowers, Food & Drink, Handmade, Music, Paper Goods & Favors, Photos, Recap on March 26th, 2009 | 2 Comments »
As everyone filled their plates and found their tables, the rain outside our reception tent continued to fall. Warm and dry as we were, it didn’t dampen our spirits one bit, although we did worry what it meant for after-dinner dancing.
After everyone was seated, Justin stood and called attention to the front of the room, welcoming our friends and family with a brief speech of appreciation.
Then, we let the toasts begin!
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Filed under: Food & Drink, Photos, Recap on March 6th, 2009 | 1 Comment »
As Justin and I finished up our portraits together, our guests were invited from the cocktail area to the reception tent by the ringing of a dinner bell.
We intended our reception to be rustic, casual, and comfortable, like sitting down to dinner with family. For me, the pièce de résistance of our wedding day will always be the ceremony, but I absolutely loved how our reception turned out. There were no fancy linens, lighting, music, slide shows, or sound systems… just tables enough to seat ninety, a few hand-designed details, and a buffet of astounding regional food and drink. It was perfect, despite the drenching downpour that started as soon as dinner began…
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Filed under: Food & Drink, Photos, Recap, Weather on March 3rd, 2009 | 1 Comment »
While we snuck off for some portraits, things were just getting started at the Otter Woman Trading Post, where we’d set up for cocktail hour. There were jugs of water and Arnold Palmer (half iced tea/half lemonade) set alongside our homemade blackberry vodka, lime gin, and limoncello infusions. And, of course, there were plenty of bottled Cokes chilling in ice, a couple of mixers, and a keg of summer beer from a Montana brewery.
Besides drinks, the Northern Lights Saloon provided a whole compliment of rustic hors d’ouevres: organic fruits, a variety of cheeses, crackers, and a locally-made bruschetta with organic tapenade. But enough, jibber-jabber… I’ll let the photos speak for themselves!
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Filed under: Food & Drink, Photos, Recap on February 23rd, 2009 | 2 Comments »
After our ceremony, even the mountains came out to say hello! The clouds that had been hanging low over some of the highest peaks lifted, revealing a brand new dusting of snow. Despite the increasing chance of rain and fast-moving weather, it had been a beautiful afternoon.
We waited quietly on the far side of a bank of tall grasses , laughing and embracing, for the wedding party to recess and our guests to leave their seats.
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Filed under: Food & Drink, Photos, Recap on February 20th, 2009 | 2 Comments »
After our cocktail hour it was time to head to the tent for dinner: a Polebridge-catered buffet of baked ruby trout, buffalo tri-tip, grilled veggies, herbed potatoes, fresh-baked bread, garlic noodles, and organic salad greens. YEEEE-HAW!!
Our guests were getting restless, hungry, and probably a bit drunk off the “purple stuff,” so our coordinators led them back to the tent when the buffet was ready. But we were so engrossed in taking photos that we didn’t notice our allotted hour had passed! Everyone had been helping themselves to the buffet for more than a few minutes when one of the team though to come get us. Oops!
We took a few more pics, and might have been tempted to use up the last of the waning light, when it started to rain. The timing was perfect. The rain forced us into the tent and the tent walls were closed behind us, just as it started to ABSOLUTELY POUR.
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Filed under: Cake, Food & Drink, Photos, Recap, Weather on November 25th, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Without further ado, I present to you guest photos of our cocktail hour and a lengthy narrative to accompany them!
Mmm, don’t those hors d’ouevres look scrumptious? It looks like one of our guests set up this plate just for a photo! (Notice the suspiciously well-placed garnish…)
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Filed under: Food & Drink, Photos, Recap on November 21st, 2008 | 3 Comments »
When we budgeted for our wedding beverages, we knew we didn’t have the money for an open bar and we quickly decided that hard liquor was both costly and unnecessary for our wedding to be a success. We’d have plenty of beer and plenty of wine to take care of our guests.
But I was still tempted by one popular option—a signature cocktail served during cocktail hour after the ceremony and before the reception. I wanted something with a summery, Montana feel… like huckleberry martinis!
(Photo by Nicole Tavenner)
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Filed under: Food & Drink on September 3rd, 2008 | 6 Comments »
Our taste-testing adventure continued in Polebridge at the Northern Lights Saloon. The saloon is Polebridge’s one and only restaurant, run by the daughter of the merc’s owners. Occasionally, they hire an outside chef for the season, but this summer it looks like she will be the one cooking for us.
The Northern Lights is another of Polebridge’s great vintage buildings, complete with a front porch for kickin’ up yo heels:
You can’t see it in that photo, but there is a sign on the porch that says “unleashed dogs will be eaten.”
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Filed under: Food & Drink on June 19th, 2008 | No Comments »
After visiting with our rental company and florist on Saturday morning, the three of us ladies headed up the road to Cimmaron Cafe & Catering to taste a sample wedding menu.
We really wanted our catering to be provided by Polebridge via their saloon kitchen, but a series of rather bumpy miscommunications and delays with Polebridge staff and residents led me to decide that it was probably wise to have a backup caterer on standby… at least until we were sure that Polebridge could provide what we needed. This meant potentially forfeiting a $200 deposit, but given how essential food is for a wedding reception and how (sadly) small $200 is compared to a total catering bill, it was worth the cost.
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Filed under: Food & Drink on June 3rd, 2008 | 1 Comment »
