Event Planning: Vegetable Details

Posted by Matthew Robbins, Contributor

Table numbers and menu cards are often an afterthought, but they can really bring a magical and finishing touch to your table design. Take this fabulous wedding, for example.

It was held at Blue Hill Stone Barns, one of my absolute favorite venues and restaurants in New York. The bride worked with Ceci NY to design these wonderful menus and table cards. We all wanted to avoid the typical table number—for creative reasons but also to save space on the table—and the bride is a bit of a foodie, so the final and perfect idea was to use garden vegetables to "name" each table. Ceci printed different garden vegetables on a simple band meant to wrap around a menu set at each place setting, so if you were seated at the Butternut Squash table, you could very easily walk around the dining room and find ten of these bright vegetables marking your table.

It was also just so much more fun and perfect for the venue. Blue Hill is famous for serving the most exquisite and delicious food straight from their own garden, so the vegetable theme was very appropriate. If you want to try this on your own, click here to download a menu card template online from Martha Stewart Weddings. This is one more great link for table number ideas.

What are your ideas for finding original table number and menu card presentation ideas?

 

Each table was uniquely vintage-inspired. We used zinc tabletops, and copper and wood accents. I love the contrast of each table surface with the different menus and place settings.

Fall Fete

Posted by Shira Savada, Real Weddings Editor

Last week the stars aligned and I had two-count 'em-TWO amazing parties on the books. The first, you've all seen by now, was our 15th anniversary party at the Plaza Hotel. The second was just two days later, at 620 Loft & Garden, on an unseasonably warm evening. The theme of the event was the celebration of the bounty of New York in the Fall. So seasonal and local food and drink was on tap for about 65 assorted members of the events industry. The letterpressed invites by Sloane Maduereira Design/Press New York, set the tone beautifully (as did the menu she designed, shown below).

The venue is a stunningly landscaped terrace several stories above Fifth Avenue, with an indoor room with views to match. Before dinner, we started outside for some delicious cocktails and hors d'oeuvres, all hosted by Marcey Brownstein Catering and Events. My favorite? The chestnut celeriac soup sip with sweet pea foam. We listened to the urban jazz lounge and dance-style music of Hudson Project (one of many talented groups from Elan Artists). They played funky/hipster versions of songs by Lady Gaga, Macy Gray, and Thievery Corporation.

All photos by Roey Yohai & Carlos Varela of ElanDocumentary.

Liesl's caterer, Jeremy Barlow, Tāyst Restaurant

 

Jeremy Barlow chef and owner of  Tāyst Restaurant.

If you've seen the latest issue of Martha Stewart Weddings, you'll know that Liesl Menning, Martha's assistant, was married early last fall in Tennessee in a beautiful eco-friendly ceremony and reception. I have done some behind the scenes blogging to help you go green, too!

When we first started planning Liesl's wedding, she wanted an eco-caterer, so we looked for the best available. Tara Guerard, owner of Soiree Charleston and Liesl's wedding planner, found Chef Jeremy Barlow, owner of Tāyst Restaurant in Nashville.

His food was amazing, and he gave us some great green tips to keep in mind.

Best of Both Worlds

Planning your wedding can be daunting, partly because you're striving to host a party that's fresh and original when it seems like everything under the sun has already been done. So, look to your and your husband-to-be's personalities for a truly unique and personal event. If you pick up the current issue of Martha Stewart Weddings on newsstands, you'll see that Lily Mayer and Robert Roscoe did just that, particularly when it came to their food, an often overlooked opportunity to marry (no pun intended) your tastes, experiences, or upbringings. Robert is English and Lily grew up on the Long Island Sound, so Marcey Brownstein Catering and Events created an hors d'oeuvres menu of classic British comestibles in miniature, like fish and chips, shepherd's pie, and cucumber and dill tea sandwiches. To represent Lily, they featured a raw bar filled with oysters and clams, plentiful in the Sound. They even served Pimm's Cup, a traditional British cocktail, and Mint Juleps made from mint picked from the mother of the bride's garden. But the food is just one way to personalize the party. What did you do (or do you plan to do) to infuse your wedding with your own personalities?

Shepherd's Pie

Cucumber and Dill Teas Sandwiches

Sweeeeet!

It being Halloween and all, I thought it best to blog about some of my favorite treats. I had a dessert bar at my wedding because my husband LOVES candy! Here at Martha Stewart Weddings, we're always searching for the best source for candy and confections in all sizes, shapes, and colors. Recently Deputy Style Editor Randi Brookman-Harris turned me on to the Groovy Candies website.  They have tons of candy, but my favorite part is that you can search candies by color making it easy to match your sweet tooth to your wedding palette!

Cheers!

This morning on The Martha Stewart Show, I gave some suggestions for signature drinks, including a lavender champagne cocktail that was featured in our Spring issue. Here's a recipe for something to serve when there's a bit more nip in the air. P.S. Don't wait for your wedding to try this one out. It's a great after-dinner toddy to treat guests to at a fall dinner party!

    2 1/4 cups apple cider
    1 tablespoon thinly sliced fresh ginger
    2 whole allspice
    3 ounces brandy
    Candied ginger chunks, cut into cubes, rolled in superfine sugar (optional)

1. Bring cider, fresh ginger, and allspice to a boil in a saucepan. Remove from heat, and cover. Let stand 10 minutes. Skim foam and strain, discarding solids.
2. Ladle 1/2 cup hot cider into each mug, and add 3/4 ounce brandy. Add ginger cube to each mug, if desired. (Makes 4)

Small Wonders

10 years ago, I went to a party that Peter Callahan catered, and while I left far from hungry, I couldn’t stop thinking about the food!  His work is just too creative to be forgotten once the last crumb is gone. One of my favorite ideas of his is something that has inspired countless other caterers: classic American fare in adorably tiny proportions that is as fun as it is tasty. Some brides think a wedding menu needs to be formal. I think it’s important to serve guests what they like to eat, not what you think you should serve. And who doesn’t like a bite-sized cheeseburger with a mini cone of fries?

Dessert Buffets

Every bride and groom try to plan a wedding that will please their families, their guests, and, of course, themselves. My husband loves sweets, so we had a dessert buffet at our wedding. You can be sure, though, that displaying a wonderful dessert buffet will make everyone happy (our friends still talk about ours). Fill it with all your favorite sugary treats to make it more personal.