Report on Our Reception (was Re: Caterers & Princess Cake [plus photographer])
Anne P. Mitchell Young, Esq.
better than we'd even dreamed!
We ended up working with California BBQ for our catering (thank you, "Ranger",
for the referral!) They were fantastic, as we'd been told that they would be.
We started out talking to 3 different caterers, including CA BBQ (which is
something of an odd name, as they are definitely a full-service caterer, and I
have no idea where the BBQ comes into play, if at all).
The first caterer was quickly ruled out as they clearly were geared towards
large, high-ticket events (I should have known, when after describing our
event as a small, in-home, hors deuvres reception, we were still asked whether
we would want valet parking, and a coat-check person). This left us with CA
BBQ, and the other caterer, who also came highly recommended. Knowing, as we
did, by recommendation, that both did great food, we went with CA BBQ because
they offered us *much* more for the same budget. More food, more varieties of
food, more assistance (2 people stayed through the entire event), and
generally more flexibility.
They arrived on time, and immediately set to work setting up. They did an
*incredible* job of working with our limited space and surfaces, *and*
incorporating things we wanted (provided) into the display (some pictures,
a wedding cake ornament (more on that below),etc.), and the finished display
was absolutely beautiful. They also brought some of their own display
decorations (some silk plants, strings of silver beads, and so on) as well of,
of course, all sorts of linens, risers, and draping material, and worked in
some of those. I had our wedding cake arrangement mapped out at one end of
the main table (more on that below), and they helped me set the cakes up,
worked with it, and set the rest of the table to incorporate it.
The food was also wonderful! We had (description from their proposal):
Barbecue Chicken Picks -
(Skewers Of bite-sized pieces of marinated & grilled Chicken, served
tepid)
Variety of Mini Roll Sandwiches -
(Tuna, Egg, and Chicken Salad served on assorted Mini Rolls)
Frittata Wedges -
(Spinach, Mushroom & Jack Cheese Frittata, and Artichoke Hearts & Cheddar
Cheese Frittata)
Crudite with Dips -
(Selections of Fresh Vegetables cut and attractively displayed With Ranch
and Spinach Dips)
Pesto-glazed Cheese Tortellini Skewers
Vietnamese Vegetarian Spring Rolls With Chili Sauce
Fruit Display -
(Strawberries & Grapes with Cubes Of Cantaloupe, Watermelon, Honey Dew and
Pineapple)
Assorted Cookies & Brownies
The staff was perfect. Everything was kept filled, neat, and attractive.
They were very attentive. We had a beverage area set up (red & white wine,
soft drinks, juices, and water), and they kept that stocked (using
the beverages which we provided).
We got many many comments about how good the food was.
It was *soooo* nice having someone else worrying about getting the food out,
keeping it nice and replenished, and *cleaning up*!!! When they left, all the
mess was gone!
About the cakes: We had decided to have Swedish Princess cake for our wedding
cake. This meant having several individual cakes, rather than a tall,
multi-tiered cake, as the nature of Princess cake means that it can't be
stacked (for those who don't know, a Swedish Princess cake has a custard
filling, and a thin layer of raspberry jam, between layers of a sponge-type
cake, which is topped with a whipped cream sort of filling, and then the
entire cake is enrobed in marzipan).
We had 8 cakes altogether (each cake was supposed to serve 10-12, and we were
expecting about 80 adults and 20 children; as it turned out, the bakery's
servings-per-cake estimate was based on their standard sized slice - and the
caterer instead cut the cake into much smaller "wedding cake sized" pieces -
so we had a LOT of cake left over - 4 whole cakes, in fact ). Anyways, I'd
purchased a bunch of 8" by 1" tall styrofoam circles, and had stacked them as
platforms ("risers") for the cakes. We arranged 5 of the cakes in a
semi-circle, each riser 2" taller than the previous, with an even taller riser
in the 'center' of the semi-circle. So basically the cakes cascaded down,
sort of like a circular staircase. It looked really good. Swedish Princess
cakes are traditionally spring green (the marzipan is tinted such), however
because this was for a wedding reception, the head baker and I decided to
leave the marzipan it's natural, off-white colour, and then they decorated
each cake with pure white frosting roses, silver leaves, and very very thin
silver ribbon. The cakes were *gorgeous*, and the display was just beautiful.
This was all at one end of our table, and, as I said, the caterer worked the
rest of the food display to work with it. I'll try to put some pictures up
once we get them back from the photographer. We were really pleased without
the pictures of our actual wedding ceremony came out (we actually got married
on Valentine's Day), so we asked the photographer to come back for our
reception.
The cake was absolutely delicious - just magnificent. And we were able to
freeze an entire cake for our 1 year anniversary. :-)
Anyways, thank you to all of you who helped me with referrals to caterers,
ideas as to where to find the Princess cakes, menus for the caterer, etc.
etc.!
For those of you in the Bay area, here is the contact info for the various
folks:
Caterer: California BBQ: 650-940-1513 (ask for John)
Swedish Princess Cake: Palo Alto Baking Company: 650-321-3234 (ask for
Kelly)
Photographer: Len's Photos: 408-258-3023 (ask for Len) [www.lensphoto.com]
Also, while I'm at it, the florist who did our flowers for our wedding, with
impossibly short notice, (and they were *gorgeous*) was Sophia's Flowers, at
408-738-5950.
Thanks again!
Anne
William - 4/11/98
Jessica - 8/28/78
For Articles/Resources on intuitive parenting, breastfeeding, co-sleeping, etc.:
http://www.intuitiveparenting.org
I am: mom, Attorney, Prof., Advocate for Fathers, ChildBirth Educator (in training)
http://www.parentinglaw.com
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busybee
of wedded bliss.
--Busybee
Anne P. Mitchell Young, Esq. wrote in message
<8ba1ur$uku$2...@isrv4.pa.vix.com>...
>We had our wedding reception this past Saturday. It was wonderful; it
went
>better than we'd even dreamed!
>
>We ended up working with California BBQ for our catering (thank you,
"Ranger",
>for the referral!) They were fantastic, as we'd been told that they would
be.
snipped
The Ranger
Anne P. Mitchell Young, Esq. wrote:
> We had our wedding reception this past Saturday. It was wonderful;
> it went better than we'd even dreamed!
> We ended up working with California BBQ [snip] (which is
> something of an odd name, as they are definitely a full-
> service caterer, and I have no idea where the BBQ comes
> into play, if at all).
When they first started out, they catered BBQ's exclusively. They had/have
one of those giant trailer BBQ barrels that doubles as a baker's oven/pit.
They "expanded" their menu and slowly stopped having to cart the trailer
around to their different jobs. They are also one of the regular catering
outfits for the super bowls.
They still do BBQ catering but -- as you attested -- they do other items
just as well.
The Ranger