Home Grown and Perfect for a Chefs Daughter

I think we have a caterer! No paperwork has been signed just yet...but I think we'll go with them.  As some may know, my father used to be a chef (currently a culinary arts instructor) and my mother used to be a food and beverage manager...or for all intents and purposes, the event planner.  So I have a pretty handy set of resources at my disposal! When my dad was at his last job, his sous chef was Greg Kilpatrick, who now owns Home Grown and Saffron Fine Foods Catering with his wife Miki in Asheville. They have wonderful southern yet sophisticated food and it's exactly what we're looking for.

For the past few weeks we've been trying to catch them and kept missing them for one reason or another, but just yesterday we finally connected!  They called my mom today and had a chat about our vision and we're right on par with what they do and they're happy to be flexible with us (because of dad). We meet with them this weekend.  So yay!!! It looks like we will have an amazing caterer and I cannot wait to work out the menu with them!

We've been envisioning something simple with a twist. We've been thinking family style rather than buffet but we may do a mix of both. The vision is a lovely fruit and arugula salad on the table with a delicious homemade vinaigrette.  Possibly a soup for all of the non-salad eaters.  For dinner we're thinking options of pork and fish...possibly trout since it's NC :) For sides we want my dad's infamous butternut squash pudding...the best ever....and some veggies and maybe a starch.  Keep it simple...but delicious. I'm so lucky to have my family helping me through this...they used to (and still do) make menus all the time so they know exactly what will hold well, taste amazing, and what will wow our guests who have traveled so far to be with us.

The dessert is going to be the real fun...I don't want to give too much away but we're thinking lots of New Zealand favorites...southern pies...and some delicious homemade ice cream.  I'm also blessed in that my mom is currently working as a gluten free baker, and my future mother-in-law is a pastry chef! Talk about luck! So the dessert will be their area to play with...lots of cute happy pie crusts and delicious varieties. Lot's of berries and apples (it's apple season in the high country!) so that will add some fun color as well.  And a favor that's edible and hopefully a huge hit...And the cake, we're thinking we'll have a (lovely) friend make it and we'll do the decorating...I'm thinking chocolate bark and berries and flowers. We'll see how it turns out but get ready to taste the best cake...my most favorite cake in the world since I've been a child.

Oh and for the rehearsal dinner? FOOD TRUCK! Don't tell anyone. It's going to be awesome. We're having the rehearsal dinner on sight at the Dairy Barn that I mentioned in my venue post.  The goal is to have everyone gather to do the ceremony run-through then hang out for some fun food, beer, and laughs. We may even throw in a few games...think wedding olympics ;) So the food should be amazing...just like everyone is expecting from a chef's daughter and pastry chef's son. Yay!!

Sandy Beaches and Turkish Bazaars

So since I'm documenting the wedding planning process, I figured, why not bring the honeymoon planning process here for everyone to follow along with as well? :)

Andrew and I were thinking about going to Thailand for the longest time. Exotic beaches, ancient ruins, a completely different culture...Sounded great! But then the more we thought about it, and how we're going to (sometime in the near future) move to that side of the world (to New Zealand), we thought, ehh, maybe we'll do something closer to home.

Out of that...somehow...we came Greece and Turkey! Not exactly close to home, but still quite awesome! Andrew has a think for ancient history and said he would love to go to Istanbul one day...so I started looking in to it and thinking, that woouuld be quite cool. The culture, the food, the bazaars (shoppinggg!).  So Istanbul it was! But I was fixated on those white sandy beaches...so I looked at the map and noticed Greece isn't too far away! Why not?! So there you go. As of now, we've decided Greece first, for a few days of ruins and beach side relaxation, Turkey second.

There are so many interesting places we want to see in each country! I've been hunting all over Pinterest and Lonely Planet and Trip Advisor to see where we should start. So over the next few months I'm going to be looking around and figuring out where we want to go...and attempting to document it all here. I'll be sure to post links to sights, suggestions, and planning tips I've come across :) And if you have any suggestions FOR me, please please please post in a comment! I've never been there, so any insight will be lovely.

I'm getting so exciting! This will surely be an adventure!

Something Old - The Wedding Dress

For months and months I was looking for the perfect wedding dress...something a bit un-traditional. Something flowy, yet fitted, with an interesting design...preferably a dress that was off white. I looked high and low and finally found it. The one. It was a gorgeous dress from Free People and I immediately texted my best friend (who was also engaged) to show her and get her opinion. And then, the one in a million chance...happened. She had found that same dress and wanted it too. So we decided to share it (great idea at the time).  We ordered the dress and as time went on, I started to get a bit uneasy about sharing a dress...especially when I thought about Andrew seeing it on someone else on their big day before seeing it on me.  So I started to retreat, and decided to let her keep it (I would post a pic but I would hate to give it away for her...so here's an example of the feel I was looking for).

From there, something absolutely perfect happened. On August 4th, 2013, Andrew and I went over to his grandmothers house to visit. She lived in town close to us so we visited her regularly. It was a normal visit...we did our laundry, hung out on the back porch with everyone, and talked about my wedding dress worries...and then grandma asked me to try on her wedding dress.  I was a bit shocked!  I had never seen it, and had no idea what to expect...but I figured, sure, why not. When I saw the dress I realized it was definitely unconventional! A lovely pink sequined fitted deeeep V neck dress.  My mom said it was "very Dallas"...I guess from the old tv show.  The dress fit like a glove, all except that grandma was only about 5ft tall and I'm 5'7". She loved it on me and offered to give it to me for my own dress...

Months before we had went to the Big Day Wedding Festival in Asheville and found this awesome dress designer called Ship to Shore. Brooke, the designer, had done a consultation with me at the festival to see if I would be interested in having my dress made.  She was fantastic, but I wasn't sure so her business card was put in my wedding resources drawer. So grandma and I talked about her and how she would be perfect to re-design the dress for me and make it work for my vision....so I set up an appointment and got really excited about having an heirloom that was re-designed just for me.

Sadly, just a few days after she gave me the dress on August 7th, grandma passed away unexpectedly. She was such a light in my life and it was so hard to say goodbye. She had recently been diagnosed with lung cancer and had some complications when the port for chemo was put in. A day later, she was gone.  I feel so blessed to have known her and had her in my life, and sooo thankful that I was able to get to know her to the point that she felt comfortable enough to offer me her wedding dress.  It's one of the most amazing ways to have her there and a big part of the wedding, like we had always wanted. Oh how I miss her...

So on a happy note, I have a dress :) The perfect dress!  We've taken it to Brooke at Ship to Shore and so far I've had 3 fittings with my mom and Andrew's mom helping push the vision the whole way through.  We've decided to add some sheer fabric over the dress to make it a bit more flowy and less pink.  We're switching out the lace in the front panel...and we're cutting out the back.  We're also either taking off the sleeves, or doing a sheer sleeve...not sure just yet.  And of course, extending the length. I've found the best shoes EVER from Free People that are a burgundy leather with lace ups (I'm not going to give away too much) that I'm overly ecstatic about.  I'm also going to have some fun rock and gemstone jewelry and a flower crown like I've wanted since I was a little girl.  I can't wait to post the photos of the end results! So there ya have it...I have a dress...and it's going to be the most beautiful and meaningful dress I could have. I love you grandma!