The Pie Bride

Dan and I spent another weekend at a wedding stalking cater waiters.  (Our strategy is to mingle near the entrance from the kitchen where they come out.  No, we don't play around when it comes to snagging bacon-wrapped scallops on toothpicks.)  This weekend's wedding was my cousin Jen's, and it was kind of like A Mid-Summer Night's Dream meets Top Chef... dreamy and delicious.

I always enjoy an unnecessarily detailed wedding breakdown, so here are just a few photos for anyone else who used to watch the occasional TLC Wedding Story while wearing yoga pants too.  Or just me? 

My uncle walking Jen down the aisle.  You can see that the bridesmaids (in background) were allowed to each choose their own dress in light pink:

Next, meet the happy couple! Jen is one of the coolest people I know: stylish, beautiful, funny, quirky, and modest. Also, she's an aspiring food critic who lives in New York City and invents her own dishes, like savory ham and cheese cookies. I don't know much about Josh except that he teaches fourth grade in New York, which strikes me as being a very giving and patient person.

We left the church and a school bus (a wink to Josh's job) brought hotel dwellers to the beautiful manor house for the reception.  When we arrived, Dan and I signed the guestbook (see below).  I've never seen this idea before!  Guests put their thumb in colored ink, press as leaves on this drawing of a tree, and then write their name.  It struck me as such a cute play off "Family Tree" and is definitely a sentimental piece of art for their future home.

Here is an obligatory picture of us  on the grounds before we started mauling the shrimp. 

I was too busy knocking back drinks to take too many detail shots, but I did get one of the table: sweet galvanized tins with herbs and roses and daisies. 

My sis and I during cocktail hour:

The couple put disposable cameras and incognito eyeware on the tables, along with a photo scavenger hunt ("Take a pic of a cute couple!"  "Take a pic of a moustached guest!")  As seen in my last post, Bethy and I can't resist a cheesy photo complete with props.


     Anyway, Bethy, Dan, and I kept talking about how we noticed Jen's attention to detail everywhere, especially in the food.  It was as eclectic and cool and New Yorky (yes, that's an adjective now) as she is:

 Savory cones filled with raw tuna and avacado

Scallops wrapped in bacon

  Falafel Bar

 Peking Duck Rolls

Katz's Pastrami from Lower Manhattan

 Israeli Couscous Salad

The favors: little brown boxes filled with maple and walnut turnovers, wrapped in twine, and decorated by Josh's fourth grade students

 You can always tell when a bride is having fun at her own wedding, and Jen definitely was enjoying all the food she spent months picking out.  When I asked if I could have Dan take a picture of her and her brother Justin with Bethany and me, she asked, "Is it okay that I keep holding this piece of beef??" 

See her app in hand in the below close-up?  Dan commented on how it was so refreshing to see her relish in the food as much as the guests!  This girl's a chef, for goodness sake!  Food is her life.

The adorable couple:

The big white tent reminded Dan and me a little of our own weddding, except we weren't drowning in sweat at this one. :) 

It was really magical later that night when all the lanterns and sparkly lights were aglow and fireflies were out in the yard.

Josh and his family are Jewish, so the couple was hoisted in the air for the Hora.  Jen's expression when she first got up there is priceless- ha ha!

Instead of wedding cake, Jen ordered three types of pies:  Key Lime, Apple Crumble, and Strawberry Rubarb.  There are no words to how freakin' psyched everyone was when these came out.

The absolute favorite moment of the night?  My entire family, Dan, and I were dancing to Black Eyed Peas, and we looked over and saw Josh with a plate with enormous slabs of each type of pie.  He and Jen were busting a move, and every whoop from Fergie and the gang ("Let's do it, do it, do it again!") he would feed her forkfuls so she didn't miss out on one taste.  There she was... laughing, twirling, and leaning in to savor more. 

That's why Dan and I now call her "the pie bride". :)