Saturday was spent in preparation to a large, formal wedding put on by our friends for their second daughter. Dave was a customer of mine for years, in which over the span of 30 years, became good friends too.. The wedding ceremony was held at one our most beautiful churches in the area, Fountain Street Church.. The gowns were gorgeous, tuxes quite traditional, with a soloist brought in from out of town that was World class.. The two people getting married, genuinely loved each other- that was obvious!
The reception was held at Grand Rapids finest hotel/restaurant complex, The Amway Grand Hotel. This was originally the Pantlind Hotel,built in 1913. It was purchased by the Amway Group(now Alticor) and totally refurbished to it's former glory. They added a tower hotel to it, that for many years was the tallest building in Grand Rapids!
It started with a reception, with open bar and high end appetizers, overlooking a lobby filled with original chandeliers, lighting the floor below. We then took our seat placement in the finest ballroom(they have four!), The Grand Ballroom!
Dinner was as follows; First a tomato bisque, covered in a pastry shell- quite good! Next, as a Romaine salad, with a signature thick caesar salad dressing(garlic x 2!). The main course was a beef tenderloin, in Cabernet glaze sauce, three scampi, also in a sauce (cream and again, garlic!) fresh, steamed asparagus, with a potato remindful of scalloped, but compressed and cut like a wedge(again with the garlic!) Wine was served throughout the meal, if you wished..Cabernet or Chardonnay. Dessert was the wedding cake, which was light, white and chocolate cake, with a creamy frosting.
Band fired up, and they were imported for the occasion- very good, very loud! Acoustics in a room with a gilded ceiling, plaster and mirrored walls, originally built in 1913, is not very good at absorbing sound! We stayed until 10;30PM, then said our thank you's and good byes... This wedding had to be in the 50K+ range for everything! Quite an experience...
Food was out for Sunday- still full! Monday, back on Earth now, I fixed a couple of simple, pan fried pork steaks, with some rigatoni Alfredo for a side.. Tonight is looking like something south of the border!
52 comments:
sounds like a fantastic wedding Uncle Buff! and the food...YUM. good thing EVERYONE ate the garlic, huh?
XOXOXo
Fancy weddings make me nervous. I'm a total Justice of the Peace sort of gal.
Beth- I love garlic, but even i thought they wen a little nuts with it!
Kate- I went out of respect and friendship, not because I seek this kind of thing out! I wasn't in the biggest chili cook-off in this part of the world for the first time in 13 years because of this...imagine!
I can not even imagine how expensive that must have been! I'm glad you enjoyed yourself and that really is a lovely hotel. I've been there many times for different events. :)
It's great to be a guest (my daughter got married two tears ago, and I still wake up screaming in the middle of the night). My hand is shaking as I type this
Sounds a night you will remember forever. You described a very top shelf evening Buff.
BlueV- There were foods on the appetizer trays most of the guests didn't even know what they had! I told Mother of Bride- "I'll just stay here and graze all night!"
Year on Grill- I had two boys, Thank God... I'll have to shell out for the Wedding Party dinners and more, I suspect..
Katherine- The man who paid for everything is an old friend.. Imagine Felix and Oscar in The Odd Couple... Guess who's Oscar? :)
Sounds like you guys had a lot of fun. I am glad you did!
Mona! There was another party that night with many Indian people in attendance.. The gowns(saris?) were incredibly beautiful, obviously expensive, as were the ladies wearing them! The men and women didn't seem to have much interaction, as one group of females sat with same, as men were another group... It looked to me, like the ladies were having more fun... What a waste! I would have been with those lovely women from your homeland, asking what would they like next! Explain your culture some day(again!) to the Western world..women so lovely, and not being attended to? We males here have no point of reference!
There was a lot of garlic then? I like garlic.
Sounds like a fabulous day Buff. :)
Sounds like some enchanted evening! We have two weddings in October and I'm looking forward to the pomp and circumstance. My dad is officiating at one of them so it will be even more special (for my nephew, his namesake)
Indian weddings - I attended one many years ago and yes, they are segregated. It was a very interesting cultural experience but I'm glad I didn't take a date!
Fun times! Did I hear something about Mexican food tonight? I LOVE Mexican food...probably my favorite. I might have to make some here too :)
Wow sounds dreamy...I love happy occations...
Buf, I certainly shall!
Gotta love going to a fancy wedding.
...and you didn't say that anyone objected to your pony tail! It would appear that a good time was had by all.
Ake- I like garlic, but at 4AM, still belching and smelling like I'd been on a vampire hunt- was a bit much!
GoodCook- It was over the top, to say the least!
Rachel- I bet you look like something special, when you dress up for a wedding reception!
Darn girl, Many low cut gowns there, not much cleavage!
Mona- I love it when you do explain your beautiful culture to us, who don't get around much!
K- 1st hour, groomsmen all dressed and proper, but getting loose..2nd hour, coats off, ties loosened..3rd hour ties gone, shirt tails out..,4th hour, wearing Viking helmets and dancing with each other!
Marjie- Looked hard, and I was the only one that had one! Lotta chrome domes, both young and old!
Sounds like a great time! I went to a wedding on Saturday but it was super small a classy. Had a wonderful time. Aren't weddings the best???
jules- Such a girl you are! Guys run screaming from these things, unless great quantities of free alcohol is available..Thank Heaven, for little girls!
They must have been expecting the wedding to be crashed by vampires with all of that garlic!!
Sounds like a snazzy affair...
YUM!!!
KathyB- A kiss that night would have been brutal to anyone that didn't dine there!
G-man- It was, and they let me in anyway... Tip heavily, and all goes well...
Here's to true love.
(And I don't know if you knew it, but I broke up with Omni about 2 months ago)
I love Mexican food! What are we eating? I did not eat any spam, it was a failed attempt at a computer joke!
UrbanV- I sure didn't... hope you are OK..Let me know.
otin- This is no way to start a friendship- jerkin' my joint, pullin' my chain... I eat road kill, why would I think you were kidding? Next post is a Mexican inspired dish..and I will say no more!
What's an appropriate gift for a wedding that costs $50k?
Wow! What a wonderful wedding!! Very fun.
I would have to agree with Jeanne. What would be appropriate? Crazy.
Supersperm is invited to an over the top birthday for a 13 year old this week at a local country club. I also am not sure what to send??? And... they are taking supersperm off my hands for a while. Very very nice!! I definitely need to send a decent small gift.
Sounds like quite an event! But $50k? My heart is stopping now! Ack ack ack.
Darn I hate it when that happens
You guys gotta be running low on Listerine by now. I love garlic, but it tends to hang around for a while. Sounds like an entertaining wedding.
That must have been some wedding! Loved the way you described the place. For $50K I want Elvis.
Jeanne- Let's just say I think needed to give a bigger gift! I'm buying him lunch soon, and should be square after that!
Just40- Kids party at a country club? If he is through puberty, get him the drink cart girl...
Chris- Get on line sometime and punch up Amway Grand Hotel, and find the price list!
Darngirl- Hadn't been there in awhile, and it is still world class..
Char- I like garlic, but wow! I swear it was in almost everything!
Gene- Let's just say they could afford it...
weddings aren't my bag, but freee food IS !
Heff- Open bar(well drinks were made with call liquor!) except when you had to drink wine during dinner, all-night-long...! Eats were really good too!
oh it all sounds so wonderful......sigh LOL
and just think, you DIDNT have to cook, loverly for someone else to cook for you aye :)
x
Marmy- It was nice, but a little over welming at times!
all that garlic you'd think they were expecting me....sounds like quite the fete!
I used up the Kleenex in my bra. How about I borrow a few from your pants??
I'm glad you had a garlicky good time at that fancy schmanzi wedding.
I've been to a few over-the-top weddings in my day and some just plain & simple ones. Even ones with no booze. (that was hard) LOL
I feel more relaxed at the smaller, simple ones!
Now, I am starting to get all stressed out...my neice
just got engaged and they set the date for next Sept...
I'm sure it's going to be an over-the-topper for sure. You see she's a lawyer/he's a lawyer...her father has money...I'm sure his parents have some as well...and it's going to be in NYC!!
...I'm already trying to figure out what to wear and what to buy as a gift... :(
I've never gotten these weddings with full meals. I guess I wasn't that generous. I timed my wedding where it wasn't at the dinner hour...and they got cake and mints. Is that bad? I just couldn't see forking over thousands of dollars so everyone else could eat well!
DogB- It is the best place for fine dining in Western Michigan!
Hit40- I use a potato...
Lulda- I've got another high end wedding in a few weeks..at least I'm set for wardrobe!
Steph- Depends who is picking up the tab, what the bride and groom want, how many people you owe a party to, etc...
(((Buff))) just come over for a hug..
x
A classy wedding for a classy guy!!
I love weddings and I love to get all dressed up fancy-like. :) I like garlic too, but I don't know if I like garlic that much. Hehe ;) Glad you both had a great time!!
--snow
sounds wonderful and delicious! have you recovered?
Marmy- Consider yourself hugged!
Snowniece- The only difference between the rich and us is, well, they're rich! They laugh at the same jokes, get loaded like the common folk,etc.. One of the funniest things I see at these things is, a pretty young girl in a formal gown, hair and nails done, make-up perfect.. then she takes a swig of beer straight from the long-necker!
Pink- Sort of.. but cutting back on the garlic for a bit!
It sounds like a great wedding!
BlondeD- Glad it wasn't on my nickel!
That hotel sounds amazing...not to mention the menu and the entertainment. Glad you had fun! It's about time you kicked back and enjoyed good food prepared by somebody else!!
Scarlet- It is the best we have in upscale dining around here.. I could and would love to be a food critic, as well as a cook!
"The two people getting married, genuinely loved each other- that was obvious!" Only reason two people should get married, if you ask me.
The food sounds delicious!
Jen- You've been at weddings where you could tell the couple wasn't going to make a good team...
Love weddings and this one sounds like it was a beauty!
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