Many brides are opting for more creative and unique ways of displaying their escort cards. Check out these great sand filled message in a bottle idea from the one and only Martha Stewart. These little bottles would look great displayed in large Nantucket baskets.

photo courtesy of Martha Stewart

Check out this creative escort card display from one of our recent brides this Fall. The wedding was held at Heritage’s round barn museum, which houses an antique collection of automobiles.

Each license plate has the name of the guest, what table they are sitting at and where they are coming from. Each license plate was significant to the guest because it correlated to which state the guest was traveling from. This is a great way to show your guests how much you appreciate their travel in order to share with you on your wedding day.

A great way to familiarize your guests with Cape Cod and the surrounding islands would be a welcome basket with all things Cape Cod for your guests to enjoy as they arrive. You can create your own Cape Cod basket by adding some items unique to Cape Cod or you can actually purchase already made baskets and save your self some time

photo courtesy of Kate Parker Baskets

Another great idea to add a touch of Cape Cod to your wedding would be to provide little gifts or favors that are wrapped in maps of Cape Cod or the surrounding areas and islands. It would be great if you could get a map of where the wedding may be taking place and circling the location or marking YOU ARE HERE on the map.

photo courtesy of Martha Stewart

I hope these ideas help in setting the stage for your upcoming Cape Cod wedding. If you have any ideas you would like to share we would love to hear from you!

Left: Sour Apple Flavor  Right: French Toast Stick with Maple Flavored Cotton Candy

Pictures courtesy of Brides.com  

  Want something elegant and fun to surprise your guests at your Wedding. Im sure they will enjoy Fancy and Fruity Cocktails with a splash of Cotton Candy on the Rim

Embellish a Casual Old Fashioned Cape Cod BBQ with Cotton Candy garnishing the top of Strawberry Milkshakes. These make for amazing conversation starters at Rehearsal Dinners.

All of the great pictures were courtesy of Biz Bash.com

The weather was perfect, the location was stunning and all the details were just so cute that we wanted to share a few of our favorite moments with you. Guests arrived by bus and pre ceremony had refreshments of iced tea and lemonade created with the family’s special recipe. Weathered shingles on the wide porch held the escort cards -each with a picture to remind them of their dinner choice. Lattice hung on the side of the house with a pictorial history of Ashleigh and John’s relationship.

Fabulous Rental Home on Lower Cape

A perfect setting for a perfect moment!

Placecards hanging on weathered shingles

After a touching ceremony, overlooking the bay -featuring vows written by the bride and groom,  guests were invited to a separate part of the yard to enjoy cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, featuring miniature “lobstah” rolls and a raw bar with shrimp and local oysters.  The passing platters were created by Ashleigh, with help from her Dad, who also created all of the various chalkboards that were seen around the property. The signature drink was a pomegranate Cape Codder passed in a mason jar.

Personal Touch!

After cocktail hour, guests were invited into a beautiful Sperry Tent to enjoy a plated dinner with a choice of Georges Bank Scallops, Roasted Tenderloin of Beef or our fabulous Risotto Cakes! The slightly country Cape Cod theme was carried over in the tent with multiple vases of wildflowers artfully created by Flowers by Fancy, natural garden chairs and guest tables were covered with khaki colored linens and chocolate brown napkins provided by Rentals Unlimited. After dinner the guests danced the night away to terrific music  crafted by one of their good friends.  Dessert consisted of our own yummy cupcakes done Betty Crocker Style in three flavors and an incredible assortment of homemade cookies contributed by the bride’s friends and family.

Dinner Tent

Dessert table featuring homemade cookies & Casual Gourmet Cupcakes

We would like to thank Ashleigh & John for allowing  us be such a big part of their special day!  We wish them many years of happiness!

The Casual Gourmet works with hundreds of vendors on the Cape and we are always finding and working with new vendors. However, we have some of our favorites that throughout our 20 years in catering have help put together some of the most spectacular and creative events. We thought would profile some of them in an ongoing series.

To kick-off the series, we thought we would start with one of the best photographers around: Bello Photography.

Name: Bello Photography
Phone: 508.539.1039
Email: studio@bellophoto.com
Website: www.bellowphoto.com
Blog: www.bellophoto.net

The company is run by it’s two primary photographers – Andy Beet and Christine Ferullo - a husband and wife team who truly are masters of their craft. Not only are they phenomenal photographers, they are also fun people to work with (Just look at the self-portrait they sent us above!). To give you a taste of their zeal for life, here is the story behind the name ‘Bello Photography’

Our studio name, Bello, is a combination of our last names. We considered Feet Photography, but Bello has a nicer ring…don’t you think? Bello also means beautiful in Spanish. We fell in love in Spain and we think love is a beautiful thing!! We could photograph anything, but we absolutely LOVE shooting weddings!

With so many companies choosing to follow the format of ‘John Smith’ Photography, Bello’s name alone gives you a sense for the passion and creativity they bring to their work.

We work a lot with Bello so here is a sampling of their work from a wedding we did together earlier this year.

The wedding was a classic water front reception at Nauticus Marina with a gorgeous Sperry Sail Cloth Tent (Two other favorite vendors we will soon profile!). Take a look at some of Bello’s best shots below. They could not have done a better job capturing the elegance of the event.

It was one of the most memorable events of 2009: downpouring rains drenched the ‘Fiesta’- themed rehearsal dinner but parted for the wedding day itself; an incredibly personal and deeply spiritual wedding ceremony that began with a smudging ceremony; a predominantly vegetarian menu that celebrated local, seasonal produce; the infusion of hand-crafted details throughout the décor; and the dynamic venue itself.

During the cocktail hour, servers passed an assortment of hors d'oeuvres, including these Toasted Polenta Rounds with Olive Tapenade and Italian Tomato Salsa. The first course was served 'Soup & Salad' - a demitasse of chilled sugar snap pea and ginger soup paired with a roasted asparagus and chiogga beat salad. The buffet dinner featured Roasted Globe Artichokes with quinoa, leaf spinach and flageolet beans, along with an Heirloom Tomato Salad, Roasted Russian Banana Fingerling Potatoes and Wood Grilled Summer Vegetables. (All photos except top right courtesy of Lisa Rigby.)

The Overbrook House is part of the 20-acre organic Bay End Farm. The 1920s farmhouse has a traditional New England design and is located at the top of a secluded hill.  The expansive grounds that spill down from the house include large open fields, stone walls, meandering paths, an in-ground swimming pool and a charming old-fashioned dance hall nestled in the woods.

Clockwise from top left, the house on a hill, illuminated with tiki torches. The dance hall, hidden in the trees. A tablerunner made by the bride. Nicoline and Ryan take a path to the dancehall for their first dance. The cocktail hour took place under the canopy of old trees. (All photos courtesy of Lisa Rigby.)

We love that each couple who chooses Overbrook for their wedding puts their own unique stamp on the event by making different use of all the diverse elements on the property. While Nicoline and Ryan chose to hold their ceremony under an enormous oak tree by the house, have dinner under a tent in the big field, and finish the night with dessert and dancing in the hall, other clients have opted to have cocktails by the pool or host their smaller reception entirely in the dancehall.  Overbrook truly is a one-of-a-kind Cape Cod wedding venue.

Interested in Overbrook or a vegetarian wedding? Let us know! We’d be happy to talk with you!

Casual Gourmet Express brings creative touch to takeout

By Gwenn Friss

STAFF WRITER

October 15, 2009

Sometimes lunch hour involves doing errands and grabbing something to eat — either on the run or at your desk.

The Casual Gourmet Express recently opened by founder Olive Chase and her crew in the Cape Cod Mall’s food court is a reminder that you don’t have to sacrifice taste and freshness on those days.

The Casual Gourmet Express

Cape Cod Mall food court,

769 Iyannough Road (Route 132), Hyannis

508-775-4946

thecasualgourmet.com

Plus, it’s kind of intriguing to try the informal offerings of a popular catering company whose food is often found at corporate gatherings and weddings, such as a recent weekend when our friends Jane and Joseph got married at the family’s summer home in the Chapoquoit section of West Falmouth. The wedding food — passed hot hors d’oeuvres and a buffet of beef tenderloin, seafood kebabs, bowtie pasta and crisp green beans with baby carrots — was fancier, of course.

But the catering did share some of the touches you’ll find at the mall — namely, amazingly good bread, vegetables so crisp they spray juice when bitten, and the ginger slaw, which came on ahi tarts as a wedding appetizer and is also part of the Thai Chicken Wrap ($6.49) at the Express.

The Express doesn’t have a huge menu, but there’s enough choice to make it a regular stop. It offers four panini, three specialty sandwiches on hearty seven-grain or focaccia bread, six wraps, four salads, quahog chowder, a soup du jour and chicken pot pie. There is also breakfast panini, quiche, pastries and — and this is big — an “Express-o Bar” that makes espresso ($1.75) and related hot drinks.

Drawn by both the ingredients (tuna, feta cheese, Kalamata olives, green beans, yellow peppers and red onion with lemon Dijon) and the name (French Kiss), I chose one of the wraps. The first bite offered a burst of fresh lemon and set the tone for a sandwich that tasted farm-fresh and just a little unusual. Wraps at the Express are fine and come in different flavors, but I’m not a huge wrap fan. Next time, I think I’ll see if this sandwich ($6.49) can be put on seven-grain bread or atop a salad.

I added a bowl of the soup du jour ($3.25 for a cup, $3.95 for a bowl), which was beef minestrone. There were, maybe, three bites of tender steak and every vegetable under the sun — just the way I like it. The broth was light with a complex flavor that said the ingredients had been simmering together for a long time. I wasn’t surprised to find what appeared to be a small sprig of fresh rosemary in with the veggies.

My companion tried the chicken pot pie ($5.95). It was a generously sized pie shell, maybe six or seven inches, filled with chicken and vegetables and topped with mashed potatoes that were piped on and perfectly browned. My friend said it was good, but a little bland. She thought it could use a little more gravy with a bit more spice in it.

We didn’t have enough appetite for dessert (although those huge whoopie pies at $2.50 each looked worth sharing!), but having — as I mentioned earlier — encountered Casual Gourmet’s offerings at many functions, I feel confident that you won’t be disappointed with the homemade cookies (89 cents,) cupcakes ($1.79,) or bars and brownies ($2.25-$2.95.)

Next time I go to the Express, I’m having the Thai Chicken Wrap ($6.49) — grilled chicken breast, jasmine rice, ginger slaw, peanut sauce and scallions on a tomato tortilla — and the time after that, the Pesto Chicken With Peppers ($6.99).

This is not the Casual Gourmet’s first outing into takeout — it runs a cafe at Cape Cod Hospital and formerly operated the cafeteria at Heritage Museums & Gardens in Sandwich. Its decision to keep the menu small with unusual touches is a good one. The fresh ingredients in creative combinations will bring me back whenever I visit the mall.

Stefania’s dream included a gorgeous gold and white themed event where no attention to detail was spared. Her linens, a Natural Botela fabric, that is actually made from recycled bottles, set the tone for the tablescape which included gold rimmed china and crystal glassware, gold flatware, and etched gold votives. Lilacs provided flowers in a mixture of white orchids, hydrangeas, and roses all arranged in crystal glass.

Elaborate Table Setting

The guests dined on scrumptious hors d’oeuvres that included garlic rubbed lamb chops and warmed goat cheese toasts with rosemary, walnuts & honey. They were also treated to an elaborate cheese table and raw bar.

Italian Cheese Table

For dinner, the bride and groom selected a four-course meal that started with a Caprese salad and moved on to a traditional risotto course to highlight the bride’s Italian heritage. For the entrée, they enjoyed a traditional Cape Cod ‘Surf and Turf’ with Beef Tenderloin and Lobster Tails.

For the Grand Finale, Stefania’s dream also included an elaborate five-tier wedding cake filled with lobster cream and decorated in gold leaf paint with her new monogram as the centerpiece of the cake. Guests were amazed by the detail of the cake and our pastry chefs did an excellent job fulfilling this part of Stefania’s dream. A candy bar and Viennese table completed the meal.

Five Tier, Gold Accented Wedding Cake

We were truly honored to have been a part of creating Stefania’s dream wedding, but the dream was truly realized when Stefania and Justin met and fell in love. Stefania, Justin and both of their families were wonderful to work with during the entire planning process and we wish them a lifetime of happiness together.

Vegetarian Hor d’oeurves

Butternut Squash Risotto Stacks with White Truffle Aioli
Warmed Goat Cheese Toasts with Rosemary, Walnuts & Honey
Chilled Lavender & Cantaloupe Soup Sips
Eggplant Roulades with Goat Cheese, Sun Dried Tomato Pesto & Thyme
Black Bean Empanadas with Charred Tomato Pico de Gallo
Crispy Parmesan Artichoke Hearts with Lemony Holladaise

A Simple Salad with a Twist

Salads are a staple of any vegetarians diet so you don’t want to bore them. While an endive, arugula and radicchio salad with red onions topped with a lemon-balsamic vinaigrette would probably qualify as a simple salad, add a warm goat cheese crostini and some spiced almonds and you are sure to please even your most discerning guests.

Get Creative

Try going to your favorite restaurant and look at what they offer for vegetarian options. Most restaurants will have a salad, a pasta dish and maybe a veggie burger for meatless options, that’s about it. Pretty boring.

A wedding meal should be exciting, delicious and enjoyable by all.

For the main entree item, herbed risotto cakes flavored with goat cheese, fried to a golden brown and served with corn salsa. They might look like crab cakes but they are entirly meat free!

Next to the risotto cakes, there’s a new take on classic raviolis — butternut squash raviolis with chanterelle mushrooms, apples and a brown butter sage sauce.

An International Flavour

Many of the world’s cultures have fantastic vegetarian dishes. When you think of international vegetarian food, your mind probably jumps to Thai or Indian food but how about a Spanish Vegetable Paella!

A sunny medley of Chick Peas, Artichoke Hearts, Peas, Tomatoes, Sweet Red Peppers and Hubbord Squash, on a Saffron infused bed of Rice adds an international flavour to your vegetarian offerings.

Is your mouth watering yet?

Add a lemongrass seitan in coconut sauce with gingered rice pilaf and chilled roasted asparagus with tangerine vinaigrette and you have a perfect vegetarian meal.

Although no meal would be complete without cake! Perhaps a carrot cake to stick with the vegetable theme? Or maybe just a 3 layer chocolate cake with strawberry filling and butter creme icing.

The Festival kicked off on Sunday, May 31st with a Grand Opening Tasting at Rectrix Aerodome in Hyannis.  Casual Gourmet was proud to be a Silver Sponsor of the entire festival and was at Rectrix handing out some delicious 30th Anniversary cake and chatting with festival goers about our services.  (I even got to meet and chat with Billy Costa from “TV Diner” who served as Master of Ceremonies for the event!!)

Throughout the week Casual Gourmet also participated in Cultural Receptions from Provincetown to Falmouth, providing a cake at each.  At the Falmouth cultural reception, held at Highfield Hall,  we not only served cake but had a great food display which included Baja Fish Tacos, Spicy Avocado Pate and Crudite.

The week wrapped up with a Tasting Finale at Heritage Museums and Gardens in Sandwich where guests not only had a chance to sample food & wine but were able to wonder through the lovely gardens at Heritage.  While I was busy handing out cake to the many festival goers, not 200 yards away Casual Gourmet was also catering a wedding on the grounds of Heritage Museums & Gardens.  We were certainly thankful when the sun came out in the afternoon!

Here are just a few of the wedding cakes that went out and a couple of photos from the lovely wedding at Heritage: