Wedding Catering and my Iranian Feast

So I know I haven’t updated anybody on my wedding plans since the Save The Dates. But, it’s really hard to talk about updates because plans change SO much! It’s crazy how many things can feel final, and then they change a second later. Plus, it’s hard to post pictures of things like “I found my DJ” and “I decided what to make for favors.”

Ok, the favor thing can totally have a post of its own,  because of course I’m making treats for my favors (call me crazy) and I’m pretty sure nobody will feel like the surprise is ruined if I post it here. So, saving that for later.

But not much later! The wedding is less than 4 months away! Woohoo!

Moving on. I wanted to talk about my caterer! Last weekend, my fiance and I went to go have a tasting with a caterer. Believe me, it was very difficult to get this tasting scheduled, because I ran into SO many problems with other caterers (name the problem, we had it: they didn’t get back to me, they lost the menu, they asked ME for example recipes…yeah…). BUT I feel like we finally had a breakthrough!

I wanted a cultural experience for a meal. My side of the family has a lot of Greeks and his has a lot of Iranians, so having an “ordinary meal” was out of the question. Plus, it just isn’t what our families identify with. I couldn’t do BBQ, pasta, or anything Southern…its just not who we are (though believe me, we loved weddings that have had all of these things!).

My caterer totally understood me. We clicked. He brought to us an array of Greek dishes and even some African-inspired dishes!

1. Red Pepper Hummus, Farmers Salad, Spinach and Chickpea Salad with Cucumber Dill Dressing
2. A Tagine! Filled with African-inspired Saffron Lamb stewed with onions, peppers and carrots
3. Roasted Asparagus with Feta, Couscous with Roasted Peppers

1. Greek Green Beans with Tomatoes, Greek Spaghetti (browned butter and garlic), Roasted Zucchini and Peppers
2. The Tagine unveiled!

As you can see, the caterer definitely brought out a cultural experience! There was actually several more dishes than this that I didn’t snap pictures of! We’ve been picking and choosing, and not all of these dishes will be chosen. Some of them will be tweaked. I know it’ll all come out perfectly in the end!

THEN, we got back to my future-Father In Law’s house, and he had family come over to cook us an authentic Iranian feast! How lucky am I ?!

1. Big fresh salad
2. Fresh radish salad and greens (we picked these up from the Farmers Market just that morning)
3. Rice! The staple that’s always on the table.

1. Whole smoked fish, packed with spicy spices!!
2. “Kabob” ! The real deal, lamb/beef Kabob and flatbread all sprinkled with Sumac (and you can see roasted tomatoes in the background)
3. The spread! Tah-dah! There was a ton more on the table than I listed, but it was all fab!

The last two pictures from my weekend:

1. A beautiful sunset on the lake
2. Asian bananas! I love that my FIL always has interesting fruits on the table.

 

That was an amazing, food-filled weekend! What would you love to see about the wedding next?