Greystone Wedding Reception- As Caterer not the Wedding Planner

I was hired to cater a wedding reception for 100 guests on a Sunday afternoon. Something I thought would require just a little more work than the many parties and showers I have held for 50 guests. My sweet and talented friend Kristen agreed to work with me and we were ready to begin. After quoting a price for a menu for a 3:00 reception- in the client's words: "you know just punch and tea sandwiches", the reception time was moved to 5:00 and we were given the option of using the same items or changing the menu to our liking.

Since the budget had been set and would not be adjusted, we decided to serve a fresh fruit selection of pineapple, kiwi, strawberries, cantaloupe, and honeydew. We kept the spinach dip and crackers and a large cheese board made up of Cheddar and pepper jack slices, cubes of Colby, wheels of brie, goat cheese rolled in herbs, with nuts, grapes, and crackers on the side. We served a vegetable and bow tie pasta salad, sliced Dijon-rosemary pork tenderloin served with rolls, cranberry-almond chicken salad tassies as well as an original flavored chicken salad tassie. The punch was a mango- pineapple sherbet punch. And what southern reception would not include sweet tea, so we served the tea and water out of large crystal beverage canisters. The wedding colors were black, ivory and red, and the client asked if I could do the flowers for the table as well, so to keep to their budget I used red gladiolas in tall vases for the center of the table and low cylinder vases on the sides crammed full of red roses. I wrapped all the vases with a wide black satin ribbon and all the food cards were made out of a black and ivory damask and solid red card stock.

Several gracious guests came to the kitchen to let us know how much they enjoyed the food. The client was most appreciative and complimentary and asked if she could pass our info along to several people who asked for my contact information. I think that is a good sign.