I love weddings. Unfortunately, I’m at an age where most of my friends are already married and the next wedding I may very well be my brother’s!
The wedding we were invited to in Los Angeles this past weekend was a blast and we had a wonderful time. And our first wedding as a married couple. We were one of those people! I didn’t have to corral myself with the single ladies tackling each other to catch the bouquet. A welcome change.
This was a super fancy albeit small wedding with the ceremony in Beverly Hills and the reception at the Ebell Theatre — a very old building in Los Angeles popular for receptions and, dare I say, maybe haunted. But I’m here to talk about the food.
When we RSVP’d, the usual were the chicken, beef or vegetarian. Paul chose beef and I picked chicken so we could both try out each other’s dishes. The were both standard fare and cooked quite nicely. The chicken was served with a bed of mashed potatoes and asparagus while the beef was served with sauteed spinach and what seemed like hashed browned potatoes with bacon. We both preferred each other’s dishes and did a quick swipe off each other’s plates.
Entrees were preceeded by a garden salad with a simple vinaigrette with sliced cucumbers, tomatoes and a bit of avocado.
Although the dishes were very good, they didn’t hold a candle to the appetizers: chicken skewers, proscuitto and asparagus baked in phyllo dough and beef croquettes (pictured). The beef croquettes were reminiscent of papas rellenas (potato balls) — one of my favorite things. Everything was served hot — especially nice since the temperatures dropped down significantly as the sun set.
As with most weddings, the centerpiece was the cake. As a friend of the bride, I knew she had no sweet tooth. Bringing cupcakes into work when I was in Los Angeles didn’t faze her — all I ever saw her eat were hamburgers. So it was a surprise to me to discover she chose chocolate cake and strawberry-flavored cake for her wedding. A nice contrast between rich (the chocolate cake) and the lighter, fruiter strawberry cake.
The cake fueled us the rest of the night for celebration and, even after some coercion on my part, dancing.
My Burning Kitchen 
Are those rubber duckie cake toppers? Too cute!
Yes they are!
That cake looks adorable!
I agree, Liz!
Cute cake toppers! Are you sure she chose the cake? Hehe. 😉 D. and I are already indecisive people, not to mention he definitely had strong opinions about the cake (and everything else… he was way more “bride-y” than I was). We had a bunch of cake flavors just so we wouldn’t have to choose!
Good point! I wonder if she did chose the cake…
hi darlene – cute cake! if i could do it all over again….sigh.
yeah, most of our friends were pretty much married off by the mid-late 90’s. i always hated those ‘catch the bouquets’ catfight mosh pits. ugh!
Yeah, there are so many regrets but it’s a whirlwind. What’s with it with the catfights over the bouquet? Women at this wedding had their shoes off and primed to catch it.