Jeffrey's First Trip to Stowe

So since Jeff has been all around the country since our engagement, he hasn't been able to see our venue or our church. He's of course seen the website...but the website doesn't do the place justice.

Jeff was able to come home for New Years so we knew this would be the best, and the only time for him to see everything.


On New Years day we drove up to VT and spent some time with my family. Saturday morning we headed North to Stowe and at meet with one of our priests. Jeff & I are both Catholic. We of course both wanted to get married in the church and have a traditional Catholic ceremony. In order to get married in the Catholic church you need to complete 'marriage preparation courses' also know as "Pre Cana." Since Jeff's and my situation is different from most, we were able to take a more 'intense/shortened' version of the course. Some view these courses as a 'burden' or 'ridiculous' but that is because they just don't understand. In the Catholic church marriage is a sacrament you receive. It goes Baptism, First Communion, Confirmation, Marriage, and Death. (Wow pretty crazy I'm going to receive the second to last sacrament...and I really don't want the last one for a VERY long time!!) So since its a sacrament, the church wants to do everything possible to make sure that your marriage is a success and it won't end in divorce. I value what the church believes in and it further strengthens my beliefs that marriage is a serious step, and those who have ANY doubts or are obviously getting married for the wrong reasons should perhaps think about it more deeply...

Anyways- in short - our course went well. We both really enjoyed it. Even though Jeff and I have one of the most open and honest relationships ever, it still made us think about things and talk about things that we ordinarily wouldn't. We were both pleased when we were exactly on the same page for basically everything.

So marriage preparation done!

After we made our way up the mountain to the Stowe Mountain Lodge. Driving the path from the church to the SML gave me goosebumps because I realized the next time Jeff and I took that drive....we will be husband and wife. What an amazing feeling that was. I was pretty anxious to approach the SML because it was such a huge moment. I knew Jeff would absolutely adore it but I was still nervous nonetheless.

It was a success! Jeff was speechless. He loved it. He loved the atmosphere, the simple elegance, the service, everything! I gave him a quick tour of the resort, showed him the ballroom, the spa, where the cocktail reception was going to be etc. It was so much fun.

For dinner my parents met us at the SML. I was so glad we were able to take Jeff to dinner there so he could experience the amazing quality of the food.

The chef came out and greeted us again, and Jeff was really impressed with that. The chef also brought out some things for us to try and recommended what was good on the menu. His taste was a little to 'fancy' for me...he recommended the 'fogra'....I'm a simple chicken girl.

We had a fabulous meal, and left full and happy.

Leaving the SML I had a huge smile on my face. It was such an amazing night. And the next time Jeff & I will be there together we will be celebrating our love, our newly minted marriage, and the rest of our lives together with all our closest family and friends!

(I have no idea why this post didn't post when I wrote it! My bad!)

Cake, Food, & Beverage Tasting = Best Day Ever.

One of the things you look forward to the most during wedding planning is the food tasting. And let me tell you that our food, cake, and beverage tasting was out-of-this-world.

Carrie arranged it so we had two cake tastings and our food tasting, all on the same day, one after another so we didn't have to drive up multiple times just to take a bite of a cake.

My Dad, Mom, Lilly (yes Lilly...she wanted to go for a ride!) and I drove up to Waterbury Saturday, November 21st, for our first cake appointment. It was at the Vermont Cake Studio which was within a cute Vermont General Store. We met with Perrin, the owner and head baker. Carrie had sent her a few pictures of the cake design I was going for, and the flavor I was interested in. The Vermont Cake Studio had great presentation. They had a nice table set up and prepared for our tasting and Perrin had designed a mini cake with one of the designs Carrie had sent her. It was adorable! We tasted the cake and it was delicious! It was so light and fluffy, not to sweet, and very flavorful. She really captured the taste I was going for, and it really brought to essence an end of spring/summer wedding. It was perfect...(with a few modifications). Another plus was she said with all her wedding cakes comes with a complimentary "top layer" ( so another mini-cake) that we can freeze for our one-year anniversary, which is such a great idea. We were really pleased after the first cake appointment.

The second cake appointment was with a local Stowe baker and she actually met us at the Lodge. Her cake was I guess you could say the complete opposite of Perrin's cake. She went with more of a 'pound cake' so it was thicker with a fancy thick frosting.

Both cakes were great, however it was an easy decision and I couldn't be more pleased with our choice!

We then moved onto the food tasting. This is reason #343482390480 why I LOVEEEE my venue. We walk into their main dining-room and they had set up a private table just for our tasting. They set up the table as they would for my wedding, so they used my linens, my plates, my silverware, glasses, etc (all except my floral arrangements, gifts, etc. of course!) A week before our tasting I had submitted a list of things we wanted to taste. They had also presented a pretty-menu listing in order of our tastings.

After we were seated, they brought out the signature cocktail they created for us. They made a "girly" and a "manly" verison of it. It was perfect, delicious, pretty, and it had a pink tone to it! So Signature Cocktail done!

They next brought out the first round of passed hor'dourves. They were all presented beautifully and tasted amazing. After we tasted those they brought out the second round of passed hor'dourves. With SML strive for customer satisfaction they said they could make anything we requested, anything at all. So with a few new requests, i.e. sushi, it was an easy decision on our passed hor'dourves.

They then brought out a couple white wines for us to taste and chose for our dinner wine.

The next course was the soup. I had requested a tomato-bisque because it is my favorite soup. Their bisque was hands-down one of the best bisques I've ever had, it was perfect.

The next course was the salad. With a few modifications the salad was perfect.

They then brought out a couple red wines, and we chose one to serve at the table.

Finally, it was time to taste the entrees. We had requested to taste a chicken, a fish, and the fillet. All were amazing (according to my parents...they had to taste because I only eat chicken). Their head chef came out and introduced himself to us and to see how the tasting was going and if we had any questions. He was so nice and it really did enhance the evening! With a few requests and changes our entree is pretty much almost decided. Our entree we decided is not "Jess" friendly, but the SML is preparing me a special meal of whatever I chose :) So its a win-win!

When we thought we were going to explode or fall asleep from all the tasting...they then brought out the last course...the dessert. They prepared three different pre-cake desserts, all which were incredible, but one really stood out from the rest.

I can not express how excited I am for our wedding menu. It is phenomenal. The SML is everything I could ever dream of, and their food is nothing less then what I expected from them. I can not be more excited to share all of this with you in about 5.5 months!!

Another sidenote worth mentioning. The following weekend was Thanksgiving which meant Jeff was coming home! We froze the cakes from the tasting so he could taste them as well! He of course picked out the same cake I did :)