Andy M.
Certified Pretend Chef
SO and I went to a wedding yesterday evening for a young woman who SO was a nanny for when she was a young. The wedding venue was at a Massachusetts Horticultural Society Gardens site. Very lovely gardens and such with some buildings scattered about.
The plan was for a wedding ceremony in one of the gardens and cocktails before dinner in a different garden. Then dinner in the carriage house.
Sadly, the weather did not cooperate. There were seriously severe thunderstorms with heavy downpours that started just before the wedding service. Knowing they were coming, the staff had initiated the bad weather alternative and set up for the wedding ceremony in a big white tent adjacent to the carriage house. So an usher led us to our seats and we waited. That's when the rain started for real. The rain on the tent was so loud they could not convict the service so they decided to wait. Then the tent floor started to flood...
Everyone was directed to the carriage house (Yay! It's air conditioned!) which was set up for dinner. The ceremony would be held there. There were a couple of brief power failures as the wedding party started their march to center stage. The real power failure (the on that lasted for hours) happened just as the bride and her dad were about to make a grand entrance. The ceremony was conducted in the late afternoon daylight aided by cell phone lights.
The venue people didn't want guests stumbling around in the semi-darkness so the waitstaff circulated among the tables offering wine and appetizers (I don't know how to spell 'hors de oeuvres') so everyone was content.
Word was that generators were on the way. Dinner would be served an hour after the generators arrived. Meanwhile everyone ate, drank, chatted and got a little sweaty (Just the men, of course. Women don't sweat I'm told.).
Finally, the generators arrived and dinner was completed. Food was served and the AC was turned back on. Music and dancing ensued and everyone had a great time.
The bride's dad and I were chatting and he mentioned that the catering staff commented to him that the guests were taking all this pretty well and there was no complaining. Sure we did. They kept our glasses full and the food circulating.
Years from now, when the bride and groom are comparing wedding war stories, Katie and Sean's will top them all.
The plan was for a wedding ceremony in one of the gardens and cocktails before dinner in a different garden. Then dinner in the carriage house.
Sadly, the weather did not cooperate. There were seriously severe thunderstorms with heavy downpours that started just before the wedding service. Knowing they were coming, the staff had initiated the bad weather alternative and set up for the wedding ceremony in a big white tent adjacent to the carriage house. So an usher led us to our seats and we waited. That's when the rain started for real. The rain on the tent was so loud they could not convict the service so they decided to wait. Then the tent floor started to flood...
Everyone was directed to the carriage house (Yay! It's air conditioned!) which was set up for dinner. The ceremony would be held there. There were a couple of brief power failures as the wedding party started their march to center stage. The real power failure (the on that lasted for hours) happened just as the bride and her dad were about to make a grand entrance. The ceremony was conducted in the late afternoon daylight aided by cell phone lights.
The venue people didn't want guests stumbling around in the semi-darkness so the waitstaff circulated among the tables offering wine and appetizers (I don't know how to spell 'hors de oeuvres') so everyone was content.
Word was that generators were on the way. Dinner would be served an hour after the generators arrived. Meanwhile everyone ate, drank, chatted and got a little sweaty (Just the men, of course. Women don't sweat I'm told.).
Finally, the generators arrived and dinner was completed. Food was served and the AC was turned back on. Music and dancing ensued and everyone had a great time.
The bride's dad and I were chatting and he mentioned that the catering staff commented to him that the guests were taking all this pretty well and there was no complaining. Sure we did. They kept our glasses full and the food circulating.
Years from now, when the bride and groom are comparing wedding war stories, Katie and Sean's will top them all.
Thanks for telling us about your grand evening.
