Tag: Glendalough Manor

Plated versus Buffet: What type of menu is right for you?

Posted on by Glendalough Manor

Choosing your menu is one of the most important decisions you will make for your wedding.  One of the first decisions you will need to make is whether to serve a buffet or a plated meal.   I would first consider the type of wedding you are having.  Do you want a very formal wedding or a more relaxed atmosphere?  These answers will determine which type of menu will be best for you and your guests.

Jena Marullo, Owner/Food and Beverage Director for Glendalough Manor, says “If you choose a plated meal expect a very formal dinner service. This dinner service is at least three courses with your first course typically being a soup or salad, the second course is the main entree and the third course is dessert (wedding cake).”   Keep in mind that with a plated meal your guests will be seated for over an hour being served their meal and dinner will last longer with a plated meal versus a buffet. 

 Plated meals do make your guests feel catered to and with some extra touches “your guests will not have to get up for anything; which is the intention for a plated or seated meal”.   Jena suggests offering a wine service during the entree course consisting of one red and one white wine selection as well as offering a cocktail service in between the salad and entree course and coffee service during dessert to enhance their dining experience.   If you decide to choose a plated meal, make sure to include your selections on your response card.  This way, you can be prepared to let the caterer know how many of each entrée will be served.

Some of the biggest advantages to serving a buffet dinner rather than a plated meal are not only the amount of food but also the variety of food offered to your guests. With a plated meal your guests are limited to what the bride and groom have chosen and they must decide weeks in advance what they want to eat on your wedding day.  A buffet menu allows guests to serve multiple entrees, sides and appetizers so they can pick and choose what they would like to eat.   Jena Marullo suggests that “if you decide on a buffet style meal I would recommend choosing a facility that is familiar in properly executing a buffet service. Glendalough Manor does this by releasing tables one by one to eliminate a line forming and also having wait staff serve the main courses to avoid running out of food.

Whether you decide to do buffet and plated make sure to base your decision on what you want the overall feeling to be during your wedding.  Make sure to talk with your caterer or facility director if you are still undecided.  They can help determine what choice is right for you and what your options are.  Many facilities and caterers are now offering a heavy hors d’ oeuvres menu with chef attended stations, plated salads, passed hot and cold hors d’ oeuvres that might be the right mix for you.  Jena has completed over 400 weddings and says she “still prefers a buffet style meal over plated but this is a personal decision that needs to go with the personality of the bride, groom and their families.”

Tell us your thoughts on a buffet versus a plated meal!

Sources: www.glendaloughmanor.com  

 

Different Bridesmaid Dresses

Posted on by Glendalough Manor

A growing trend I absolutely love is having bridesmaids wear different dresses!

One of the most popular ways to have bridesmaids wear different dresses is for the bride to choose the fabric as well as the color and let the girls choose the shape they feel most comfortable in.  This allows the bridesmaids to pick out a shape that flatters their body but still providing continuity between the girls by having them all in the same fabric and color.

Another way to make your bridesmaids wear something different is to ask your girls to pick their own bridesmaid dresses!   To be honest, when I first heard about this trend I thought it would never work…..how could they choose their own dresses and still look good standing next to each other?   I think the key to this is to make sure you as the bride are specific in what they can wear.  Depending on the look and feel of the wedding you can decide how different you want their dresses to be.

My suggestion would be to give them an overall feeling for the wedding and what type of dresses you think will complement that style.  Give the girls a certain color palette and decide how creative you want them to be.  For example, ask all of your girls to pick a tea length dress in any shade of blue.  Make sure you let them know what styles or colors you don’t like so they are clear on your likes and dislikes before they begin their search.

If you want them to really show their own personality and style you can give them a couple of colors that go along with the wedding and let them choose the style and look.  I say this is your wedding so even though you are giving them some creativity you can be as involved as you feel necessary and ultimately make the final decision.  In the end your girls will feel confident and comfortable in the dress they chose and look fabulous!

If you are thinking about asking your girls to wear different bridesmaid dresses we would love to hear about it!

Sources: www.sdweddinginsider.com, www.people.com, www.thebrideofoklahoma.com, www.ruffledblog.com, www.stylemepretty.com

Ways to Ask Your Friends to be Bridesmaids!

Posted on by Glendalough Manor

Gone are the days of asking your friends to be a bridesmaid over the phone or asking via text message! We want to give you a few fun ways to ask your friends and family to share in your special day.  With a little time and creativity you can come up with your own way of asking your girls to be in your wedding.

Here are a few ideas to help you…

Take a few pictures of yourself holding letters and words that say “Will You Be My Bridesmaid?” then put them together to make a cute card to send them!

Do you remember making these cut out cards when you were in school?  Well this is the same thing, with a twist.  Put their names on the “girls” and include this in an envelope with some great stationary asking them to be your bridesmaid!

I thought this was so great!  Use pictures of your bridesmaids to make a card and leave a blank picture in the middle with the words “Without You in the Wedding Something Would Be Missing….Will You Be My Bridesmaid? ” Love it!!

Find a cute bridesmaid frame (or make one yourself) with a picture of you and your future bridesmaid.  Use letter stickers to stick on the picture asking them to be in your wedding!

You can’t go wrong with a bottle of wine to ask your friends to be a bridesmaid!

This is my favorite idea yet!!   Take a wooden box, this is a cigar box, and paint the box in one of your wedding colors. Put the words  “Will You….” on the outside of the box and on the inside put “Be My Maid?” In the inside you can put lots of fun things inside to give your bridesmaids an idea of what type of wedding you are going to have.  You can include things like paint swatches to show them your wedding colors,  a few inspiration pictures of dresses you would like them to wear. I found this adorable do-it-yourself project on  Rinse. Repeat to learn how to do this yourself!

I hope all of these ideas have inspired you to come up with your own way of asking your bridesmaids.  We would love to hear about how you asked your bridesmaids!

Sources: www.weddingchannel.com, www.etsy.com, Rinse, Repeat,  www.oncewed.com