the reception
It’s already November! Did you know I actually wanted to get married last November? Things just didn’t work out the way we wanted to so we got legally married instead. I’ll be shooting a wedding on our 1 year anniversary next weekend. Hopefully the hubby has a surprise for me when I come home all tired and exhausted from a long day at work. We do have a little activity planned the next day: segway touring in Huntington Beach. Can’t wait to experience the segway together since I did it without him in SF for my bachelorette already.
Anyhow, onto talking about our reception.
- Side track: can you see where this is heading? Our blog posts are nearing the end of its life since I am now talking about pretty much the very last darn thing about our wedding. It was a great run, but it had to end some time soon. Only a couple more topics left and that’s it folks. =( Perhaps that’s why I’ve been lagging on blogging the last couple weeks. I just can’t bear to see it come to an end. But don’t worry, we’ll keep it live on the Internet for future couples to use as a reference.
As you may recall from our post back in July, we had a pretty hard time convincing our parents to allow us to have it at Rancho Las Lomas. We ended up booking the venue without their full support and just prayed and hoped for the best. We knew in our guts that it would turn out just fine in the end and that our guests would appreciate the location when the day arrived. We were right to listen to our guts. Our parents received tremendous praise from family and friends of the location. Everyone was so excited to experience something entirely different and at such a beautiful, picturesque venue; absolutely a hidden gem in our OC backyard. Even with all the complaints we got from our parents along the way, in the end, they did not regret letting us have it there. It was 1 good decision we made against our parents’ wishes.
The grand gates leading into Rancho Las Lomas.
The mesmerizing fountain in the courtyard.
Seating chart and road signs.
One of the first things guests did upon arrival was take a photo with us.
Then they would sign our matted/framed image from our NYC photo session.
Cocktail hour with hors d’oeuvres and open beer & wine bar was enjoyed around the fountain.
Champagne was also served along with water and lemonade.
Remember the silhouette artist?
Seared ahi tuna!
The reception down below.
Diagram of the reception area. Blue is Rob’s family. Green is my family. Red are our guests. Tables 9 and 12 were our parents; 8 and 23 were our siblings. Our closest friends were seated behind us at tables 32-36 (right next to the bar, of course).
Birdcage centerpiece and antique gold placecard frames.
I LOVED the archway!
Grand entrance across the candlelit bridge.
Our first dance. Two is Better Than One.
Rob gave a heartfelt speech.
Salad is served.
Gorgeous at sunset.
The aerial view down from above is amazing. String lights were the best thing we thought of and money well spent!
Pulling the winning # out of the bag.
SINGLE LADIES!
Guests picked up their framed photos at the end of the night (the one they took with us upon arrival).
We had amalfi lounge furniture set-up with ivory cushions (also comes in white or chocolate brown) and a black dance floor for our after hours party in the grand salon. Fifteen LED uplights were set-up thru out the room.
The diagram of the grand salon is below. Shows where the dancefloor, furniture, photobooth, candy station, and DJ are located.
Candy Shop is fully stocked.
Photobooth was a huge hit. Want to rent it? Inquire with Thao Vu Photography.
As if cake and the candy shop wasn’t enough–we also had apple cobblers.
Party time!!!
My bridesmaids can get down!
Sasha time to Beyonce’s Sweet Dreams.
The crowd goes wild! If you missed the videos of this dance, check it out here and here.
My husband looks pretty happy.
We seal the night off with a kiss.
To this very day I still can’t get over the beauty of the venue. Boy would I love to have the freedom to just roam around there on a sunny day to enjoy the scenery, read a book under the oak trees, take a nap on the swing, or just visit with the animals. Rancho Las Lomas holds a special place in our hearts now and if it were ever to go on the market, I would buy it if I could (please win the lottery!). For now I think I’ll just sneak in on a random weekend for a quick trip down memory lane or maybe shoot a wedding there someday. If you’re having your wedding there, please hire me!!
Photos courtesy of Kim Le Photography.
Filed under Blog | Comments (4)food, food, and more food!
Back in June we blogged about the foods that would be served at the reception. Here are actual photos of it along with some of the yumminess that was served at the tea ceremony.
Some of the highlights at the tea ceremony were Brodard‘s famous nem nuong spring rolls and a favorite all around of Thanh Son Tofu‘s pandan tofu pudding dessert all delivered by Thanh himself! Now that’s what you call VIP service, baby!
Sesame Seared Ahi with Wasabi Aioli on a Crispy (edible) Wonton Spoon
Coconut Shrimp Lollipop with Orange Plum Sauce
Butter Lettuce Salad with Caramel Roasted Pears, Aged White Cheddar, Sugared Pecans and Maple Apple Cider Vinaigrette
Dual Entree of Grilled Filet Mignon with a classic duet of Bordelaise and Bernaise & Seared King Salmon with Meyer Lemon Buerre Blanc. Served with roasted asparagus with smoked sea salt and potato gratin dauphinoise.
Red velvet wedding cake
Mini apple cobblers in a martini glass. This was my favorite and I almost didn’t even get to try it. While I was changing into my beyonce outfit, Rob had come down to the bridal suite to bring me one. This is when he got semi suspicious b/c someone said he wasn’t allowed in so he passed the dessert to someone to bring in to me. Thanks, babe!
It was just unfortunate that a lot of our guests received their entrees cold. I think there was just too many guests to be able to deliver everything out nice and hot. Overall all the edibles turned out very well, including the champagne/cider greeting, the pre-poured cognac at each seat and the open beer and wine bar.
Photos courtesy of Kim Le Photography.
Filed under Blog | Comments (2)the food
Our food is catered by 24 Carrots, exclusive caterer to Rancho Las Lomas. Robert and I did our tasting back in August of 2009 and we were greatly impressed with their extended variety in food and superb presentation. Because we were so impressed, we want to make sure our guests come on time to the cocktail hour to enjoy the hors d’oeuvres we specially selected for them to enjoy. We didn’t want to spoil this part of the wedding but the thought of our guests arriving late and missing out on such yummy hors d’oeuvres was enough to have us blog this. We also decided to just do an entire blog on all the foods that will be served. Hope this gets our guests to show up at 6:00PM and stay the full 6 hours until midnight.
Hors d’oeuvres
- Coconut Shrimp Lollipop with Orange Plum Sauce
- Sesame Seared Ahi with Wasabi Aioli on a Crispy (edible) Wonton Spoon
- Maryland Crab Cake with Ancho Chili Aioli
Main course
Butter Lettuce Salad with Caramel Roasted Pears, Aged White Cheddar, Sugared Pecans and Maple Apple Cider Vinaigrette
Choice of entree:
- Dual Entree of Grilled Filet Mignon with a classic duet of Bordelaise and Bernaise & Seared King Salmon with Meyer Lemon Buerre Blanc
- Vegetarian dish of Portobello Mushroom Stack with Basil Pesto Drizzle
- Children’s meal of chicken fingers, mac & cheese and fruit
Accompaniments:
- Roasted Asparagus with Smoked Sea Salt
- Potato Gratin Dauphinoise
- Rustic rolls with butter
Dessert
- Wedding cake in 2 flavors
1 – real southern red velvet cake with cream cheese filling
2 – strawberry shortcake – white chocolate cake filled with fresh strawberries and french butter cream - Mini apple cobblers in a martini glass [this is the bomb!! served during after hours only so stay to get 1 of the 150 being served]
- Candy station [after hours only–stay to get your share of sweets]
- Deluxe coffee and tea service served with chocolate shavings, cinnamon sticks, whipped cream and rock candy sugar sticks.
