Lettering Success: A Wisconsin Wedding

I'm so happy to announce that my escort and table card project was a success! After a lot of hard work, covering every horizontal surface in the kitchen and living room with cards, packing them up, and shipping them out, it was such a joy to see my little bits of paper in action!

The wedding colors were orange and gray, a very fun but sophisticated color palette I think!

Each table was adorned with a few bud vases of tiger lilies. One of the speeches revealed that "Tiger Lilly" was the bride's nickname: what a sweet and thoughtful detail! Little things like this get me inspired and excited for planning our big day in a personal way!

Another sweet-"deet" was the table names... this sweet couple named each table after a Mumford and Son's song! Love it!

It ended up being such a fun event with lots of unexpected dance floor shenanigans... at one point the groom did an Indiana Jones skit when it came time for the garter toss! So fun!

I was a bit late getting to this table! Wish I could've caught them ALL lined up together! Still a pretty good-looking spread if I do say so myself ;)

Overall it was a GORGEOUS day and I was so excited and grateful to be a part of it! It really is so meaningful to be entrusted with coordinating a few details of one of the most important days of a couple's life! What an honor and pleasure!

Original Recipe: Nutty Farro Bowl with Roasted Kale, Chickpeas, and Golden Raisins

My first completely-original recipe... that I feel confident enough about to post anyways! I thought this little dish up on a late weekday night when I was just STARVING but only had odds and ends around the house. After some trial and error, I've finally come up with a pretty tasty recipe... Hope you enjoy!

Nutty Farro Bowl with Roasted Kale, Chickpeas, and Golden Raisins

Ingredients

1 lb kale leaves - stems removed, chopped
2 cans of chickpeas - drained, rinsed, and dried
Salt and Pepper
Paprika
1/2 cup olive oil - divided in to 1/4 cup, 1/8 cup, & 1/8 cup portions
2 cups farro
2 cups veggie broth
2 cups water
Zest of 1 lemon
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1-2 cup golden raisins (depending on how much sweet you want!)
1-2 cups of nuts (almonds, peanuts, pine nuts, etc)
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese (or nutritional yeast as a vegan option)

The How-To

First, get to roasting!

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Wash and chop the kale leaves and dry in a salad spinner.
• Toss with about 1/8 cup olive oil and spread out on a few baking sheets.
• Season with salt and pepper.
• Toss those leaves in the oven for 10-15 minutes, checking on them and tossing after about 7 minutes.
• Roast until crispy with slightly browned edges.

When the kale comes out…

• Bump the heat up to 450 degrees.
• Toss the chickpeas about 1/8 cup of olive oil, spread out on a sheet pan, and season with salt, pepper, and a sprinkle of paprika. Toss to coat.
• Throw those babies in the oven for 20-25 minutes, stirring after about 13 minutes, until the chickpeas are crispy and slightly browned.

Meanwhile, the farro!

• Rinse farro with cool water in a fine mesh sieve.
• Dump farro, veggie broth, and water into a pot and bring to a boil over high heat.
• Once boiling, cover and turn down the heat to simmer.
• Let simmer for about 20-25 minutes, or until all the liquid has been absorbed.
• Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Lastly, mix it up!

• Get a gigantic bowl and mix together your…
• Roasted kale and chickpeas
• Your farro
• Lemon zest and juice
• Nuts
• Drizzle of olive oil (about 1/2 cup, give or take)
• Golden raisins
• And parmesan (or nutritional yeast)
• I like to mix everything up when the farro is still warm so that the cheese melts!
• Dish it out into about 7 portions for 7 hearty meals!
• Enjoy!

Catering: Our Tasting was a Success!

Hey y'all!

About a week ago, Ben and I had the pleasure of enjoying a complimentary food tasting together with our (at the time)-prospective caterer. We were SOLD pretty quickly on this vendor and locked in our wedding date with them!

We arrived to a beautifully set up tasting room and were greeted by our correspondent, the operations manager, AND the head chef throughout the course of the meal. We felt like absolute VIP's; it was a very warm welcome!

We tried a few DELICIOUS small bites...

(which I remembered to snap a picture of)

A tasty salad -- and, y'all, I'm not usually a salad gal AT. ALL. But this was amazing...

(which I only remembered to take a picture of after having eaten 75% of it!)

And a few main dishes and side options for our meal!

...which I COMPLETELY forgot to snap a picture of before they had all disappeared! I guess as we became more and more enthusiastic about the food, my documenting-memory went out the window more and more... whoops!

Overall we are so excited and satisfied about the quality of this company's work! Everything was flavorful and they really did a good job of satisfying all of our specific requests and needs.

Ben and I had originally been considering trying to make a theme for our food, but we sort of decided to forgo that idea because of budget and because what they presented was just SO. DARN. GOOD. Theme or not: as long as it's tasty, we're happy... and boyyyy are we happy!

Wedding Table Stationary for a Wisconsin Bride!

So I mentioned a few weeks ago that I was hard at work creating some wedding table stationary for my cousin in Wisconsin. I'm so proud to share my hard work with you: 141 escort cards (with names, table titles, and dinner selections) and 19 matching table cards, all in a custom script!

It was a definitely a process to put these together for my cousin's special day. First, I got to practicing her custom script and sent her some sample pictures...

A few samples that I sent my sweet LBB bride-to-be!

Next, I sliced and scored over 165 cards (everyone needs a few backups, after all!)...

And then busied myself, scripting up a storm!

My little light board helps me keep everything properly in line.

By the end of it, I had quite a STACK to show for all my hard work...

Phew! What a project! With that, I packed up all of these little paper bits and sent them off to the bride to be...

I only had to wait about a week to see these babies in action, at this beautiful, thoughtful Wisconsin wedding! More soon!