The Great Caterer Saga: Part 2

I left you last, hanging in suspense, dying to hear what I ended up with for a catering service (right? :). Before I continue with the story, I wanted to talk a little bit about my expectations for the food. I already mentioned our bare-bones menu ideas in my last post. Here is what I did not want, under any circumstances:

Fancy food, exactly the opposite of what I am looking for....

Yup, fancy food. Honestly, I've found that my favorite food experiences have been when the preparation is simple, the ingredients are fresh and everything is light and complimentary. I don't like a whole lot of differing flavors competing for tongue space! I also really wanted to use as much local produce as possible, as well as local bakers and meat suppliers, if possible. A few of the caterers I spoke with were amenable to this; a few others said they were but clearly were not (ahem, Classe...)

Anyways, I literally spent all my free time this summer looking for a caterer, to no avail. Just when I was thinking I would re-visit Woodstock Moveable Feast (in spite of my trepidations about how far from the venue they were located,) or perhaps accept Classe as another option, the fairy godmother of catering took pity on me and dropped Debbie Freinberg of A Spice of Life Catering into my lap. Seriously, remember the scene in Ferris Bueller's Day Off where Ferris is absent? I believe the exact quote is:

"My best friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who's going with the girl who saw Ferris pass out at 31 Flavors last night."

In our case, it was my mom's carpool partner's wife's friend who is in the food industry and she knew someone who recommended Debbie to us (you got that?)

From her first email, I knew she was the one. Not only did she respond immediately, and not only were her menus delicious but she has done other weddings at our venue, including the wedding of a long-lost friend from elementary school! (I told you it was a small town...) Once we spoke to the mother of that recent bride and spoke with Debbie in the phone, we were hooked. She is a member of the Columbia County Bounty organization (dedicated to using locally farmed produce and livestock) and her menu spoke to my simple, rustic food visions. Nothing too fancy or overdone, just good, simple, delicious food.

I'm thrilled Debbie is going to be catering our wedding and I can't wait to share our menu with you in another post! It's true what they say, good things come to those who wait and I'm very thankful I didn't rush into a contract with another caterer I wasn't completely comfortable with.