Spring & summer wedding reception ideas

At Jacquie’s Gourmet Catering, we love to plan spring and summer wedding receptions. The world is in bloom, warm and in love… such a lavish and bountiful time to get married!

There are also so many, many different ideas and themes to choose from when you are planning a wedding reception in the warm months. We enjoy working with the bride and groom to create the right feel, theme and the vibe for the event – and the ideal food and drink, too.

Here are Jacquie’s spring and summer wedding reception tips on how to bring the lovely color and warmth of the season into your big day:

Have your wedding outside under our gazebo at Finley Creek Vineyards. There will be plenty of flowers all around in our lovely spring and summer gardens. Bonus: You won’t need as many bouquets and flower arrangements. Nature will provide quite a few on its own.
Take your color cues from nature with bright reds, brilliant pinks, and vivid lavender, purples, greens and yellows. Don’t limit your color choices to the wedding tuxes and gowns. Extend the colors to invitations, lighting, bridal bouquets, table centerpieces, and especially, food and drinks!
Foods can be bold or subtle, outrageously spicy or refined. Maybe a little of both. If you want formal, we can go with the classics like standing rib roast, brisket or lamb chops. Or make things bright and off-beat with easy to eat sliders or Szechuan pork barbeque. We can do whatever you want.
The biggest dinner trendwe're seeing right now? Interactive stations. Couples are moving away from a sit-down multiple- course dinner where the food is served by wait staff. Instead, we’re seeing couples add longer cocktail hours and include multiple self-serve food stations. Not only can this be less expensive, but it encourages interaction among your guests. Some station and small plate foods we like? Sliders, chili bars, beef brisket sandwiches, pork tenderloins, mini grilled cheese sandwiches, and steak/chicken/veggie fajitas bars.
Get creative and fun with what you wear. Have the bridal group slip into sequined tennis shoes under their gowns -- and high tops under their tuxes.
Evenings get still be cool in early spring. Add heaters along the path to the reception facility. You could also drape comfy blankets over the back of chairs or have a fire pit for later in the evening.
Dessert bars? Everyone’s favorite. Merengues are colorful and yummy. Individual sized cheesecakes, tiramisu, even ice cream cones… be as fun as you want.
Bring the outdoors, in with brilliant spring flowers in centerpieces. Lots of greenery keeps things grounded and fresh. Consider plants in flower pots as giveaways.
How about a specialty coffee bar to go with your wedding cake? Have serve-yourself specialty liquor toppings, fresh whipped cream, and lovely fresh peppermint sprigs as garnishes.
Wedding signature cocktails are fun. Name “his” and “hers” drinks… after your best man, or your college mascot, or your dog’s nickname. Have fun with it. Your guests will love it.

No matter what you choose for your spring/summer wedding reception, let’s meet to get things booked and begin getting a feel for your ideas early. Jacquie’s Gourmet Catering can bring your wedding ideas to life in all kinds of ways, keeping foods fresh and organic, sustainably and locally raised, and always… delicious.

Innovatemap’s colorful, food-forward holiday party

Innovatemap, is a Broadripple based product services company helping companies of all sizes dream, design and scale digital products and services.

So, when it came to throwing a holiday party, Innovatemap knew exactly what they wanted. Their team insisted the party be lively, colorful and food forward, with emphasis on big taste and a low carbon footprint. No surprise, they hired Jacquie’s Gourmet Catering (farm-to-table, sustainable, organic, locally sourced foods) and set the evening at Finley Creek Vineyards.

The vibe was easy upscale and festive. Guests arrived for an evening of holiday celebration beginning with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres from 6 to 7, followed by dinner, then a reception from 8 through 11 PM.

Hors d’oeuvres included:

Three Layer Pesto Torte with Goat Cheese, Cream Cheese, Sundried Tomatoes, Fresh Basil Pesto and Pine Nuts with Crackers.

Bourbon Chicken Skewers Mini Cuban Sandwiches were also offered. Naturally there was a vegan option, Morbier Grilled Cheese with Tomato Jam Mushrooms Stuffed with Parmesan.

A seated dinner followed with a choice of:

Barbeque Beef Boneless Short Ribs with Molasses Bourbon Sauce
Cedar Planked Salmon
Bow Tie Pasta with Arugula, Goat Cheese

Rounding out the meal, was:

Mixed Organic Field Greens with Pecans, Cranberries, Goat Cheese and Champagne Dressing
Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Wood Grilled Vegetables with Herb de Provence and Balsamic

No holiday celebration would be complete without ending on a sweet note. Jacquie’s team prepared an irresistable dessert station filled with everyone’s favorites:

Chocolate Covered Strawberries
Creme Brule
Cheesecakes
Smores in a Ball Jar

There’s nothing like a perfectly hosted, beautifully prepared and presented holiday party, which is exactly what the folks at Innovatemap received this holiday season. Team Jacquie’s Gourmet Catering and Finley Creek Vineyards delivered!

Republic Airlines landed at Finely Creek Vineyards for their holiday luncheon

. The event was festive and fun, with great food and lovely surroundings. Just the thing for Republican Airlines personnel after a bustling holiday travel season!

The Buffet Lunch by Jacquie’s Gourmet Catering, included a choice of select entrees, two sides, salad and holiday desserts.

The high flying lunch took flight with Spinach and Pear Salad with Rosemary Vinaigrette.

From there, guests chose Beef Wellington or Chicken Stuffed with Brie. The Tenderloin of Beef was first class, including Mushroom Duxelle Wrapped in Puff Pastry.

For those choosing chicken, it was a savory marvel -- Chicken Stuffed with Brie, Wrapped with Proscuitto and Rosemary.

Garlic Mashed Potatoes rounded out each entrée, pairing well with Seasoned Farm-to-Table Indiana Vegetables and Rolls.

The fitting end of the meal? The sky was the limit, and calories no problem with Butter Chocolate Mousse Torte. Delicious!

Guests remarked at how lovely the Finley Creek Vineyards barn was for a winter holiday party. Lovely, warm, and bursting with rustic charm! And of course, every party Jacquie’s Gourmet Catering does is perfection from start to finish. Guests enjoyed a “soft landing” at the bar, taking in lots of holiday spirits and camaraderie.

Celebrate fall at Finley Creek Vineyards

Fall barn celebrations, Halloween parties and wedding receptions are a blast! Especially when they are held at a place that’s easy to get to, and includes the mouth-watering sustainable food from an award-winning caterer.

Naturally, we’re talking about Jacquie’s Gourmet Catering at Finely Creek Vineyards, north on 421 (Michigan Road), in Zionsville.

Holding an event at our Finley Creek rustic barn can be as casual and charming as you want. Or lavish and over-the-top, with electric lights, swag curtains, and our crystal chandeliers to set the tone.

This month, we are looking forward to two crisp fall weddings, complete with fall foliage, gold and silver sprayed pumpkins, silver candleabras, and plenty of lovingly prepared Indiana pork and fresh-picked apple dishes. Even the wedding cake will be fall themed – carrot cake!

We’re also looking forward to some traditional Halloween-themed fun, as we turn our barn into a spookier version of its usual self. We will help set up an apple-bobbing area, and serve home-made caramel apple ice cream as well as Jacquie’s Indiana caramel topped apple pie. Definitely a crowd pleaser! Bales of hay and arrangements of quirky ghost white pumpkins and bumpy green gourds surrounded by corn stalks and fall foliage will set the tone.

If it’s mild, the fun will be outside as well as inside, especially with our fire pits and hay bales for extra seating. But if the temperature dips, our guests are covered, literally! We just head into the barn without missing a beat.

Jacquie’s Gourmet Catering keeps any party happy, as her made-from-scratch, locally sourced food lives up to its reputation. Fall favorites include Jacquie’s pulled pork sliders, maple bacon topped pumpkin flan, and corn soufflé – all organically grown and sustainably sourced from nearby Indiana farms – from appetizers to desserts.

When Finley Creek in the Zionsville countryside gets all dressed up for a fall party or reception, you and your guests are in for a treat! We hope you will come join us and see what we mean!

~ The Jacquie’s Gourmet Catering team

Exclusive caterers for Finley Creek Vineyards