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!

Finley Creek Vineyards is bee-friendly

Jacquie Bols, owner of Jacquie’s Gourmet Catering and Finley Creek Vineyards, is all about organic and sustainably produced foods. She is also a lover – and protector – of everything natural and organic. And in addition to the food she prepares, that includes bees.

Finley Creek Vineyards has two thriving beehives filled with active working honeybees. These bees not only work hard to fertilize the flowers, vegetables and grape vineyards on the property, but also help nearby farmers fertilize their corn, soybeans, strawberries, and other crops.

Because we care about all bees in decline across the country, we hope you’ll join us in helping bees stay healthy and sustainable. Bees are needed to keep our food production safe and healthy, too.

Here are some ways you can help:

Bee safe – Use only organically produced, non-chemical soils in your garden and lawn.
Bee vigilant – Buy and plant only untreated natural organic seeds to produce safe flowers and foods in your garden.
Bee sustainable – Landscape with bee-friendly plants, bushes, grasses and flowers that attract beneficial insects like bees, butterflies, hummingbirds and other pollinators. Compost yard and kitchen waste.
Bee farmer friendly – Support local farmers and producers at farm stands and farmers markets.
Bee Aware – Use only eco-friendly products. Steer clear of “neonic” (bee-killing) chemicals that hide in products in you may use inside and outside your home, including Acetamiprid, Clothianidin, Dinotefuran, Imidacloprid, and Thiamethoxam.

All these products linger on the flowers bees pollinate and can sicken or kill an entire colony.

Bee passionate! Spread the word about organic farming and produce. And keeping bee colonies healthy and thriving, as well as the earth green, healthy and sustainable!

Just making a few thoughtful changes in the products you buy and consume and the practices you employ at home can make a real difference to the natural world we depend on.

Sustainably yours,

Jacquie Bols

Finley Creek hosts a country wedding

The Thompson wedding last weekend was the quintessential beautiful outdoor wedding.

The ceremony was held at 4:30, so the heat of the day was not a problem. The simple and elegant celebration was followed by a cocktail hour from 5 to 6pm, a great way to toast to the couple and the day, and for guests to mingle.

This was followed by dinner indoors in the fabulous Finley Creek barn – a lovely rustic place to enjoy a relaxed and delicious dinner before the real celebrating began.

Here’s what Jacquie’s Gourmet Catering served the happy couple and their guests:

Hors d' Oeuvres display board packed with three rich layers of Pesto Torte with Goat Cheese, Cream Cheese, Sundried Tomatoes, Fresh Basil Pesto and Pine Nuts along with a selection of crackers.

Served hors d’oeuvres:

Mushrooms Stuffed with Goat Cheese, Spinach and Bacon
Mini Chicken and Waffles with Local Maple Syrup

Dinner followed from 6:30 to 7:15, and was all about Jacquie’s Southern Barbeque – which – according to those at attending was “absolutely to die for!”

To accompany this crowd-pleaser, we also served:

Spinach and Pear Salad with Rosemary Vinaigrette
Texas Style Beef Brisket
Smoked Pulled Pork - BBQ on Side
Garlic Mashed Potatoes Sour Cream Corn Bread

And for those with special diets, Stuffed Portobella Mushroom with Fresh 3 Spinach and Pine Nuts or Eggplant parmesan. There was even a special dish for the children in attendance: Chicken Fingers, Carrot Sticks, and a Fruit Cup.

After such a bountiful dinner, what better to do than have some fun outside along with a beverage of your choice, and dance to music favorites of the wedding party with some live music!

The celebrating was followed by a lovely evening send-off which included colorful biodegradable balloons as the bride and groom made their departure.

Everything was carefully planned, and the weather cooperated beautifully, right down to the gorgeous sunset!

Your next event can be just as sensational at Finley Creek Vineyards, where our lush, fall grounds and shabby chic party barn are ready and waiting for you.