July 11th Wedding

Sasha & Giuseppe's Wedding on July 11th was really unique!

The evening started off with a signature introductory drink of a Bellini for all the guests.
There were multiple hors d' oeuvre stations with items like:
Jamaican Jerk Chicken with Plantain Chips
Shrimp Scampi
Breaded Calamari w/ a Spicy Orange Sauce
Mini Crab Cakes with Lemon Caper Remoulade

After the announcements, the four course meal started off with an insalata caprese salad.

One of the best features of the wedding was the wide variety of desserts!
Check out what we had:
Mini Cannoli Platter
Cheese Cakes w/ Bananas Foster and Cherries Jubilee
Chocolate Covered Strawberries
Mousse Desserts:
Strawberry Cheesecake, Mocha, and Peaches and Crème
Bite-Sized Dessert Platter:
Lemon Bars, Brownie Bites, and Strawberry Shortcake in Asian Spoons

The only way to complement such a spread was for them to add our Gourmet Cappuccino & Espresso Coffee Bar (with a GREAT assortment of cordials).

This wedding had EVERYTHING! Even a Disc Jockey who drove all the way from New York City who was singing in Italian throughout the event.

I'm going to post some amazing shots from the photographer, Terry Clark, tomorrow!
Stay tuned!

July 4th Wedding

We've been really busy at Bella Sera!
19 Weddings on premise since May and MANY more to go.

Here are some pictures from our July 4th wedding. All these shots were taken by Dan Speicher.

Everyone really enjoyed the Wildberry Mojito signature drink as well as the special Red, White, and Blue Cocktails.

I wish Teressa and Kyle the very best!

Ice Capades

On Adam's 14th hour of work today after 3 catering jobs, an on-premise wedding, and an on-premise class reunion...he started carving ice!

Check some of these pictures out:

The best e-mails

These are always my favorite e-mails.
It's the reason we do what we do!

Mother of the Bride from 6/19/09 -

Hi Nick,
I want to let you know that I was extremely pleased with everything for the wedding. Your venue is exceptional in the attention and service you showed all of us. All the guests commented on how beautiful everything was and how fantastic the appetizers were. They were very impressed that the appetizers never ran out and the servers kept passing around the hot appetizers until it was time to sit down for dinner. I personally did not get to see much as I was busy socializing, but I know those who commented to me and they would not have said much if they were not impressed. Thank you so much for a wonderful evening. My daughter chose the best place for the wedding!!!!

Oh and by the way, my other daughter Kelly is already planning to have her reception at Bella Sera. All she needs now is a boyfriend!!

Once again, thank you for the best wedding reception my daughter could ever have had.

Sincerely,
Peggy

Pimms Cup

2 Great weddings here this weekend and 3 coming up this week!

Busy, busy, Busy!

I wanted to quickly post this link for some great ideas for drinks using Pimms No. 1

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/21/fashion/21shake.html

Check these out...I will be!

Great Articles

Here are some great beverage articles I've read that I'd like to share with you:

Craft Beer in Cans
We've used Mama's Little Yella Pils and Ten Fidy for different events here. Mama's Little Yella Pils is my favorite summer beer this year!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/16/AR2009061600881.html

Local Produce in Cocktail Recipes
I can't stress this enough when making cocktails. Buy local and buy seasonal. Just like in the kitchen.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/food-and-wine/ci_12601727?nclick_check=1&forced=true

Sangria for the Summer
We're always making Sangria here!
http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=92553168790&h=wWiub&u=kqf7y&ref=mf

Interesting Liqueurs
St Germain is one of my all time favorite creations!
http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=91873211903&h=Ni8cl&u=hM2eN&ref=mf

Make Your Own Sodas
Not all great drinks have alcohol in them!
http://www.mercurynews.com/recipes/ci_12546148?nclick_check=1

I hope there's something there for everyone!

Update!

This is probably the longest I've gone without an update to this blog. Sorry to everyone!

What I've been doing is producing some of the best weddings we've ever had at our facility.

13 Weddings have taken place here since May 9th and each has been sooo unique!

Really, no wedding has been the same...and that's great!

I've been using Domaine de Canton and St Germain for some great signature drinks.

We've had some great passed late night snack concepts (sliders, baguette pizza bites, and many more). We've had espresso stations, flambé stations, and martini bars.

It's been so much fun and we've only just started the season!

Here are some photos from Terry Clark of last Sunday's wedding:

Check out the rest of the pictures from Terry's wedding blog here: http://terryclarkweddings.blogspot.com/