I really wanted an outdoor wedding and was planning to have the ceremony out on the lawn and reception inside. Of course, Oregon weather can NEVER be counted on, so when the forecast said showers ALL DAY in the middle of JULY I was pretty disap...pointed. We ended up calling the wedding inside for the ceremony to save my sanity, and avoid the possibility of a downpour on all our guests.
Kelly, the Event Coordinator, and the rest of the CECC staff really came through and listened to what we wanted, in order to accommodate our needs. The extra candles and details really made it romantic inside and the weather ended up holding (go figure!), so we were able to get pictures outside as well. The greens are so well-kept that the backdrop of the course was incredible.
People still talk about how good the food was! I was really impressed when the head chef met with us to help make our selection and talk about the preparation and pairing of items. I chose to do a 'family-style' dinner so guests could dish their own food and interact a bit, which included a dinner salad, flank steak with mushrooms, salmon, creamy orzo (which the chef concocted just for me!), asparagus, and roasted red-skinned potatoes. I thought there was a little too much time between the salad and the main course being served, so we just used it as an opportunity to greet some of our guests. We had plenty- 175 ish!
Also, since I'm not a huge fan of cake, we did pies instead. Their pastry chef, Heidi turned out those pies beautifully! We had a choice of marrionberry or apple and I have to say, I don't think I've EVER had better apple pie. Seriously. She also was able to make a few mini pies in molds I gave her the day of which were very cute for the dessert table. Amazing.
We had a lot of fun and partied through the night and the staff took care of everything. I've seen too many times where the families are helping with the setup and clean up, and this was so much more relaxing seeing everything set up in the morning and the family not having to do the bulk work. They were on top of it, even with the last-minute decision to bring the ceremony inside.
Thanks so much CECC! You rocked our night.
Lindsay