Our Wedding

DeeDee and I decided long ago that a traditional wedding was not the approach we wanted to take. We both agreed that Chantel and Mike’s (my sister and her husband) wedding was more to our liking.

Chantel and Mike got married at Circles Bistro in South Tampa. A friend married them. The food was excellent and the cake was from Wright’s Gourmet in South Tampa.

Like Chantel and Mike, we decided to check out some restaurants that we enjoy including Gino’s, Tio Pepe in Clearwater, the Columbia Restaurant in Ybor and a few others.

We decided on Chateau France (no longer in business) in downtown St. Petersburg.

Our guests arrived at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, January 30, 2010. We decided to start off with French Cheese Platters as an appetizer. After everyone had arrived and greeted one another. Our group was seated and entrees were chosen. Our menu included a choice of Wild Salmon au Citron, Ménage A Trois (Shrimp, scallops and lump crabmeat with Champagne), Poulet Marie Therese, Filet Diane, and Filet Mignon Noir. We decided to go with the house Cabernet Sauvignon and the house Chardonnay.

After ordering our dinner selections, it was time for the ceremony. While no one actually pulled a stop watch out and timed it, Dave Riordan (my friend and officiant for the ceremony) read through the script like a seasoned pro (maybe a little nervous, but still…). If the wedding ceremony took 75 seconds, I would be surprised. I think is was closer to a minute. No time for getting nervous and no time for DeeDee to reconsider. Whew!

Since neither DeeDee nor I are big fans of cake, we decided to let our guests choose between Soufflé au Chocolat, Soufflé au Grand Marnier, Crème Brulee, or Crepes Suzette. That’s right, NO WEDDING CAKE!! No freezing the top of the cake while it sits for an entire calendar year in my freezer taking up valuable space I need for Ice Cream and Lean Cuisines. I know it doesn’t make sense, but it’s MY freezer.

Rather than critique any aspect of our meal, I will just state that our wedding was fantastic. DeeDee and I enjoyed it. Our guests enjoyed it. The kids enjoyed it. The staff was exceptional and accommodating. The food was excellent.

The best thing that happened last Saturday IS after years of being in love, over two years of being engaged, and a year living together, I can finally call DeeDee my wife.