What a wedding! Friday set-up and rehearsal dinner for Jess and Mark's outdoor country tent wedding

What a wedding! And we mean it! Select Service catered the biggest and most involved wedding we've ever taken on over three days on July 8, 9, and 10, 2011. Congratulations to Jessica and Mark who are now away enjoying their honeymoon! Our whole team loved this wedding from start to finish, and it was a lot of work to bring it all together.

You may remember this property from last year's post from the Outdoor Engagement Party, where we catered a casual dinner reception for close family and friends exactly a year ago.

Select's team rolled up to the bride's family farm on Friday July 8 to spend the afternoon doing the rough set for all of the tent pieces, including guest tables, display tables, and some decoration pieces. With any outdoor event, you shouldn't cover your tables with linens the day before, because they will get damp overnight and all of the little creatures and critters that live outdoors love to climb up damp tablecloths. The main tent was set up to seat 175 guests, with four market style food stations, two bars, a large dance floor, and some other display tables.

The first thing we saw as we drove up to the tent was the impressive courtyard the bride and groom created to encourage guests to use the beautiful outdoor space as well as the tent space.

Looking out from the tent toward the pond, where reception on Saturday will take place


This is how every event starts when Select arrives - rental companies deliver the items and it's up to us to turn the space into a dining room

Done for the afternoon, this is how we're leaving the tent until Saturday morning when we can dress and finish all the tables

The tents, tables, and chairs were all arranged through Burke's Tent Rentals, we loved the little touches inside the tent that made you forget you were outside, like these pretty lanterns on each tent pole

The menu chalkboards for each food station and the bars, provided by the bride

Moving down to the house for the rehearsal dinner, we set up five high bar tables with black stretch covers for a sophisticated stand up reception for 24 guests. The bride provided pink tulle to wrap around the tables and bring her wedding colours into the space

The simple bar set-up on the patio, ready for guests to grab something cold to drink

Jessica and Mark's wedding cocktail napkins, featuring their wedding logo

The guests have arrived, and the bride's rehearsal dinner outfit perfectly matches her tables

While the guests enjoyed the passed hors d'oeuvres on the patio, Select's team was busy inside getting some of the details for Saturday ready, including filling the bride's glass jars with candy for the candy buffet

A quick clean-up and pack-up, and our team was heading home to get some rest before coming back the next morning and getting ready for the big day.