What a wedding! Jessica and Mark's big day, an upscale country tent wedding for 175 guests

The big day has arrived! After more than a year of planning, countless back and forth emails, and lining up all of the details, it's here, and we're ready to 'wow'!

The wedding day started early for our team, setting tables and getting everything into place, and for guests, the day started in the early afternoon with a 2:30 ceremony, followed by a reception at the pond, and dinner at 6:30. 175 guests enjoyed food, drink, and sharing Jess and Mark's day at the farm.

Select's AMAZING set-up team, putting all of the little touches together in the dining room

The finished guest tables

The ceremony chairs were set-up down at the house, in the same spot as last night's Rehearsal Dinner. After the ceremony, Select's team moved the chairs up the hill to the tent to be used during dinner

A horse and carriage brought the bride and groom to the ceremony site, and then gave rides to guests during the reception

Select's lovely ladies ("cigarette girls") were ready and waiting inside the house during the ceremony with trays of afternoon treats

Each tray featured candy apples from Martin's Family Fruit Farm, candied with love by Brittles N' More in Waterloo, small two-bite bags of pink cotton candy, and bags of buttered popcorn, available in little boxes or big bags for sharing

After the ceremony, guests were directed to move toward the pond for an afternoon of refreshments and entertainment while the bride and groom had pictures done around the property

The lemonade stand, ready to greet guests as they came over to the pond after the ceremony. A large galvanized steel trough was filled with bottled water and ice for guests to help themselves to. A caricature artist and magician kept guests entertained during the afternoon by the lemonade stand

Steph and Kate are busy pouring drinks for thirsty guests - we featured a refreshing unsweetened iced tea and pink mint lemonade, served in mason jar mugs

The formal entrance to the tent, with courtyard seating available for later in the evening when the sun died down

The bride's display table of pictures and special pieces.

The food stations are prepped and waiting for guests to move up to the tent for dinner

Renate and Grant are ready for their first guests at one of the two mocktail bars. Jessica and Mark each had a signature drink of their own, along with three other juice-based refreshing concoctions. Each drink featured fresh fruit or candy as a garnish


The sweetheart table, ready for the bride and groom

The barbecue station is up and running, featuring striploin steak, cedar planked salmon, balsamic marinated vegetable skewers, chicken skewers, and half cobs of corn

Josh is busy keeping with demand alongside the barbecue station, but he's having a great time

The refreshing salad station, featuring a wide assortment of options for guests to try a little of this and that

The pasta station was a big hit, with three different sauces to choose from, and a great assortment of add-ins to customize your dish

The candy buffet, provided by the bride. Each guest filled a small mason jar with their chosen candies to take home and enjoy

Kelli keeps a watchful eye over the dessert station during speeches. The cupcakes and cookie pops were provided by The CakeBox

Some of the cookie pops featured Jessica and Mark's wedding logo, provided by The CakeBox

Select rounded out the dessert selection with a wide variety of pink and white finger desserts, including miniature cheesecakes in lots of different flavours, Bakewell tarts, coconut ice, cheesecake pops, and domino cookies

Later on in the evening, Select passed around little trays of miniature diner foods, featuring onion rings, shoestring fries, mini hamburgers, and mini hot dogs (with ketchup of course!)

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.

June backyard wedding with Select's shrimp boat display

Congratulations to Alex and James! On June 25th, they celebrated their recent marriage with friends and family at the bride's childhood home. Guests were entertained with food and drink while the happy couple had the chance to mingle and chat with everyone. Stand-up receptions are a great way to use the space you have available to accommodate a large number of people - this backyard wedding hosted 140 guests, with plenty of room for everyone.

The menu featured a selection of passed hors d'oeuvres, a perfect way to bring in your favourite flavours and foods while offering guests a variety of items.

The feature of the evening, Select's signature shrimp boat. The boat before guests arrive.

All aboard the shrimp boat!

Great Local Chef-Off 2011

Select Service was thrilled to be invited to be involved with the Great Local Chef-Off 2011, benefiting the Sunrise Therapeutic Riding and Learning Centre . Chef Kelvin donated her time and one-bite hors d'oeuvres to pass to guests during the afternoon reception on Sunday June 26, before the competition began. Food Network celebrity Chef Michael Smith was overseeing the event, which featured friendly competition between some of the area's chefs.

Select's signature fresh spring rolls with sweet chili dip

The finished canapes - bite-sized cubes of watermelon with blood orange balsamic reduction and pistachios

Uptown Waterloo Jazz Festival 2011

Select Service has just signed on to be the coffee and tea vendor for the 2011 Uptown Waterloo Jazz Festival, running this year from Friday July 15 to Sunday July 17. We will be at the main stage area all weekend, selling coffee and bags of whole bean coffee. Our fabulous coffee is supplied by the Waterloo Coffee Company, where it is freshly roasted each week. All of their coffee is Fair Trade certified and organic, and it's the best coffee we've ever tasted. We're looking forward to being involved with this local event!