The First Wedding at Winterthur was a reception for Louise du Pont, sister of H. F. du Pont, Winterthur Museum & Country Estate’s founder, and her new husband Frank B. Crowninshield. Love the hats!
Louise du Pont & Frank B. Crowninshield's Wedding
Hello everyone. Lauren and I went to a NACE meeting on Tuesday and listened to a really great talk on wine and food pairings. Now, had they made any of the 4 courses vegetarian I might have been able to eat and tell you about the combos; however - the little tips they gave made great sense:
Taste and select your wine - then pick your food! It is so much easier to change your food and add or take out an ingredient - you can’t do that with your wine.
When cooking at home - taste your wine - write down specific tastes you can pick out - then add those items to your dish. Taste your wine - then taste your food and wine together - there should be some great compliments happening.
Finally take it up another notch - taste your wine - write down specific tastes - then cook with opposite taste - such as sweet and salty. See how the wine and the food really balance each other out.
And even if you don’t get perfect at it - a night with friends, food and wine is always a good night to me!
And that means it is March and that means the March Bank will be starting to bloom - I cant wait to see the carpet of bleu and purple bulbs all over the gardens!
Spring fever is here. I think every tour I have for the next few days is thinking Spring 2012 and with the temps at 60 degrees or higher I can’t blame them.
We are totally booked for our March 4th tasting and almost booked for April. Once we hit June we do host a tasting every single month through the end of December - right before we close again. Let Lauren or I know if you need to schedule a tasting time.
We have met with almost all of the brides through August. Once we get open Lauren and I will be contacting those of you in September to start planning meetings. Please don’t hesitate to let us know if you have questions in the meantime.
Staying busy and wishing this cold weather away!
Started the week on Sunday with a quick dip in the ocean for the Polar Bear Plunge that benefits the Delaware Special Olympics - they raised over $550,000 that day and whats 37 degree water anyway?
Tuesday was the NACE meeting and this months topic productivity - turns out - I am already pretty productive but everyone can use an extra tip here and there right?
Tomorrow morning I start at Thersa Florals to see her new workspace and check out her inspriations and new design ideas for this coming year. I can’t wait.
After that I am in for a bit then over to Longwood Gardens again for more safety training - but I am going to steal a few minutes and check out their newest displays.
Saturday all day with wedding tours - we still need our boots to cover the snow at the reflecting pool but at least it is supposed to break 40 - wahoo - how many more days until Spring?
After much anticipation, our Facebook page is up! We have uploaded some great photos from weddings which occurred this past summer. We are also updating our statuses frequently with reminders and updates. This is our way of keeping you connected with the catering department here at Winterthur! We hope that through this site we hear feedback and great ideas from couples with upcoming weddings, couples that have already had their wedding with us, brides interested in Winterthur and our vendors!
Below you will find the URL that will go directly to our Facebook page or look us up under “Restaurant Associates at Winterthur Museum”.
EBE - one of our preferred vendors for bands - Rio and the amazing Dreamtime are both on there! EBE is hosting one their showcases next week - still don’t have a band - go see them in person - its a great way to get a feel for them and how they interact with you and each other - and you get to hear great music in the meantime! Check out their website for more info:
Tasting Dates for Spring 2011
Friday, March 4, 2011 - 6:00pm
Friday, April 8, 2011 - 4:30pm
We will not host a tasting in May 2011
June and July and August tastings will more then likely be in the evening, during the week since we have so many weddigs on the Fridays and Saturdays.
Have not booked your date yet? We still have a few key dates available. This has changed some since last week as some couples moved their dates! We have the following key dates still available:
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Saturday, July 9, 2011 - aka 7/9/11
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Saturday, October 8 - Visitor Center only
Call to inquire about other dates!
Good snowy morning to everyone. What a bummer that more then half the people who were scheduled to attend tonight’s tasting cannot make it! March 4th tasting is going to be packed so please let me know ASAP if you would like to attend that one!
We will have the tasting on March 4th at 6pm as well as Friday, April 8 at 4:30pm. We will not be hosting a tasting in Mayor June to our extremely high business levels. We will resume them in July through December.
Also if you are a booked bride getting married here before Septemeber please email me to schedule your planning meeting this January and February. I can’t wait to see everyone again.
Hi everyone. Is there anyone out there who is not cold?
Busy week this week - we are in the middle of a strong holiday party season and we look to finish up for the most part on Sunday the 19th. Winterthur is currently open for dinner and late tours on Tuesday evenings - next Tuesday Gary will celebrate his birthday here and then on the 28th I will celebrate mini by working!
We are getting ready for the winter close here at Winterthur. We will be closed to the public from January 10th and re-open on March 1, 2011. Gary and I will still be here to answer calls and set-up wedding meetings so please feel free to call or email us - it gets a little eerie around here with nobody about.
Our next tasting on December 27, 2011 at 4:30pm is a big one - we have almost 20 people attending. Our next one will be the week we re-open on March 4, 2011. If you are getting married prior to July please make sure to attend one of the tastings.
Getting married prior to July? Have we met to detail out your wedding yet? If not please call or email me to start scheduling a time to meet.
Hi Everyone - I hope everyone is having a great December - maybe staying warm - I know I am not. We are heavy in our Christmas tours right now, we have events most evenings and bus groups most days. We have a party this evening and Lauren and Josh are getting ready for Breakfast with Santa tomorrow.
I just got an email from the team at partyspace.com -
We are currently working on developing use of our
and
Our Wedding WEDpages are free to use, and allow couples to share information about their special day with
friends and family.
One of the ways they share this information is by using a template for their WEDpage that has as a backdrop,
a beautiful image of their reception facility.
I happen to think a wedding web page is a must - especially if you are lucky enough to be getting married here on another very unique location. It is a great way to share facts like the shuttles with guests and ideally it keeps some of the stress off of you when your guests have a random question. Hop over to partyspace.com and sign up for a free webpage today!
Good morning - I hope everyone had a nice holiday weekend!
I wanted to let everyone know that the new catering packages are on line along with revised pricing. Remember that as long as you already have a signed contract your prices will remain as they were at the time that you signed.
Lauren was busy this weekend working on a new facebook page for us - more on that when we launch!! - and wedding tours. We are updating our facebook page and will let you know the minute we are ready to go live with that - hopefully by the end of the week.
Happy cyber Monday - now go back to work!
One of our fun brides from last Fall - Kirsten - and Matt of course, made the press. Check out the article in Delaware Bride. http://www.delawaretoday.com/Delaware-Today/Delaware-Bride/Fall-Winter-2010/In-Praise-of-Something-Blue/
Wow - what great weather we are having right now - a tad below 80 with a light breeze - thanks Hurricane Earl!
Tonight we had the pleasure of working with two great people who are so obviously entranced by each other - Sueyeun and Beckhyon. They opted for a traditional Korean ceremony at the reflecting pool. I think pictures may be better then words in this case:
Pretty Poses
Processional, Parents first, Bride and her family, followed by the groom
Traditional Korean Ceremony
Liz Marden wedding cake - how beautiful
Good evening everyone
Aqua is in the air- this is the second week where we have used this beautiful color as the backdrop for our wedding. Amanda and Jeff are so sweet and we had such a great time working with them. They had a lovely ceremony outside on the patio underneath an archway that Amanda’s dad built for them - now they have that to grace their home for the rest of their lives. Take a moment to look at a few of the pictures I snagged.
The arch built by Amandas dad
Liberty Lane Cake
Mike and Jana just got their blog up from the Fletcher/Stinson wedding in June - look at some of these great shots. Mike we LOVE to work with you too! Share the love - you are so talented and fun!
Mike also just sent us a disk with some of these pics on it - we already added them to our photo gallery so please take a look there!
Hi all
Looks like Winterthur is going to be closed for a portion of January and February again so we will not be holding tastings during those months. I have the next few dates planned out and kept them close tot he holidays with the hopes that would be most convenient for you.
August 10, 2010 - 5:30pm
September 9, 2010 - 6:00pm
October 15, 2010 - 4:00pm
November 23, 2010 - 6:00pm
December 27, 2010 - 5:00pm
Please let me know which one you would like to attend if you have not had a chance to make it to a tasting yet!
We have been rain free so far this weekend and have had 2 more great weddings by the pool. Emily and Jeff on Friday night had their ceremony poolside, cocktails were moved into the Gallery due to the extreme heat warnings, and then dinner in the Visitor Center.
sweet flowers from sweet peas
Love the flower sticks with table names
Butter Stripe Linens from Total Table
Wild for Monkeys - Grooms Cake - Chocolate and Peanut Butter from Liberty Lane
Beautiful Wedding Cake - Liberty Lane Sarah and Joe are this evening. once again we are poolside for the ceremony, cocktail hour in is in the lobby of the Visitor Center with dinner and dancing inside. Love this look from Theresa Floral
So Sweet - Liberty Lane
Theresa Floral
Theresa Floral
I must say what a treat it is this weekend being able to work with all of our preferred vendors. It makes the evening so much easier as far as flow and so much more relaxed for the bride and groom when everyone knows each other and knows how to work together and the workings of the estate.
Tonight was the first time we have had held our cocktail party wedding and it was so cool - actually I think this is the best way to go but we all know I can’t sit down!
I met Heather and her mom about a year ago and they are so relaxed and down to earth. Once I met them I knew that this was going to suit them and when I met Brent I was even more convinced. Of course I worried about everything for the entire night being held at the pool but the weather is great - 84 degrees - little warm but nothing a glass of water or wine wont cure and as the sun drops and the wind blows this is just so nice to be out here. Of course even a few days before the longest day of the year lighting at the pool is still a concern which was handled through DJ Steve Croce as well as numerous candles and more lighting that was brought in.
Steve Croce sets up and plays loud music that probably scared our curatorial staff from the walls rocking!
Take a look at some of the pics I got but I am of course hoping Mike and Jana from Mike Kehr Photo will send me some of their shots - I already told Heather there were some shots of her that I wanted to get on the website 
Mike and Jana at work
Processing down the aisle
Garden Party Ready!
Relaxed - whew!
Liz Marden Cake - how cute
Good evening everyone! We just had the best weekend - 3 weddings, 3 gorgeous couples, and 3 great ceremonies with no rain plans in site - whew!
Friday evening started the weekend with Leah and Raleigh. This cute couple dated all through high school and college and they look like they were literally made for each other. Yukie did her flowers and Leah was stunning in an ivory lace dress with a 40’s inspired hairstyle - she looked so coordinated with the estate. They started with ceremony and cocktail hour at the reflecting pool and then moved back to dinner and dancing at the Visitor Center
At the pool - getting married!
ready for guests
Cake by Liz Marden - brandy almond buttercream
Slide Show on, placecards in wheat grass
Lined up, but watching the slide show!
Saturday night had a very vivacious crowd attending. We started with the ceremony at the pool and then Kristin and Mike snuck some alone time in for pictures and the guests hopped on the shuttles and came back to the patio for cocktail hour. Their evening continued as they danced and had a ton of fun in the Visitor Center. I loved what Theresa Florals did with the centerpieces - 3 different table arrangements, and eventions lit the room wonderfully. I got to work with Kristin from all about events planning - she is so laid back and relaxed - a great person to work with!
Liberty Lane cake
Theresa Florals - different floral arrangements
Another floral arrangement - my favorite
Placecard table
Eventions lighting - the perfect finishing touch
Tonight wraps up a busy weekend - I actually just met the bride and the groom for the first time yesterday when we did the rehearsal! I actually worked with the mother of the bride and w planned the whole thing with her in California!! Ceremony on the patio, Steve Croce is playing the music (so I am totally relaxed cause I am working with the best tonight!), and the Winterthur Floral team did the flowers on this wedding. I love this cake that Kimberly designed - I think it might be my favorite (or maybe I am too biased as I know it is the sunshine cake!).
Ceremony on the patio
Winterthur Florals does the arbor
Liberty Lane Cake - this may be my favorite one I have seen in a long time!
Winterthur Florals
A lot of hard work went into making this weekend so successful including my bridal attendants Lauren and Jessica and my great team in the kitchen and running the events including Josh and Adip. I can not do all of this without these great people and they are the same ones that are going to be taking care of your weddings if you are lucky enough to be getting married here.
Hopefully you are finding the pictures inspiring. I look forward to bringing you more next weekend. Have a great night everyone!
Our next catering tasting is Friday, June 4, 2010 at 6:30pm at the Visitor Center. Want to get some great ideas, meet your cake vendors and taste your wedding options - this is the night to do that.
More info to come - we are lining up all of our vendors now!!
