The DIY guide to a Yule-tide Wedding Feast

by regressada

My wedding was on Winter Solstice.

I didn’t plan it that way; it’s just what worked out. But I’ve always thought it would be wonderful to get married on Midsummer’s Eve, purely for the literary and poetic value of the day. Winter Solstice, half a year and one day later, (the shortest day of the year instead of the longest) not only provided a perfect opportunity to celebrate in Yule-tide style (you know…pine boughs, roaring fires, chestnuts, the whole deal) but also was a symbolic day, the beginning of longer, lighter days, and the hope of spring and Savior’s birth.

In short, it was the perfect day to be married.

It even snowed the day of the wedding.

I did a lot of the planning myself. And my wonderful friends and family all pitched in.

Well, you are asking, what kind of menu is appropriate for a Christmas feast? Look no further. Here it is, in all its winter wonderland glory.

~What every winter wedding feast needs:~

>soup.
Three kinds. Chicken and Gnocci, chili, and sausage-cheese soup. Served hot, went down warm.
I made the chicken and gnocci the night before the wedding with the help of my bridesmaids. I’ve never made such a huge pot of soup!

“There ain’t a body, be it mouse or man, who ain’t made better by a little soup.” ~The Tale of Despereaux

>heaps of bread.
My little sister brought three dozen corn muffins to the wedding, and my sister’s fiance brought baguettes and boules from the area’s best bakeries and heaped them up by the soup pots.

>ploughman’s platters.
This had to be amended just a bit – pickles and hard boiled eggs would have been perfect for Mole and Ratty’s picnic and even for the dwarf-feast during that infamous Unexpected Party…but we were going for a little more class and festivity, if you will. I chose pears to add to the cheese and cracker platters; a nod to French cuisine.

I also wanted to have a bit of my own family tradition reflected in the menu; my mom always put on a Christmas Eve service and served her secret-recipe cheeseball, cheese, crackers, summer sausage, and Christmas cookies. (To this day, one of my all-time favorite spreads!)

>good coffee.
translation: Pirate Blend from The Blue Lion Mercantile.

>mulled cider.
hot and spiced. the good kind, from Bench Farms, where I worked last summer.

>Cake. The red velvet kind. Made by Emily.

…with a little forest on top, worthy of a wardrobe.

Put the whole feast on tables laden with pine boughs, winter berries, and flickering candles

Inside an Old Train Depot in Pierceton, IN…

Add feasting

and mistletoe

And dancing

…lots of dancing

…throw in handwritten vows, a Scottish handfast, the Danza Kuduro,

family

and friends

…to equal a beautiful day, a happy bride

and
(the best of all)
him, of course.

yeah, him.

That’s how you do it, folks. The perfect Yuletide wedding feast.

*a note: If you have questions about how I did any of the above planning/executing, feel free to contact me. I can help…with everything except the guy. I’ve already married him ; )

**another note: the professional photography in this post was done by AmeliaLynn Photography.  The others (the unprofessional ones : ) were from my camera. Additional photography was done by Creationfoto Photography and can be found here.