Snack Food & Le Bernardin ?

One of the charming aspects of The Wall Street Journal is that they often print stories that are really useful in everyday life. Take the challenge of pairing snack food with wine when beer just won't do. In a recent article, writer Katy Laughlin turned to Aldo Sohm, the sommelier at New York's Le Bernardin restaurant and the 2008 winner of the Best Sommelier in the World.

Mr. Sohm was given three snack foods to pair with wine and his suggestions are not only well thought out, but inexpensive. Anyone who has dined at Le Bernardin will find it odd that "inexpensive" and the restaurant are ever mentioned together, but it's true. Here are his pairing suggestions:

Seven Layer Bean Dip = 2008 Heitz Cellar Sauvignon Blanc from Napa Valley ($ 20.) "The slight mineral touch is good with a starch like beans. It's crispness matches the tomatoes and onions".

Pizza = 2008 Valle dell'Acate II Frappato ($ 20.) "The acid in the wine holds up to the tomatoes in the pizza sauce and it has a minerality and very slight saltiness that cuts through the greasiness of the cheese".

Potato Chips = 2007 Perrin & Fils Reserve Cores du Rhone ($ 8.) "I wanted a wine you can drink all night long because you eat chips all night long".

Sounds good to me.

Planning For the Renaissance Bride

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Lisa + Chris: The Details

Details make all the difference in a wedding. We sometimes call them "wow" factors but in a lot of cases and certainly in this beautiful wedding, it's putting your personal stamp and style on your wedding. This bride had thoughtfully chosen wedding fashion from the gorgeous Amsale gown to the beautiful earring and bracelet as accessories. The men's and little boy's suits were adorable as were the bridesmaid's dresses and shoes. Lisa's big splurge? Well her Manolo Blahnik shoes of course. I love how she exchanged her veil for a flower in her hair after the wedding and how she added a sentimental touch by including a cuff link from her late father into her bridal bouquet. The blue crab lollipops as place cards, the monogrammed napkins, the flower pillows, and the signature drink all perfectly combined into one chic statement.

Lisa + Chris: The Reception

Immediately following the ceremony, cocktail hour began featuring the wonderful music of the steel drum band The Mellowtones and a refreshing "signature drink", the mojito in addition to a full bar selection of drinks.
Guests enjoyed the waterfront view while the staff at The Gibson Island Club passed delicious hors d'oeuvres such as Beef Satay, Melon wrapped Prosciutto, Curried Chicken in Endive Leaves, Tomato and Basil Feta Cups, Scallops wrapped in Bacon and Brie and Pear in Phyllo. As if it were planned, a large cruise ship passed by creating a great photo op.

The guests were invited to move inside the club for dinner and dancing and on the way picked-up their place card which was attached to a wrapped Blue Crab lollipop. The lollipops had been placed in cute green toile containers filled with sand.
The dining tables were well thought out and beautifully designed. The linens were Blue Crush, base plates were Blue Sea Glass, and the water glass was tinted lime green, all from Party Rental, Ltd. The chairs were white chivaris and those cute napkins were purchased by the bride and she had each monogrammed with a blue "L". (after the wedding, she had them washed and ironed and gift wrapped by the dozen to give to family members as gifts).

As the guests entered the Dining Room, music was being played by Evan Reitmeyer from MyDeeJay which set the tone for the fun evening. The bridal party introductions, first dance, and toasts went off without a hitch and then a dinner of Crab Cakes and Grilled Tenderloin was served to each guest.

The music became noticeably more energetic after dinner and the dancing started in full force. There was only a quick break to cut the beautifully simple cake from Graul's Market with Karen Lock had decorated with blossoms. While the dancing continued, Gibson Island staff set-up a delicious ice cream sundae bar with toppings such as Butterfinger crumbles, Gummy Bears, Reese's pieces, hot fudge, Oreo cookie crumbles, whipped cream and caramel sauce. As an additional treat to the guests, a candy bar consisting of all blue and green candy was set-up in tall glass jars with scoops.

Vendors: Karen's Flower Market, Arthur Remanjon Photography, Elizabeth Bailey Weddings, Calligraphy by Karen, The Pleasure of Your Company, MyDeeJay, The Gibson Island Club, Party Rental Ltd., The Mellowtones, and Graul's Market.

Lisa + Chris: The Ceremony

With clear skies and everyone in a great mood, we began the ceremony on the waterfront at

The Gibson Island Club.

The wedding flowers were all designed by the talented Karen Lock. Karen worked with Lisa's ideas about personalizing the ceremony with floral elements while combining her favorite colors of blue and green. Creatively, the ring bearer pillows were designed with green button mums and the bridesmaids bouquets were wrapped with cute navy blue polka dot ribbon.

The aisle was decorated with petals and small, green paper lanterns. Guests were given pretty paper parasols to shade them from the sun. It added a beautiful layer of color to the ceremony.

Tucked inside the bride's bouquet was a cufflink that had belonged to her late father and during the ceremony the bride and groom participated in the "sand ceremony".

Ceremony music provided by classical guitarist David Greenberg.

Wedding Invitations by The Pleasure of Your Company.

All photographs here by Arthur Remanjon Photography.

Wedding planning by Elizabeth Bailey Weddings.

Lisa + Chris: Getting Ready

I couldn't hope for a better client than Lisa. She is fashionable, kind, calm, and always open to ideas. She came to me with great ideas of her own and continued to research and fine tune them until all the details came together and made a beautiful wedding.

The June morning of her wedding was a bit overcast and threatened rain. The professional staff at The Gibson Island Club acted as it were clear and blue and set-up the wedding outside as to dare the clouds to rain on this wedding. A couple of sprinkles later and the blue sky did in fact appear as the club staff went about drying the chairs so that the wedding could take place on time.

The bride and bridesmaids were gathered in the cottage next to the clubhouse and had a great morning of hair, make-up and champagne. Jane and Julie talented twins at Double Take Make-Up made sure to make everyone look fabulous as did the hair stylist from Up Dos for I Dos.

Lisa and Chris decided to have all their formal portraits and wedding party taken before the wedding.

All photographs in this post are from wedding photographer Arthur Remanjon Photography.