Terry and Janelle’s wedding reception kicked off at 6 p.m. at A Place on the Lake, a new event venue located in East Brunswick.
Terry and Janelle took a gamble when they booked the event space since it was still very much under construction when they put down a deposit, but their gamble paid off! We arrived as the sun was setting and immediately noticed the incredible appetizer buffet.
I’ve never been to a wedding with as much food as Terry and Janelle’s wedding and I was honestly full before cocktail hour was over. The cocktail hour included passed hors d’oeuvres in addition to a full buffet of appetizers including calamari, a potato martini bar, lots of fresh shellfish, warm pasta salad, eggplant parmesan and more. I was so hungry going into the cocktail hour that I filled up my small plate three times. The food was so good and even after we all went back for several helpings, there was still plenty leftover.
At seven o’clock, guests were ushered inside for the introduction of the bride and groom and the bridal party.
Here they come!
The introductions transitioned right into the bride and groom’s first dance as husband and wife.
Terry and Janelle danced to “Whatever It Is” by Zac Brown Band and spent the entire song swaying and singing to each other. It was adorable and everyone cheered when they added some spins and twirls!
Dinner and speeches followed the first dance.
As best man, Ryan gave a speech and talked about his relationship with Terry (they’ve been friends since they were five) and his faith in Terry’s relationship with Janelle. He did a great job! I was so nervous for him that I forgot to snap any pictures!
Dinner and Dancing
Following the maid of honor’s speech, guests were served a three course dinner that began with a mushroom ravioli appetizer.
A salad and mahi mahi followed.
Yum!
In between dinner and cake, Ryan and I hit the dance floor with the bride and groom.
The DJ did a great job of playing music that appealed to everyone. Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” was a personal favorite. Whenever I hear that song it’s impossible not to want to shake my booty! Thankfully most of the other women at the wedding seemed to feel the same way, so we danced and sang at the top of our lungs. It was a blast!
Eventually it was time for Terry and Janelle to cut the cake!
The cake was a combination of red velvet and vanilla and it was served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
I’ve never seen wedding cake served with ice cream before and Ryan and I were both a big fan of the idea. Ice cream is my favorite food, so I was all about it!
Remember how I said this wedding had more food than any other wedding I’ve ever been to before? Well, the food just kept on coming! At 11 p.m., a table absolutely filled with more desserts appeared!
I wasted no time attacking that table and filled up on a cannoli, half of a cup of chocolate mousse, fresh kiwi, a cake pop and strawberries. We still had more dancing to do and I needed fuel!
Ryan and I clearly take wedding dancing seriously. Ha!
Terry and Janelle were dancing machines at their wedding which kept the energy alive for the six-hour reception. Ryan and I danced like crazy and had so much fun! Terry even gave Ryan and his cousin a shout out about halfway through the night since they were both celebrating birthdays which I thought was incredibly thoughtful!
Toward the end of the evening, the DJ asked all of the married couples to make their way to the dance floor. She then asked any couples who have been married for less than a year to sit down, followed by those who have been married for less than five years, 10 years, etc.
In the end, three couples were left dancing who have been married for more than 50 years.
Janelle’s grandparents were the last couple remaining on the dance floor and have been married for 60 years. They were such a fun couple! Her grandmother danced the night away and was a riot. Watching these couples dance together was so sweet and one of the highlights of the evening for me.
A little after midnight, the reception came to a close and Ryan and I kept telling Terry and Janelle how wonderful their special day was and how fortunate we felt to be part of everything. They are a wonderful couple!
Congratulations Terry and Janelle! Enjoy your honeymoon!
HauteLook Giveaway
Congratulations to…
- Mandi: “I just signed up with HauteLook…and I am so happy that I did!!! What a great site! If I were to win $100 gift card, I would love to have a Grifflin Paris dress.”
Please email me at pbfingers@gmail.com and let me know the email address that you used to create your HauteLook account and we’ll credit your account $100! Thanks so much to all who entered!
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This looks like such a fun wedding with amazing food! I have never seen ice cream served with cake before, but I may have to steal this idea…There is nothing better than ice cream AND cake..except for maybe just ice cream? You looked adorable! Love your dress!
That is a monumental amount of food! Glad to hear you made the the most of it! Great pic of you and Ryan at the end!!!
Aww. What a fun reception. I lie the ice cream idea too!
Looks like such a fun wedding! I love your dress!
That looks like a place I’d like to be–look at all that awesome food!! Yumm.
And that cake with ice cream is SUCH a good idea 🙂
A six hour reception with dancing and tons of food? Sounds like my kind of HEAVEN! My mouth just started watering looking at all of the plates, especially the mushroom ravioli. YUM!
Sounds like an awesome reception! And a beautiful venue!
looks like everyone had such a lovely night! your dress is the cutest btw! cake and icecream are the best match..what a great idea for a wedding!
You and Ryan are just too cute. Love that rose picture!! What a great wedding. I have lots of ideas now for whenever my big day comes…ice cream will definitely be topping my cake!
East Brunswick lol
Looks like you and the hubby had a marvelous time!! Weddings are alot of fun. Lots of food, drinks and desserts! Everything looked beautiful.
That was my wedding song too! 🙂
Ice cream with wedding cake! HECK YEAH!!!!!!!!!
The couples with the most years married at the end – how very sweet! Love that! 🙂
Maybe I’ll just have a giant Baskin-Robbins ice cream cake for my wedding day….. 😉
What a beautiful wedding! I love all of the couples who stayed to dance. So sweet 🙂 And your dress….love it!
How fun! The food sounds and looks incredible. Congrats to Terry and Janelle again! And I love that picture of you and Ryan dancing with flare. 😉
Love your dress! It is so pretty and really suits you 🙂
Looks like it was such a wonderful wedding venue. We have a suburb here called Brunswick too but it is definitely not as nice!
Love your dress!
That wedding looks amazing! It makes me want to plan one all over again! I love the idea of wedding cake with ice cream…yum.
We did the “anniversary” dance at our weddiing too, it was friends of my mom who have been married for 44 years. Is the viennese table (dessert table) a New Jersey/New York thing? I’m from NJ and most of the weddings I go to have them. It’s the best way to end the night!
I was wondering this same thing!
Born and bred Jersey girl right here and in my, possibly biased and generalized, opinion New Jersey knows it wedding food. Geesh, I love stuffing my face at cocktail hour. Ironically, I was married in Florida (Marco Island) and when we kept adding on to the cocktail hour menu our planner said (kindly and with humor) “Oh so you want a New Jersey wedding.” We did, and they completely delivered. The Sunshine State knows what’s up, too,
Glad you had a great time! I’ll pass along your review of the venue to my engaged friends.
love the idea of a dessert table and love the anniversary dances so much! what a great idea
I think TONS of food is a Jersey wedding thing! I went to a friend’s wedding in Jersey back in June and the cocktail hour sounds just like what you’re describing… heavenly!
I have seen that tradition done at weddings before, and I want to do that too–my grandparents have been married over 60 years and I think it would be so sweet to honor their marriage 🙂
Looks like a beautiful wedding & reception–and THAT FOOD! Everything looks delicious! Also, wedding cake + ice cream = PURE GENIUS. I’m kicking myself for not doing that at my own wedding.
That dress is the cutest thing ever!!
I’m sure everyone else said the same thing, but OMG I love that dress & the shoes! So perfect!
Awww I loved your dress and it looks like you all had a great time! Glad you enjoyed it 🙂
I love “Whatever It Is”, what a beautiful first dance song! And TWO dessert courses? Sign me up for that wedding! Genius.
Hands down that is the best song ever! I love weddings they bring me so much joy and happiness! I swear my husband and I fall in love all over again when we dance together lots of love C
Beautiful wedding!! Love your dress too 🙂
It’s interesting to hear the massive cocktail hour and huge dessert table isn’t as common everywhere else. Apparently, us people in the NJ/NY area really like our dessert and food. The last two weddings I’ve been to in NJ had a similar ridiculous cocktail hour and a whole dessert ROOM. 🙂
I’ve never seen it before! It was awesome!
What a fun reception! I love the picture of you and Ryan at the end. So cute! And your dress is absolutely adorable. 🙂
I’ll say it again…I LOVE weddings!!! And yes – such a great idea to serve ice cream with the wedding cake (it’s no secret that I love ice cream too!) 😉
You guys are such a cute couple! And it looks like the curl/wave stayed in all night…how’d you do that??
-Sammy @ http://www.peaceandloveandicecream.com
This looks like so much fun! I love the picture of you and Ryan with the rose. You guys remind me of my fiancé and I…we love to go out “dancing” but always end up seeing who can come up with the most ridiculous moves.
What a beautiful dress! And that cake, oh man, looks delish 🙂
OMG! I’ve been reading your blog for a while now and small world.. .I used to work with Terry at an accounting firm up here in Atlanta! 🙂
I’m from East Brunswick! Hope you had a great time there 🙂
Cake and ice cream…. that’s brilliant!! Ah! I pretty much consider ice cream its own food group, so that sounds awesome. Looks like you guys had a blast!
It is definitely wedding season right now! So many weddings happening!
Love the picture of your wedding dancing! 🙂
I really like the idea of having icecream with the cake for dessert…yum!
You and Ryan looked sooo cute at the wedding! And you also looked like you had tons of fun as well. You’re about the food! I’ve never seen so many course at a wedding myself, either!