Looking for creative and colorful New England summer wedding ideas? Here’s how a recent bride collaborated with Peppers to make her special day memorable.

Crisp navy linens and white chairs created a classic but casual look. To jazz up the color scheme we added pops of chartreuse in various display linens and in the gorgeous floral table centerpieces that Peppers designed.  The visual appeal was refined, yet relaxed.   

An oyster bar was an important stationary hors d’oeuvres menu item for this couple. Instead of a basic table set up, we used a moving cart with striped awning and attached chalkboard signage to create their  “AW SHUCKS” seafood display with a touch of nautical detail.  Talk about the wow factor! We custom built the cart and yes its available for rent! 

And her wedding cake was an understated design with a bit of a twist – literally. We turned the square tiers on an angle to give it some sass and tied in navy blue and chartreuse with a ribbon on each tier and floral garnishes.   

Each design element complemented the others to bring the Brides wedding vision to life. This was an elegant and fun reception that truly reflected the couples’ personalities. 

We couldn't help but share some more amazing images of their day!

Venue: Tower Hill Botanical Garden
Photographer: Joe Dolen 

If you love sweets as much as we do it can be difficult to choose just one dessert to try! This weekend we served a trio of our most popular cheesecakes to give the guests a variety of different flavors. We artfully plated three mini cheesecakes- banana foster, citrus and dark chocolate for their pleasure. Try this new york style cheesecake recipe at home or for your next party!  

New York Style Cheesecake

Makes 14-16 Bite Sized Cheesecakes

Ingredients 

Make sure all ingredients are room temperature 

2.5 cups graham cracker crumbs 
1/4 c melted butter 
1/8 c sugar 
1lb of cream cheese 
1 cup of sugar 
3 eggs 
1 cup of sour cream 
1TB vanilla

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 350°. 

Mix 2.5 cups of graham cracker crumbs with 1/8 cup of sugar. Pour the melted butter into the graham cracker crumbs and sugar. Mix with a fork. Scoop mixture into bottom paper lined muffin tins. Push the crumbs down with a flat object. (Ex. Bottom of a glass).

In an electric mixer with the paddle attachment mix the cream cheese until smooth. Then add the sugar until smooth. Add eggs one at a time mixing until each is incorporated. Add vanilla. Add the sour cream until the cheesecake is smooth and creamy. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the whole cheesecake giggles all at once. Cool until room temperature. Refrigerate for 2-3 hours and then pop out of the pan. Decorate as you like and enjoy! 

Homemade Cinnamon Hot Chocolate Recipe

Directions

STEP 1: Place milk and half-and-half in a saucepan and heat to a simmer over medium heat.

STEP 2: Meanwhile, sift together the cocoa powder, sugar, and cinnamon.

STEP 3: A few teaspoons at a time, pour the hot milk and half-and-half into the cocoa mixture-stirring continuously to form a smooth paste.

STEP 4: Scrape the cocoa mixture into the saucepan with the milk and simmer 2 minutes; do not let it boil.

STEP 5: Stir in the vanilla

STEPG 6: Top with Whipped Cream, Fluff or Marshmallows and ENJOY! 

This past weekend we hosted an exclusive wedding tasting event at the Beautiful Farm at SummitWynds in Jefferson, MA. The historic fieldstone ski lodge, turned horse barn has been converted to a rustic style event venue that is perfect for weddings, rehearsals, and other social events. 

Any brides looking for a rustic style farm wedding should be sure to look here. The stone barn with white washed walls, fieldstone fireplace, rustic chandeliers and beamed wood ceilings is a perfect location for a small ceremony or cocktail hour. Couples can also get married outside on the lawn with panoramic views of the rolling hills.  Dinner receptions take place in a large tent with removable walls to allow the stunning natural surroundings in. Above the stone barn, there is even a cozy bridal suite for the wedding party to get ready in prior to the festivities. For any guests looking to kick back and relax during the reception they can find their way out to the fire pit!  

This sought after venue is truly remarkable and offers so many benefits. 15 minutes from local hotels for guests and an on-site honeymoon suite available for the couple to rent are among some of the numerous advantages.

The owners have tied in beautiful details around the venue from rustic benches to a wooden cart and vintage style furniture. We were able to seamlessly incorporate many of our own rental items into the space for the tasting. Check out some photos from the event below!

Our design team created all the signage, florals and decor for the tasting. Items seen above that are available for rent include our light up beer wall and wine barrels with wooden top.  Looking for more inspiration? Follow our Barn and Country Wedding Pinterest Page. https://www.pinterest.com/pepperscatering/barn-and-country-weddings/

Interested in SummitWynds? Visit their website here http://thefarmatsummitwynds.com/ or schedule a tour!

Fresh Pumpkin Pie

(9” pie) 

Ingredients:

Favorite Pie Crust Recipe

1 Sugar Pumpkin

2 eggs

1 C. brown Sugar

1 TB All Purpose Flour

½ tsp salt

2 ½ tsp pumpkin spice

12 oz evaporated milk

Directions:

Cut pumpkin in ½ and remove the seeds. Place cut side down on lightly greased pan. Bake at 325 for 30-40 mins. Or until the flesh is tender. Cool until warm. Scrape pumpkin flesh out, mash or puree. Beat eggs, add brown sugar, flour, salt and 2 cups of pumpkin puree, spices and milk. Stir well after addition. Pour mixture into unbaked crust. Place strip of foil around edges. Bake at 450 for 10 minutes, reduce temp to 350 and bake for 40-45 minutes or until toothpick is clean. Remove foil 20 minutes before taking pie out. Cool, chill overnight for best results.

Pepper's Catering was recently certified as a 2 Star Certified Green Caterer by the Green Restaurant Association, a national nonprofit organization helping restaurants to become more environmentally sustainable. 

We have taken great steps to become a leader among catering companies by maintaining several sustainability initiatives.  As more information has become available about the importance of maintaining our environment and preserving our natural resources, Pepper’s has chosen to make sustainability a key corporate value.  Over the past year Pepper’s has been inspired to take steps to limit our energy consumption, increase our recycling initiatives, and source many food and floral products from local farms and vendors.

Water Reduction:

As a provider of off premise catering, water is a critical component of our ware washing and event preparation.  By installing a state of the art energy efficient ware washing machine, Peppers has been able to reduce ware washing related water consumption by nearly 50%.  Furthermore, Pepper’s has taken steps to become mindful of wasting water in our day to day operations by installing flow regulating aerators on prep and hand washing sinks.  Flow regulating aerators have allowed our team to become more mindful of how much water they actually need to use in day to day tasks.

Electrical Reduction:

Peppers has begun to take several significant steps towards reducing electrical consumption during day to day operations.  This year a Solar Panel array will be installed on the roof of our facility.  The array will be large enough to generate 20% of our annual electrical needs, all from the sustainable energy provided by the Sun’s rays.  Peppers has also begun the process of becoming an entirely LED lit facility.  By switching to LED based lighting fixtures, Peppers is able to reduce lighting based electrical consumption by nearly 50%.  Our electricity saving initiatives extend to our culinary team as well.  Our kitchen convection ovens were recently upgraded to energy star rated models that are able to offer our chefs improved cooking performance by utilizing less electricity.

Waste Reduction:

Since April Peppers has been utilizing a single stream or all in one recycling program.  Single stream programs have revolutionized recycling by simplifying the disposal process and reducing the number of trips vendors need to make to pick up products.  Our current arrangement allows for us to recycle all paper, cardboard, glass, aluminum, and select other recyclable products with great ease.  Since inception Peppers has significantly reduce the amount of waste the company has sent to the landfill and the volume of product recycled has increased by 100%.

Sourcing Local Produce and On Site Composting:

Peppers culinary team take great pride in being able to source product, herbs, and florals directly from the company’s on premise, all organic garden.  The success of the organic garden, has been further enabled by Pepper’s on site composting system.  Our culinary team has diligently been contributing all eligible food waste into two rotating compost drums that help the food items to break down and become a natural, sustainable source of nutrients for the plants in the organic garden. Furthermore, we continue to support our local farms by sourcing our meats and produce from them. Each year we par take in a farm to table event in which all product from flowers to food is provided using local farms. 

Fuel Efficiency:

Pepper’s has taken great steps to be mindful of the impact that an off premise caterer can have on carbon emissions.  Since May, Peppers has taken delivery of three fuel efficient Mercedes Bluetech diesel powered catering vans.  Utilizing our new fuel efficient vans has represented a decrease in fuel consumption, and cleaner burning emission into the environment.  Pepper’s has been able to travel significantly further distances, while using less fuel than our former gasoline powered catering vans.

Cater green with us!

There is so much to love about fall weddings in New England. From the beautiful changing leaves to all the natural rustic elements, the outdoors creates such a picturesque backdrop. There are many venues to choose from for your Fall New England Wedding. 

Thayer Homestead is a fantastic location for weddings all year round but we especially love this location in the fall. It was newly restored last year by the town of Medway and they created a truly magical rustic venue.

With this wedding, the bride and groom took their vows under the old oak tree in front of the house.  The grounds made a gorgeous backdrop for photos which picked up the beautiful changing colors of the outdoors.

The dining room was perfect for an intimate dinner for 50. The bride is an artist who made a beautiful sculpture for the fireplace in the center of the room and created specialty lighting with the same dramatic look hanging from the ceiling. The couple set up the special lighting and décor early so that it could be shared with the group that was hosting a fundraising event the night before.

 The shades of whites and ivory were accented by beautiful fall colors in the flowers and the flickering candlelight on the tables. The menu had wonderful fall accents with a roasted butternut squash salad and delicious regional flavors like Nantucket scallops and Block Island swordfish. It was a lovely and memorable celebration!

From guest tables adorned with orange dalias and succulents to white pumpkin accents at each place setting there are so many details to love about this wedding.

We hope this weeks blog will inspire you for your fall event!  

Photo Credit: Meghhan Gregory Photography http://meghanngregory.com 

Quonquont Farm in Whately, MA is a stunning location for a wedding. The farm has quite the history, starting as a wayside tavern in 1759 then later a sucessful dairy farm. In the 1970’s, the propery was planted as an orchard which it remains today. There are fields of blueberries, peaches and apples for picking. The farm  has a renovated barn that can accomodate 200 guests along with a lovely adjacent stone patio that makes a great spot for cocktails. Ceremonies take place in front of a large tree overlooking the farm. Anyone looking for a country, barn or farm wedding should be sure to take a trip to Quonquont farm!

We were honored to be choosen to be a part of Agatha and Thaddeus's wedding at this beautiful location. The couple was married on an absolutely perfect June day. After the ceremony, the guests enjoyed a fun evening of dinner, dancing and drinks. The whole menu from passed appetizers, dinner, dessert and kids meals were all vegan. We even provided a vegan lemon raspberry sweetheart cake for the couples cake cutting. Accompanying the cake were vegan mini sweets provided by a family member that we artfully displayed on birch wood stands. All the guests vegan and non throughoughly enjoyed the entire menu! The wedding was captured perfectly by the talented Sandra Costello.

More amazing images of Agatha and Thaddeus's wedding day can be found on Sandra Costello's blog at the link below. 

http://sandralovesyou.com/rustic-barn-wedding-at-quonquont-farm-agatha-and-thaddeus/

As a designer, there is nothing I love more than a couple who has a serious passion that we can tie into the design of their wedding. Sam and Sarah are LARPers or "Live Action Role Players" for those of you who don't know the term. Which means they love fantasy worlds and bringing them into their every day lives. We were able to tie that design direction into every aspect of their wedding.

We created custom crests for Sarah and Sam and each of the "Lands" that would designate the tables. We then used these crests on the place cards, each set up as a mini crest of the "land" just like you would see on a medieval battlefield. For the place cards table, thats exactly how we set it up. With a field of moss, each place card stood on its own waiting for the guests to find there land and alliances for the night!

We were then able to carry this look through all the elements of the wedding, from the programs, to the reserves seating cards, to the buffet decor and even for a game of Minglo. Minglo is "Minglin Bingo" which encourages the guests to get to know one another during cocktail hour by sending them on a search for guests with different histories and interests, perfect for the couple who loves games! They even wanted to have a game as opposed to the clinking of glasses to make couples kiss, so each guest was invited to challenge the bride and groom to a roll of the die to see who would be victorious! The decahedron die, most well knows in Dungeons and Dragons, was even recreated by our talented pastry chef Lisa as a favor, all tied together with the couples new family crest.

With a night full of LARPing, zombie dancing and time warps, everyone had a ball at this Tower Hill wedding!

Venue: Tower Hill Botanical Gardens Caterer: Pepper's Fine Catering Design: Pepper's Fine Catering