Jazmin Mediterranean Bistro serves greek food and Lebanese food

Catering: Jasmin Mediterranean Deli. Jasmin was fantastic. Let’s face it, as much as our family loves us and just wants to see us happy, they are also spending a lot of time thinking about what they are going to have to eat.

The owner of Jasmin, Nawwaf Said, handled our wedding catering perfectly. His prices were extremely reasonable and he gave clear and comprehensive pricing breakdowns for everything he was providing for us.

Although it’s clear he doesn’t have a lot of time to hang around waiting for business on the internet (he’s busy!) he answered all of our emails. He was flexible (we worked together on writing up a contract), accommodating, and responsive.

The food (the most important thing!) was incredibly delicious – the Mediterranean buffet Nawwaf put together was perfect for a hot afternoon. My husband and I didn’t get the chance to eat much during the wedding, so he wrapped us up several beautiful silver platters full of delicious food – grilled meat, hummus, baba ghanoush, tabouleh, etc – my husband and I spent the entire evening after our wedding stuffing our faces and groaning with happiness.

Ask Nawwaf to get his wife to make the dolma (stuffed grape leaves) for your wedding! They are to die for! I think he is trying to expand his catering business, so please, consider Jasmin for your wedding or any other special event

http://www.themediterraneanbistro.com/

Phone number: call (919) 469-1112 to talk to the catering manager.

Gourmet French restaurant Bonne Soiree in Chapel Hill

Address of Bonne Soiree: 431 West Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, NC 27516-2319
phone number: (919) 928-8388

Torero's Mexican Restaurant in the Oak Creek Village Mall, Durham, NC

Rehearsal Dinner #1: Torero’s Mexican Restaurant, Durham, NC. Okay, this calls for a little explanation – since our wedding was on a Sunday, we wanted to have a little bit of informal evening fun with all our friends, family, and especially so we could spend more time with the out-of-towners. So the night before the wedding we had a “rehearsal dinner” to which ALL our guests were invited.

We decided to have it at an informal Mexican restaurant where we could have a buffet and where guests could come and go as they pleased. This turned out to work great. We didn’t have any complex planning in mind for the evening, but the restaurant’s owner, Ruben, was happy to work with us on whatever we came up with. (I don’t think he does a ton of work by email, the best thing to do is just to call the # on the website and set up a time to meet with him).

We blocked off one of his back rooms with “private function” signs and gave all our guests wristbands to keep track of how many showed up. Ruben gave us an extremely reasonable rate for food and drinks. Everyone ate and drank, the kids ran around, and everyone had a great time. If you’re local to the Durham area, you should know that the Durham Torero’s has just this year moved into a new facility and it’s really fun, clean, spacious, colorful and festive. Anyone planning an informal event should consider doing it at Torero’s!!!!

Click here for Torero’s catering menu and prices.
Reuben Garcia is the manager – call him at 919.641.3872

Sweet Memories Wedding Cake

Cake: Sweet Memories Bakery, Apex, NC. The cake was extremely tasty and Sweet Memories did a good job of working with the flowers that we brought them to decorate it.

(We had two bakers go out of business on us before, and we probably tasted 10 bakers in the Triangle area, so we were extremely happy that things worked out with Sweet Memories).

Many people mentioned to us that the taste of the wedding cake seems to be last priority at many weddings these days, but that the cake from Sweet Memories was as delicious as it was beautiful! They use real butter in their buttercream, not shortening (yuck) like a lot of bakers do around here. All real, fresh, ingredients and the cake was genuinely moist and not dry. We had a different flavor for each layer and they were all wonderful.

Catherine Katz, wedding coordinator

She helped us figure out who needed to get paid when. She carried wedding props around (including fragile props and food items that could easily have melted in the 95 degree heat). She moved wedding guests to and fro. She produced a cake knife when we hadn’t even remembered we needed one. She put bride and groom in the right places at the right times.

She quickly won over my mother (this blog’s hostess), who was initially quite suspicious about whether a DOC was worth the money.

Most importantly, Catherine gave us the ability to actually ENJOY our own wedding – she managed everything perfectly. She was friendly and relaxed, which helped us enormously – when you and your family are all in heightened states of emotion, you need someone to keep cool. And most importantly, she gave us peace of mind so that we could just relax, FORGET about the logistics and have a good time!

Sign welcoming us to Washingon Duke Inn in Durham NC

My daughter got married in June and I’ll be posting her reviews of the vendors she used. But first, I thought I’d pass along some pictures and booking information and prices for the Washington Duke Inn. Hannah (my daughter) booked a block of rooms here for out of town guests, and they were very happy.

Recently, I attended a luncheon at this hotel and took my camera. I also got some pricing information for you!

This is what you see when you drive up. The approach is a long driveway off the pretty treelined road from Duke University.

Driving up to the Washington Duke Inn

The hotel facade is not very pretty, but who cares, you won’t be outside for long.

Exterior of Durham's Washington Duke Inn

A bellman stands at the door at reception; he can help you.

Bellman greets us at drive-up area of Washington Duke Inn

Below, some interior shots. There are many small and large rooms for lunches, dinners, and wedding ceremonies.

A conference room at the Washington Duke Inn in Durham NC

On our way to a banquet room at the Washington Duke Inn

Below, the luncheon I attended. The food was delicious! Beth Pendergrass is the Catering Sales Manager at the Washington Duke Inn & Golf Club – she is nice, smart, ingenious, and helpful.

Prices seem to run around $100-$162 per person as a package (see detailed information below). Very large groups can be accommodated. $1,500-$25,000 is the “a la carte” price of reserving various rooms. An outdoor ceremony itself is $2,000. For more information contactl Ms. Pendergrass; she has a very detailed and helpful booklet available for prospective brides and their families.

A banquet room at the Washington Duke Inn

Address: 3001 Cameron Boulevard, Durham, North Carolina 27705
Phone: (919) 313-2185

Welcome to The Farm at UNC-Chapel Hill

The Farm picnic shelter

This Chapel Hill farm might be a sweet and very inexpensive venue for an outdoor wedding – or a the clubhouse would work for a small informal indoor wedding.

The grounds at the UNC-Chapel Hill Farm

It might be even better for an after party or a rehearsal dinner. Tonight, the party had a pig-picking caterer.

Interior of the Farm clubhouse

There’s a clubhouse which fits 100 people and has a fireplace, a kitchen, bathrooms and a nice loft, and there are outdoor shelters. The grounds are nice and the location is quiet and rural. There is even a piano!

The Farm Clubhouse piano and loft

Outside at the Farm at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

You need to be connected with UNC-Chapel Hill (check the Farm website, above, for details) but the low cost is great for the budget conscious: $120 for two hours with each additional hour being $60 more. They’ll clean up for you for $50 more.

Patio outside the Farm clubhouse

Address: 1 Alice Ingram Circle, Chapel Hill, NC 27517-6084
Phone: (919) 962-3276

Carrboro Century Center facing Weaver Street Market

Panorama view of the Century Center ballroom, facing the stage

Town of Carrboro Century Hall in Century Center

A big bonus – they have plenty of 60″ round tables and chairs free for your use, which saves a big rental fee.

The center is wheelchair-accessible. There is no dedicated parking.

Call Pam Kirk at 918-7365 – she coordinates the weddings.

Here’s something fun – you can check the Century Center’s availability online at http://online.activecommunities.com/carrboro/ (You would need a log-on account to actually reserve the room online but you don’t need one just to check to see if your wedding date is available.)

This is Catherine Katz of Cherished Celebrations; she is my daughter’s wedding coordinator. We have just met with her once, but the look of relief that broke like sunshine over my daughter’s face as she realized Catherine was going to be able to take care of everything was a miracle to see!

Lindsay Holland of Tobacco Road Cakes

Tobacco Road Cakes, Durham NC