Want to exchange vows and celebrate your wedding reception at The Wadsworth Mansion this year? Now you can! Saturday, August 25, 2012 is now available at The Wadsworth Mansion.

Nothing beats ice cream in the summer! Adding a Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Sundae bar to your wedding reception is the perfect enhancement for those hot summer days. 

Ben & Jerry's added some new flavors to the Ice Cream they off at your reception. Here is the new list with those great additions.

If you want some more information about this enhancement or want to add it to your wedding package, please give us a call at 860-347-7171 or send us an e-mail!

This just in -- if you want to be a September bride at The Wadsworth Mansion, we just had a date open up!

Saturday, September 29, 2012

Do not hesitate to contact us to book this date. It will not stay open for long! This could be you celebrating your special day at the elegant Wadsworth Mansion.

Mary-Beth, one of our Event Planners, must be doing something right! A few weeks ago, she received an e-mail from on our brides, thanking her for her help at their Detail Appointment.

It is always nice to get a Thank You Card in the mail after the hard work of putting together a bride & groom's wedding day and reception but this is just as thoughtful.

One of our Wedding Planners, Mary-Beth, received this Thank You Card from one our happy couples to be married at The Barns at Wesleyan Hills this July after their Detail Appointment a few weeks ago. 

This means we must be doing something right! Thank you so much Tracy & Steve for sharing your thoughts and feedback with us! We can't wait to celebrate your special day with you.

Our latest Thank You Card comes from a couple that celebrated their reception last month at The Wadsworth Mansion. Yetsenia & Daniel invited their closest friends & family back in January and  had them witness this memorable moment in life and tied the knot.

We received this Thank You Note and picture in the mail yesterday from this newly married couple and it was a great way to start the work week!

Want to do something fun and interactive at your wedding? Try adding a Photobooth! Photo booths are great ways to get your guests involved in your reception and make sure they are having the best time.

Photo booths can also serve as your party favors. You can buy some picture frames so when your guests are done taking pictures, they can frame them and there they go; they have a great party favor that will truly be memorable. 

These pictures are from the Photobooth provided by Harry Gambardella Entertainment. Our staff always has a great time creating memories with the photo booth and I am positive your guests will too.

Here at The Connecticut Wedding Group and Pavilion Catering, we host more than just great weddings. We have a variety of different events over the 2011 season like holiday parties, a benefit dinner, and a retirement party. It is always nice to hear back from these customers as well about what they thought of our services.

We held a retirement party at The Wadsworth Mansion after the weekend of the unplanned snow storm back in October. Take a look at the kind Thank You Card they sent to us about this event:

We also held a benefit dinner for Tammy McDowell & Family in December to help support her and her family after her diagnosis of cancer. Read their gracious words about the benefit we held for them at The Pavilion on Crystal Lake:

:) We owe you a big Thank You as well for the generous words you have shared with us. We always want to keep you happy!

With our 2012 Menu Tasting events under our belt, we wanted to extend a big THANK YOU! to all of our 2012 and 2013 Brides, Grooms, and Families who were able to attend our menu tasting events this year! We had such a great time meeting everyone and hearing what exciting plans you have for your upcoming weddings with us! It's our goal to make your wedding planning as relaxing as possible and we hope that we gave you some great decorating and menu choice ideas! We also want to thank our vendors who helped make our events a success! We look forward to a wonderful wedding season with creative ideas, great food, and wonderful couples!

Below is a thank you we received from a mother of one of our 2012 brides!

With our 2012 Menu Tasting events under our belt, we wanted to extend a big THANK YOU! to all of our 2012 and 2013 Brides, Grooms, and Families who were able to attend our menu tasting events this year! We had such a great time meeting everyone and hearing what exciting plans you have for your upcoming weddings with us! It's our goal to make your wedding planning as relaxing as possible and we hope that we gave you some great decorating and menu choice ideas! We also want to thank our vendors who helped make our events a success! We look forward to a wonderful wedding season with creative ideas, great food, and wonderful couples!

Below is a thank you we received from a mother of one of our 2012 brides!

This Saturday, January 28th, 2012 at The Pavilion on Crystal Lake we have our Fall Menu Tasting & Event Planning Spectacular!

If you are already booked with us, or interested in our company and want to learn more about us, it would be a great way to see who we are and exactly what we have to offer you for your wedding receptions.

Don't miss out on the chance to taste the delicious food we have before your 2012 wedding!

Please call 860-347-7171 to make your reservation or email us and let us know if you would like to attend! Check out the details below about the event.

This just in.. we have two dates open that just opened up in August and September of this year!

At The Pavilion on Crystal Lake, Friday, September 30, 2012 is now available!

We are less than a week away from the Spring & Summer Menu Tasting & Event Planning Spectacular for The Connecticut Wedding Group! Booked or unbooked brides, be sure to make this event to see all that we have to offer! Check out the flyer below to review all the information for this event.

Get ready to enjoy some delicious food, see spectacular decor options, and experience the creative wedding enhancements at The Connecticut Wedding Group's 2012 Menu Tasting & Event Planning Spectacular!

On Saturday, January 21st, 2012, all the Spring and Summer Brides can come and taste the fantastic seasonally inspired menu items. Check out the flyer below to review all the information!

The entire Pavilion Catering family is saddening by the news that Tammy McDowell has been diagnosed with cancer. The diagnosis, always cruel, was especially so as it came at the same time she and husband Steve were celebrating the birth of their second son, Jacob. Both his birth and the diagnosis happened four weeks ago. Both Tammy and Steve are long time members of the Pavilion Catering family.

Steve's sister, Marybeth McDowell, has put together a fundraiser that will go to a Foundation to help with medical expenses and benefit their two boys, the elder of whom is 3-year old A.J. The event will be from 5-9 p.m. on Wednesday, December 14, 2011 at the Pavilion on Crystal Lake located at 144 Prout Hill Road in Middletown. There will be a buffet dinner that will be served continuously and there will be a raffle and a silent auction, which will include UConn and New York Yankees tickets and many other items.

Anyone wishing to donate items for the raffle or auction may contact Ms. McDowell at Marybeth.mcdowell@gmail.com. Admission to the fundraiser is $20.

Sunday October 30th, 2011, will be remembered by many as the day after the giant Nor'easter that hit Connecticut full force rendering hundreds of thousands of people without power, not here at CT Wedding Group or in the case of our bride and groom Jenna and Chris Greenhill, October 30th will instead be remembered as the day of the "Miracle Wedding". With all of Middletown out of power, 21 members of the Pavilion Catering staff came together to pack up the Barns and drive down to St. John's Orthodox Church, where Jenna and Chris's ceremony was taking place, to convert the basement of the Church into the perfect wedding reception for the couple. The result was wedding magic.  

St. John's opened their hall and kitchen, giving us full reign of the facility to pull it off. With their help and the incredible support of Jenna and Chris's family and guests, tables were set and hors-d'oeuvres ready for passing at 4:00 on the dot. Two hours later dinner was cleared and the dance floor opened for the party to commence! A moment didn't pass without a guest walking into the kitchen to thank us for all of our efforts. 

I would like to take this moment to thank all of them for their patience and support. The Goetz's and Greenhill's may not have planned or expected for their location to move the day of the wedding, but no one would have ever known the day of. The positivity, appreciation and joy that filled the banquet room that Sunday was inspiring. 

Here at Pavilion Catering & CT Wedding Group we have always thought of ourselves as a family, as a team that can perform so well because of our connection to each other and our work. Jenna and Chris's wedding is not only a testament to that but also stood as a reminder to all of us that with love, hard work, and respect we are a team that can and will go above and beyond for our brides and grooms. 

 

Last week we received a thank you note from Jenna's parents, Colonel and Mrs. Robert Goetz that we would like to share with you. 

We are starting something new here and that is Guest Blogging. Today's comes from Kim of Kim's Cottage Confections; a wonderful, delicious and local bakery, just the next town over! When you book your wedding with us and want you cake made through us as well, we use Kim's Cottage Confections to create that delectable dessert to have at your reception!

Check out her website to see what tasty desserts she has to offer for any occasion or to make your wedding day dessert stand out! 

Topic of the Day = Cake Toppers!
Kim runs into so many unique and creative ideas for cake toppers, nothing ever seems to amaze of surprise her. This is what she has to say about the idea:

"At Cottage Confections, the question isn't who's on top, but rather, what's on top? On top of your wedding cake that is. Once the size of the cake is determined, the detailed design discussions are complete, and the flavor selections are made, the final question remains "What are you putting on top of your cake? Be different! Let your cake top compliment your cake while honoring your personality and creativity! Over this last year, we have graced our wedding cakes with the like of handmade elephants, penguins, owls, a personalized pennant flag and baseball, mini flags reading 'I DO', delicate musical fabric birds, and a wooden figure of a bride and groom. Everyone love flowers, and a monogram is elegant, but how fun to stir up a conversation among your guests when they arrive to find something wild perched on top of your wedding cake!"  So go ahead and mix it up and don't be afraid to let your colors show! It is always fun and interesting to see something new. Go ahead and check out what some of the brides did for cake toppers this past year.

We are just a couple of glowing reviews away from winning the prestigious 2012 Brides Choice Award from  WeddingWire and we need your help to get there!

If you were super happy with your wedding at the Pavilion on Crystal Lake, the Barns at Wesleyan Hills, Lyman Orchards Golf Club or Wadsworth Mansion, please help us win by completing the review form listed here WeddingWire Review Site

After you complete and submit the review, please email me at jonathan@ctweddinggroup.com and so I can send you a little "thank you" for taking the time to help.

Thank you all!!

Catersource is the largest gathering of caterers in the world and our annual source for inspiration!
I am giving away a free wedding cake to the first bride who can spot me in the video! Email your answer to jonathan@ctweddinggroup.com!

Update: Rachel D. and her Fiance have come the closest so far!

Rachel is the winner! 4:15 ... Traci and I are in the front row listening to the incredibly talented Alan Berg talk about the latest trends in weddings.  Rachel will enjoy a custom designed wedding cake at her wedding at the Barns at Wesleyan Hills next spring ... all for free! Congratulations Rachel and thank you to everyone who played!!

We will always say we have the best staff...because, well, we do...!

This past Saturday night, sixty members of the Pavilion Catering family got together at The Lyman Orchards Golf Club and celebrated the holiday season with incredible food, non-stop dance music (thanks to Todd Powers of Jock-in-the-Box Entertainment!), and a photo booth (thanks to Geoff of Photobooth Planet!) that turned out some pretty hilarious shots of our favorite waiters, waitresses, management, and culinary staff!

In addition, we all got together and collected canned goods to donate to The Amazing Grace Food Pantry in our very own Middletown, CT, as well as two huge boxes full of toys that we donated to The Connecticut Children's Medical Center in Hartford.  It was great to be able to give a little something back to the community and state that we love!

Okay here we go...take a look at all the fun!

Congratulations Amanda and Todd!!

Just a little over a week ago this charming couple was married at the gorgeous Wadsworth Mansion at the Long Hill Estate.  We were so proud to be part of the evening and help this pair celebrate!  Although a little rain took us inside for the ceremony, when these two exchanged vows it didn't seem to matter where they were:)  It was truly a beautiful event.  The declaration of their love was alive and well, rain or shine!

Take a look at the awesome pictures taken by Parson's Photography:

Thank YOU Amanda and Todd!!  It was wonderful celebrating with you:)

One Saturday this past month we were shocked we didn't find a pumpkin sitting in the driveway when the clock struck midnight and our staff was getting ready to head home. 

Magical is just one word for the day; the day Janis and Dan promised the rest of their lives to one another.  Arriving for her ceremony pulled by a pair of white horses in a gorgeous white-wheeled carriage, Janis began by day by sweeping every person who stood on the lawn of the gorgeous Wadsworth Mansion on Long Hill...completely off their feet,

Fairy tale is what every little girl wants, and it seems the natural elegance of the Wadsworth Mansion paired with this special couple led to the actualization of such a dream.  Janis and Dan celebrated with us and we would like to share their fairy tale story...with you.  Take a look at all the love we found on this charming summer day...

Stephen Charles Photography documented this day exquisitely:
Dan and Janis before the ceremony begins...

Janis overlooking the Long Hill Estate from the balcony where she and her bridesmaids prepared for the big day.

One of the many gorgeous ceremony sites at the at the Long Hill Estate...

The Mansion is nothing but exquisite, offering couples the most incredible background for their day (as can be seen above and below)

The sights inside are nothing short of impressive either...I love what Janis chose to do with the tables...simple and soft colors make for a great overall presentation, especially in a historic mansion!

The first dance surely isn't the last for this couple:

I guess fairy tales really do come true!

It's my favorite time of the year for weddings in Connecticut. We have just finished up a terrific summer season and are looking forward to many successful wedding at our venues this Fall!

Congratulations to Christina and Matt and thank you for celebrating your June 5, 2010 wedding with the Connecticut Wedding Group!