The Abbey Blog

Zak D.

My wife and I got married at the Cuvier Club on August 6th. The package included catering by The Abbey.

I’m Jewish, my wife is Vietnamese, we both take food (too) seriously, and we really wanted to make sure that our guests had a good culinary experience (in addition to the already amazing party). Not only that, but we also needed to take koshers/vegetarians/vegans/etc. into account.

We were so happy with the final product. Our friends and family praised over and over that not only was it good wedding food, but it was just good food.

Menu:
On each table: Fresh flatbread with Za’atar and Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salad: Mixed greens with fresh fruit, caramelized walnuts and crumbled imported goat cheese. Dressed with a homemade raspberry vinaigrette
Dual Entree:
-Salmon en Croute: Fresh wild salmon, wrapped in puff pastry and stuffed with sauteed spinach, wild mushrooms, and goat cheese.
-Chianti braised black angus superior beef
On each plate: Grilled asparagus and homemade roasted garlic and rosemary, truffled mashed potatoes.

They totally exceeded expectations, and they even put food aside so I got to eat at my own wedding.

I also did a review of the Cuvier Club, so check that out for our experience with the venue.

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On Tuesday, April 17, The Abbey Catering had the pleasure of catering a reception for over 200 special attendees of a  premiere screening of the new IMAX film “To the Arctic” at the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center in Balboa Park.

Prior to the show, guests were able to explore the venue and enjoy a bevy of dishes and beverages, including citrus and herb-marinated chicken skewers over a bed of butter and bay leaf basmati rice, with our signature salad of mixed greens with caramelized walnuts, dried cranberries, feta cheese and our homemade raspberry vinaigrette. To add to the occasion, we displayed our martini appetizer tree and floating buffet, which gave guests ideas for upcoming parties and receptions of their own!

The guests could not stop talking about the food, and one guest asked me if we sold our homemade raspberry vinaigrette in stores! What a compliment! It was a fun time had by all and we look forward to many more events at the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center. We also greatly appreciate our partnership with them and are honored to be of their preferred caterers.

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For the last several years, the Abbey has partnered with the San Diego Museum of Art for their Flowers After Hours portion of Art Alive. Each year, artists from around the community converge to create artistic expressions through floral masterpiece. This year was no exception and certainly pushed things to the next level starting with the centerpiece Tree in the main rotunda resplendent with light emitting diodes dancing through the flowers. Upwards of 650 guests roamed the museum sampling food and beverages while soaking in the brilliance of our local artists. What a joy it was to join our good friends Sarah , Samantha, and their entire team  from San Diego Museum of Art. Thank you for the opportunity to represent and thank you to all of the artists and Vendors who donated their artwork and time.

Check out http://youtu.be/qtmbsAQCINs for an awesome short video!

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Joy L.
San Diego, Ca
12/7/2011
5 Stars

Abbey Catering is as good as it gets with catering. Abbey catering recently hosted my wedding this December. Zapher accommodated our every need and was always at our service. Jaime is the best event captain you can ever have and is an individual that you can trust 100% to get the job done. the chefs at the Abbey Catering make the most appetizing food. The food was so good that our guests went back for seconds and even thirds and we’re still hearing about how good the food was days after. If you ever have a chance to choose a caterer Abbey Catering are the ones to choose. Also the packages they offer are well worth it. Thanks Abbey Catering for making our wedding an event to remember.

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Engagement photo sessions are one of my favorite things to do for couples getting ready to tie the knot.  There is so much anticipation for the wedding day, a day that celebrates their everlasting union.  The days leading up to the big day are exciting indeed!

Why have engagement photos?  Well, one great reason is because it is a photo record of your joyful days of courting and what you were like as a couple before you were married.  Are you fun and playful, or quiet and romantic together?   Whatever your style it’s great to have a photographer that understands an important fact; every couple is different.  Further, sometimes one of you is playful but the other is mostly quiet, calling for a little of both styles.

Another great reason for an engagement photo session is that the photos make for a great guest sign-in book for your wedding day.  My exclusive album company, Graphi-Studio Of Italy now has beautiful guest books.

One final and really great reason to have engagement photos is that it’s an opportunity for you to get comfortable with your photographer.  You already have a level of comfort from meeting me but why not try out what it’s like to work with me. You will get to know my little coaching cues and what it feels like to be in front of a camera.  The more comfortable you are in front of camera before your wedding day, the more natural your photos will be on your wedding day.  Natural photos are what it’s all about!

Whatever your style and personalities are together is what you want to come through in your engagement photos.  The natural you as individuals, and as a couple.  My style is to capture the couple being themselves, doing what they’d be doing in their favorite location be it in an hip urban street setting, a walk in the park, strolling on the beach, or walking through the lively streets of La Jolla taking in the sights with ice cream cones.  Mornings and afternoons are typically the best time of day for outdoor location photo sessions.

Schedule your engagement session by contacting me at Julie@JBuchtaDavis.com

When you book my services for your Abbey event you will receive a complimentary engagement photo session!  Contact me for details and to set up your appointment.

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San Diego was one of the top 25 most expensive places to get married for 2011, with the average cost being $30,482, not including the honeymoon! Is that about what you’re planning on spending? Our all inclusive packages allow you to spend much less than that and still get all the things you want, including that tropical getaway.

Give us a call today to see where what your numbers add up to! 888-238-0949

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On Wednesday, April 11, The Abbey Catering had the distinct honor of catering a luncheon for the wonderful ladies of the Social Service League of La Jolla, an organization that owns and uses a beautiful venue known as The Darlington House as a revenue source to fund programs and affordable housing for those who have lived and worked in the San Diego area and who cannot otherwise afford decent housing after retirement.

The “ladies who lunch” enjoyed an afternoon of full-service catering and a rare chance of dining within the house itself, starting with glasses of champagne upon arrival and The Abbey Catering’s signature salad of mixed greens with caramelized walnuts, dried cranberries, feta cheese and our homemade raspberry vinaigrette. The ladies were then treated with a plated lunch of our Chianti-braised shorts ribs with home-style mashed potatoes and seasoned broccoli. If that was not enough, the luncheon ended with a deliciously-sweet pineapple strudel and coffee service.

Thank you for a wonderful afternoon ladies! It was an absolute delight to see some familiar faces and meet some new ones and we look forward to our next event together! We greatly appreciate our partnership with the Darlington House and enjoy the many years we’ve been working together. We are honored to be considered of their preferred caterers.

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Allison D.
San Diego, CA
9/21/201
5 Stars

FANTASTIC! Working with The Abbey made planning a wedding easy and fun, and their staff made sure that the wedding was everything we dreamed of. We found The Abbey – and their all inclusive package – at the very beginning of our wedding planning process. Feeling overwhelmed at the variety of choices and level of detail that goes into planning a wedding, we were thrilled to find a caterer that does it all. And they did.

First we could not have asked for a better coordinator. We had the pleasure of working with Petr, who went above and beyond to ensure that every detail of our wedding was executed perfectly. And it was. In the planning phases, Petr was always prompt in responding to emails and thorough in answering (and anticipating) our questions. Throughout the planning process, he was well-organized, thorough, and extremely pleasant. On the day of the wedding, Petr made sure that the venue was decorated exactly as we had envisioned, that the everything ran smoothly, and that everyone had a great time. Even though Petr had numerous other weddings that same week, he worked extremely hard to make sure our expectations were exceeded and he was always polite and courteous to everyone. He even dressed to match our color scheme! Petr was an absolute rockstar!

We were also extremely pleased with the quality of the food served at our wedding. Both the appetizers and entrees were delicious (although we only had a few bites!). We were pleasantly surprised by how well executed the food was, particularly given the difficult of catering a high-quality hot meal at a venue that doesn’t allow any open flame (San Diego Museum of Art – another great vendor). We were also pleased with the coordination of the food service. Jaime, the banquet captain, and The Abbey servers and staff were both efficient and courteous.

As part of our all-inclusive package, we chose photography, flowers, cake, and a DJ. For other couples considering an all inclusive package with The Abbey, here is a brief review of each vendor we worked with as part of our package:

We chose Deb Shields as our photographer. A great choice! Deb clearly understood what we were looking for. She made sure to get the specific photos we wanted, but always put her own creative spin on every shot – which was exactly what we wanted. She was responsive, prompt, easy to communicate with, and a ton of fun to work with. While we haven’t yet received our wedding photos back (it’s only been a week), we did have the opportunity to get to know Deb during our engagement photo shoot (which we definitely recommend to other couples). She turned the engagement photos around quickly, and we were more than impressed with the artistic value and superb quality of the photos. We can’t wait to see the wedding photos!

For our flowers, we worked with Artquest Flowers. Arturo was extremely professional, prompt and responsive, and highly skilled in the art of flowers. He understood exactly what we were looking for, and worked with us to execute our vision within our budget. The centerpieces were phenomenal, and my bridal bouquet was exquisite. Everything was perfect, and our guests were so impressed by the flowers at our wedding. Another excellent vendor!

We chose Flour Power for our wedding cake, after initially meeting with another bakery, and were totally wowed by Flour Power. They had a huge range of cake and frosting flavor options (all of which were delicious), highly skilled cake decorators, a lovely tasting salon, and wonderful customer service to help us design the perfect cake. Flour Power was absolutely the right choice for our wedding cake, and we can’t wait until our one year anniversary to enjoy more delicious Flour Power cake.

Lastly, we chose the DJ services of DJ Randy as part of our package. Randy and Blake were great to work with, and it was evident that they are experts at what they do. We were pleased with the music and lighting at the wedding – and they made sure our guests had a good time.

Many thanks to everyone at the Abbey – especially Zapher, Petr, and Jaime – for making our wedding such a wonderful success!

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