We spoke with several of our brides who have had their weddings impacted by the Coronavirus. From planning weddings in the heart of New York City at The Plaza to pastoral weddings on farmland upstate, the brides we’ve talked to have had their carefully planned and joyfully anticipated weddings change dramatically. But through it all, they’ve been resilient and flexible, embracing new ways to celebrate their love.

Bride
Photo credit: Hechler Photographers

Virtual Wedding Ceremonies

Liana had planned a May wedding at The Plaza in New York City for more than 200 guests. But in March, she was forced to cancel her original plans and come up with a new solution. Instead of completely postponing getting married, she’s opting for a virtual ceremony this year and will celebrate with family and friends in 2021.

Our original wedding was planned for May 2020 at The Plaza in New York City. We had more than 200 friends and family planning to join us at our celebration and we were excited at the prospect. But as we watched the news and how the Coronavirus pandemic was sweeping around the glove, we made the decision in March to change the date. We had hoped to get married on our original date but while the city clerk’s office has started offering virtual meetings to acquire a marriage license, they didn’t have any availability until June. So we’ll have our meeting with them in June and then hopefully hold a virtual ceremony soon after.

It’s been challenging keeping our friends and family informed, and we’re disappointed we can no longer use our beautiful invitations. But I’m so grateful for the patience and kindness of everyone involved, especially my mom, and of course, our planners, Emily Reifel and Maxine Kaboll.

We did postpone our wedding celebration to June 2021 and we hope everything is able to stay as planned with one exception: we will already be married! So maybe we will do a vow renewal ceremony instead.

My advice to couples planning their wedding now is to give yourself plenty of time, to try to be flexible, and to enjoy it.

It can be really stressful (especially doing some things for a second time) so make sure to check in with yourself, and talk to someone if you’re feeling under pressure.

Postponed Weddings

Gianna had planned a wedding for April 4, 2020 at The Plaza. She had to quickly change her plans but worked closely with the team to pick a new wedding date and plans to enjoy more time being engaged.

Our original plans were for April 4, 2020. We’d picked that date when we got engaged in December of 2017, and were so looking forward to it! We loved the ring of 4/4/2020. We decided to change our plans maybe 2-3 weeks before, right when the Bay Area/New York were starting to Shelter in Place. We live in California, so a good majority of our friends and family were flying from CA to NY for the wedding, and we didn’t want to make anybody feel obliged/uncomfortable traveling to a wedding across the country in such a scary/uncertain time.

We postponed our wedding to early December. We really cannot wait for our winter New York wedding!! We got engaged in NY in December of 2017 and celebrated at The Plaza, so it really feels right book-ending the whole engagement journey/experience this way. Emily at The Plaza, our wedding planner/designers at Jes Gordon (Jes & Kait), and our Officiant, Susanna, were absolutely phenomenal in making us feel comfortable and supported through a really huge and quick decision. That made a huge difference. We’ve been planning with them for so long that we feel we like they’re our little wedding planning family! I couldn’t have dreamt of a better group to help us through every step of this process, and beyond that they’re so much fun to work with and chat all things wedding too!

On April 4th, when we were supposed to get married, we had a really lovely day of watching our favorite movies and taking a few walks, and then my fiance surprised me by re-proposing in our living room and asking me to marry him on our new date! It’s a memory I’ll forever cherish because it was so sweet, thoughtful, and meant so much to me. The date we were looking forward to will still have a lot of meaning for the both of us.

Yes, most of our original plans in terms of decor, songs, cake, bridal party, etc are all still the same. We may make some tweaks here and there to make it more “winter” but nothing major. We’re actually really enjoying having the wedding planned, getting to look forward to it, and not having to do any more major panning. It kind of takes away the pre-wedding wedding stress at least for now!

I’m a planner, a big check list/think 10 steps ahead kind of person, so the immediate stress and the unknown (not just of the wedding, but what was happening with the world) was a lot for me. But working with Jes, Kait, and Emily to adjust our plans helped a lot. Now that we have our new date, we’re just excited and thankful that everybody including friends, family, our wedding planning team has been so unbelievably supportive and empathetic and we are so grateful for that. It was stressful, but once the decision was made we felt much more at ease and are just happy to have our friends, family, and each other be safe and healthy. That’s really all that matters!

Despite the stress, there were positives! We have each other, and we get to enjoy being engaged a little longer which we love. It’s a drop in the bucket, as we’ve been saying! We’ll have our wedding, and we’ll be married, and it will be beautiful, but we’ve really had the chance to remember how lucky we are to have each other for support, and how lucky we are to have the friends and family we do. Even before Covid happened, I’ve been so thankful to have my Mom and Dad for their help with everything – I would not have known where to start without them. Plus, we’ll have a really great story to tell our children, like most of the 2020 brides/grooms will!!

For those planning their weddings, or have had changes, my advice is to keep the big picture in mind! You’re having a wedding to celebrate your love, and your love is the only thing that’s important at the end of the day. This time has put a lot into perspective for everybody, and it’s important to remember the love you share for each other, the love your family and friends have for you, and taking advantage of appreciating the moment you’re in. Being engaged is and should be fun! So have fun! Celebrate throughout the whole engagement, and enjoy all of the free champagne you’ll get when you tell people you just got engaged!

Smaller, intimate weddings

Ali, one of our own expert event planners, is getting married on August 15, with some adjustments.

My fiancé and I were planning on getting married on August 15th, amongst friends and family coming from near and far, at my mother’s repurposed farm in upstate New York. Even with COVID119, my fiancé and I are still getting married on August 15th with a smaller group of family and friends. While waiting to find out how many people we can have at our wedding, we are determined to get married this summer. To us, the part of this wedding we have always been most excited about is to be married, and to start the next chapter of our life together. Being isolated and quarantined together, has truthfully brought us closer and made us realize how we are supposed to be together, making us want to get married sooner. Our families have been amazing in helping us to work out how our wedding can come into fruition, we wouldn’t be able to do it without them. We are excited to see what are wedding looks like!

 

We’ve been working with Caramoor and Wave Hill to create beautiful wedding experiences that adhere to social distancing and limited guest gatherings. We have a variety of options for celebrations of up to 50 guests.

MOTHER'S DAY CARD

 

To all the moms out there, Happy Mother’s Day!

 


Download and print a greeting card to give to your mom! Simply print and fold in half twice to get a card with space inside for a personal message!

Download Your Card


How to Fold Your Card

 

 

ALI'S FAVORITE PASTA - AMATRICIANA

Food is the heart of everything we do at Great Performances; and for many of us, it’s a cornerstone of family memories. We invite our team members to share their food traditions and memories with us, and here, we share them with you!

Easy amatriciana recipe

Cooking with my mother has always been one of my favorite things to do. From when I was allowed to just stir to taking the lead, and creating the meals with her assisting me. One of the first recipes I remember falling in love with, and wanting to memorize, is Marcella Hazan’s Amatriciana from her cookbook “Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking”, which, coincidentally, was the first cookbook that my mother gave me. To this day, this recipe is still one of my favorites.

Ali - Senior Event Director - Great Performances Catering Tweet

Ali and her mom sharing a hug.
Image credit: Ali Rea Baum

AMATRICIANA INGREDIENTS

PROCEDURE

  1. 2 Tbsp vegetable oil

  2. 1 Tbsp butter

  3. 1 medium onion, chopped

  4. 1/4-inch thick slice of pancetta, cut into 1/2”x1” slices

  5. 1 1/2 cups canned tomatoes, drained and chopped

  6. Hot red chili peppers, chopped

  7. Salt

  8. 3 Tbsp freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

  9. 2 Tbsp freshly grated Romano cheese

  10. 1 pound pasta

  1. Add the oil, butter, and onion to a saucepan and saute on medium heat until the onions turn a pale golden color. Add the pancetta and cook for about a minute, stirring occasionally.

  2. Add the tomatoes, chili pepper (to taste) and salt, and cook, uncovered, at a simmer for about 25 minutes. Taste and season to taste.

  3. While the sauce is cooking, prepare the pasta according to package instructions. Add drained pasta to the sauce and toss. Add cheese and toss thoroughly again.

Adapted from Marcella Hazan’s original recipe

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More Recipes

MOTHER’S DAY TIPS & RECIPES FROM OUR FAMILY TO YOURS

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Easy amatriciana recipe

Ali’s Favorite Pasta – Amatriciana

Emily’s Perfect Pie Crust

Mix & Match Breakfast Bars

Breakfast in Bed Stinks: Try Cooking Together on Mother’s Day!

Hot Browns Like My Mom’s

Eggs Benedict with Salmon and Crab

Savory Sourdough Pancakes

Smoked Trout, Goat Cheese and Artichoke Quiche

Vegetable Top Salad

Vegan Cream of Asparagus

 

Food is the heart of everything we do at Great Performances; and for many of us, it’s a cornerstone of family memories. We invite our team members to share their food traditions and memories with us, and here, we share them with you!

I’ve never met a pie crust that’s better than my mother’s, which was her mother’s recipe, that has now been passed down to me. It’s a family recipe that makes me appreciate all of the “sweet” baking lessons I had with my grandma and mother in the kitchen!

My favorite filling is apple, but the crust works for everything from cherries to chocolate pudding.

Emily’s Perfect Pie Crust recipe

Ingredients:

For the pie crust

  • 1 cup Crisco or vegetable shortening

  • 2 cups flour

  • 1 tsp vinegar

  • Pinch of salt

For the apple filling

  • 6-8 apples, peeled, cored and chopped

  • 1 cup sugar

  • 1 heaping Tbsp flour

  • Cinnamon to taste

Procedure:

  1. Prepare the crust: Put 1 tsp vinegar in a measuring cup and add enough water to measure 1/2 cup of liquid, total. Combine all ingredients and stir with a fork until the ingredients come together. Form into a ball, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

  2. Flour your board and rolling pin. Divide dough in half for top and bottom layers of the pie. Roll out each half so that it is an inch larger around than the pie plate. Lay the first half into the pie plate, gently forming to plate.

  3. Assemble the pie: Peel prepared apples in dough-lined pie plate. Combine 1 cup sugar, a heaping tablespoon of flour, and cinnamon to taste and pour over apples in pie plate.

  4. Roll out second half of the crust and drape over apples. Crimp edges or use a fork to seal the edges. Slice ventilation holes in the middle.

  5. Place on baking sheet and bake at 350 F for 1 hour.

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Food is at the heart of what we do at Great Performances. And for many people who work at Great Performances, food is an integral part of any family celebration or gathering.

Each holiday, we ask our team to share recipes and food memories, and this Mother’s Day is no different. In fact, it holds special poignancy because many of us cannot celebrate with our families.

So instead, we’ll cook the dishes they taught us, share our stories, and celebrate virtually until we can celebrate together in person.

Emily Bird – Pie Crust

I’ve never met a pie crust that’s better than my mother’s, which was her mother’s recipe, that has now been passed down to me. It’s a family recipe that makes me appreciate all of the “sweet” baking lessons I had with my grandma and mother in the kitchen!

My favorite filling is apple, but the crust works for everything from cherries to chocolate pudding.

Check out her recipe here.

Emily’s mom blows out a birthday candle on her birthday pie made with love.
Image credit: Emily Bird

Ali Rea Baum – Marcella Hazan’s Amatriciana

Cooking with my mother has always been one of my favorite things to do.  From when I was allowed to just stir to taking the lead, and creating the meals with her assisting me. One of the first recipes I remember falling in love with, and wanting to memorize, is Marcella Hazan’s Amatriciana from her cookbook “Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking”, which, coincidentally, was the first cookbook that my mother gave me. To this day, this recipe is still one of my favorites.

Make the dish with your mother!

Ali and her mom sharing a hug as they pose for the camera.
Image credit: Ali Rea Baum

Gary Bedigan – Every Meal is an Event

Like in song, my mother is “hostess with the mostest”. Growing up, every meal was an event!  We dressed for dinner and started with cocktails (or very watered down versions for the juniors) which were followed by course after course. Always a soup, then a salad, a pasta, then a main.  My sister and I learned recipes passed down from her mother, to her, and now to us. Each of us has our own take, but mom’s sauce is unbelievable. Some of our best memories (and our most vocal arguments) were always around the table. So people  say “never go to bed angry”, we  say “never leave the table upset.”

Gary and his mom sharing a dance at his parents’ 50th Anniversary celebration this spring.
Image credit: Gary Bedigan

Carina Hayek – Grandma’s Bread

So many of my memories of my mom and my grandmothers are tied up in food. Grandma’s bread, which my mom learned to make from her mother in law, made its daily appearance in our school lunches. My mom would faithfully make the bread biweekly so we wouldn’t be subjected to store bought bread which, in the 80s, was only suitable as ammunition for straw shooters.

An integral component of Grandma’s bread, which of course doesn’t have a recipe, is a boiled potato and the potato water. Whenever we had boiled potatoes with dinner, my mother would invariably make extra for bread. But we needed bread more often than we ate boiled potatoes, and to this day, the smell of boiled potatoes triggers warm memories of childhood.

Sometimes, my mother would time the baking of the bread just right and we’d come home from school to find a freshly baked loaf of bread on the kitchen counter, a golden, crusty beauty that she’d brushed with butter and left to cool before she could slice and freeze it. Of course we’d clamor for a still-warm slice and my mom would indulge us. I say “we” because although it was usually just me and my brother, occasionally a friend would have come home with us and between the three of us, we’d demolish at least half a loaf.

As a special treat, sometimes my mom, like my Grandma, would prepare extra dough that she’d turn into cinnamon rolls. I’m having a cinnamon roll now. At 74, my mom continues her ritual of boiling potatoes to bake us our daily bread.

Carina’s Grandma’s bread made by mom.
Image credit: Carina Hayek

 

 

Our GP Moms Share What They Want for Mother’s Day

We asked our GP moms the one thing they wanted for Mother’s Day this year. Moms, we hear you!

  1. “I want to be able to hug and kiss everybody.” Julie V.

  2. “Be with all my family under the same roof; I miss those gatherings a lot.” Jiny R.

  3. “Dinner in person with my kids!” Mindy B.

  4. “100% confirmation that school will be back in session this Fall. I am a terrible teacher! Seriously.” Sara S.

  5. “To find out sleep-away camp is happening this summer :)” Jodi S.

  6. “I agree that’s top on my list – to get to a point in this that summer camp is open!” Jennifer E.

  7. “A cabana boy for the day serving breakfast/lunch/dinner non-stop cocktails.” Tanya S.

  8. “It has nothing to do with my kids: a Peloton bike!  I know, very materialistic, but true!! Oh, and world peace, an end to COVID-19, quality time with my kids, them getting along…” Barbara L.

 

 

Celebrations in this first half of 2020 have changed dramatically. We’re forced to be more creative and mindful as we celebrate, finding new ways to come together. We have some ideas for how we can celebrate with our mothers both via video conferencing and in person to make the day even more special and memorable.

Change your video conference backgrounds using beautiful photos like this one from Wave Hill.
Image credit: Wave Hill

Tips for Mother’s Day Celebrations via Video Conferencing

  1. Plan in advance: Mother’s Day is traditionally a day that phone lines are overloaded, and this is likely to be the case for video conferencing as well. Try starting your calls at off times — at quarter past or quarter to the hour — to help improve your connectivity. Also, make sure you’re not streaming anything on another device as that can impact your call quality.

  2. Send the invitation: Send the invitation with instructions for how to download the application before the call. For those less technologically inclined, schedule a practice call to help them with their technology so that everyone can see and hear (and be seen and heard).

  3. Set the scene: Find a fun background for your video conferences. Some apps, like Zoom, make it easy to change your backgrounds. Our friends at Wave Hill have curated a collection of beautiful garden photos that make great backgrounds, especially if you’re missing our Mother’s Day brunch at Wave Hill!

  4. Share a toast or a meal: Depending on what time you’re having your call, encourage everyone to have a toast ready or you can even share a meal together. If you have a favorite family dish, encourage everyone to make their version of it. It may seem silly,but it can help everyone feel more connected. We’ve got some great recipes for you to try.

  5. Remember to take a screenshot: Save a memory of the video conference by taking a screen shot. Take several and remind people to look at the camera and smile.

Tips for Celebrating Mother’s Day at Home

  1. Make a plan: Plan a menu and activities in advance. Take stock of your refrigerator and pantry and decide what else you’ll need to get or what substitutions you can make. We’ve collected some of our favorite Mother’s Day recipes.

  2. Involve the kids: A great activity for kids is to create an invitation for mom inviting her to join them for a Mother’s Day meal. You can even print out pages from our coloring book to use as a cover for the invitation.

  3. Set the table: You’ve worked hard to prepare the meal, make sure the table setting is up to par. Use found items in your house to create a tablescape. Kaitlin Walsh, our director of design, used a variety of plates on a textured table cloth. Food presented in small dishes of varying height alongside flowers in a tall vase added color, texture and interest. If you don’t have flowers available, fruits, vegetables, and herbs in jars c an add a sustainable and decorative element.

  4. Thank mom! Don’t forget to take a moment to thank mom before your meal and let her know how much you appreciate her. Using fancy glasses, even for non-alcoholic beverages, helps add to the festive mood.

  5. Preserve the moment: Make sure to capture a photo together! Set up a tripod or prop your phone up and use the timer function to get all of you in the shot. It’s sure to be a memory that’s treasured.

Let us know how you’re celebrating Mother’s Day! We’ll be sharing our memories on Instagram and can’t wait to see yours.

 

Single Pie Dough, Double Crust

By Chef Rob Valencia

Everyone loves a light, flaky pie crust, and there are several tips to ensure you make the perfect crust.

Tips for Making the Perfect Pie Crust

First, we use both pastry flour and all purpose flour. Pastry flour makes for a more delicate dough, while the all purpose makes the dough more workable and elastic. We find that using a 50/50 proportion makes a dough that’s easier to work with and that bakes up beautifully flaky.

Second, don’t over blend the butter into the dough — as the dough cooks, the water evaporates from the butter creating the flaky layers.

Third, using vodka or white vinegar in place of some of the water allows the other ingredients to bind together without contributing to the formation of gluten, which can make your dough tough. And finally, chilling and resting the dough allows the gluten to relax, gives the flour time to fully hydrate, and prevents the butter from melting into the dough, again, preserving flaky layers.

Ingredients:

  • 10 oz flour, half pastry flour, half all purpose

  • ½ tsp sugar

  • ½ tsp salt

  • 4 oz butter, diced and chilled

  • 3 oz water, cold

  • 1 ounce white vinegar or vodka

Procedure:

  1. Combine the flours, sugar and salt.

  2. Add the butter and rub into the flour with your fingers until the mixture begins to take on a yellow color. Leave small chunks of butter. Add the liquids in three parts, incorporating after each addition. Chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

  3. Remove the chilled dough from the refrigerator and shape into a thick rectangle. Fold into thirds like an envelope. Flatten into a rectangle. Chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

  4. Remove chilled rectangle of dough and divide into two 8-ounce portions. Shape each portion into a ball.

  5. Roll each ball of dough into disk that’s 1/8 of an inch thick. Chill each disk after rolling.

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Enjoy our first ever coloring book! Color in the pages and take a picture to share with us on Instagram!